Waste Rate Calculator

Calculation formula

Fire miktarı  = Giren miktar − Çıkan (sağlam) miktar
Fire oranı    = Fire miktarı ÷ Giren miktar × 100
Randıman      = Çıkan miktar ÷ Giren miktar × 100        (Randıman = 100 − Fire oranı)

Firenin maliyeti       = Fire miktarı × Birim maliyet
Gerçek birim maliyet   = (Giren miktar × Birim maliyet) ÷ Çıkan miktar
Hedef için gereken giriş = Hedef çıkış ÷ (Randıman ÷ 100)

Example: a business that buys 1,000 kg and gets 920 kg of sellable product

You bought 1,000 kg of goods at 45 ₺ per kg. After sorting, cutting and spoilage, 920 kg of sellable product remained.

Waste quantity: 1,000 − 920 = 80 kg. Waste rate: 80 ÷ 1,000 × 100 = 8%. Yield: 92%.

Cost of waste: 80 × 45 = 3,600 ₺. This money was gone before the product was ever sold.

True unit cost: you paid 45,000 ₺ and have 920 kg of sellable goods: 45,000 ÷ 920 = 48.91 ₺/kg. If you base your pricing on 45 ₺ when calculating profit, you are missing a cost of 3.91 ₺ on every kilo.

For 1,000 kg of good product: you need to buy 1,000 ÷ 0.92 = 1,087 kg. You place the order quantity based on this number, not on the output quantity.

Waste rate and yield are two sides of the same thing

Yield is the percentage of the input that comes out good; the waste rate is the percentage that is lost. The two always add up to 100: if the waste rate is 8%, the yield is 92%.

Which one is used varies by industry — yield is more common in food, textiles and manufacturing, and the waste rate in retail and warehousing. If your supplier says “92% yield”, they are telling you that you will get 8% waste.

Why is the true cost of waste higher than the unit price?

Because you also paid for the goods that became waste. The total amount you paid doesn’t change; the number of good products you spread that amount across gets smaller.

This is the most common mistake in profit margin calculations: the selling price is based on the pre-waste unit cost, and the margin looks higher than it really is. In the example above, selling at 60 ₺ a product that costs 45 ₺ looks like a 33% margin; because the true cost is 48.91 ₺, the margin is 22.7%. To work with the right number, enter the true unit cost in the profit margin calculator.

How do you measure the waste rate?

Don’t guess; record two numbers. The input quantity is the quantity on the delivery note (irsaliye) or invoice. The output quantity is the part that becomes sellable.

The most practical method is to record waste as a separate type of outflow in the inventory tracking template: if sales outflows and waste outflows are mixed in the same column, you can neither keep track of stock nor work out the rate. To count at period end and see the difference from the records, you can use the warehouse stocktake template.

Separating waste by cause is the only way to reduce the rate: if spoilage, breakage, cutting/sorting loss, wrong shipments and returns are counted separately, you can see which one is burning money.

What should you do if the waste rate is high?

First separate whether the waste is avoidable or unavoidable. Sawdust from cutting, peel from sorting or evaporation are unavoidable; the goal is not to eliminate them but to keep them constant and predictable. Spoilage, breakage and expiry, on the other hand, are avoidable waste.

The most common cause of avoidable waste is carrying too much stock: the longer goods wait on the shelf, the greater the risk of spoilage and obsolescence. Measure how fast you turn stock over with the inventory turnover calculator. For products with an expiry date, ordering less and more often is usually cheaper than enlarging the buffer; for the right order level, see the reorder level calculator.

What does this page say about the "statutory wastage rate"?

It's a much-searched topic, but there is no single number. Acceptable wastage rates for specific product groups are set product by product, based on lists published by chambers of commerce and the relevant trade bodies, and they vary by product, process and over time.

That's why no rate is quoted here. If you need to cite a wastage rate for tax purposes, confirm the list that applies to your own product with the chamber you belong to and talk to your accountant. This tool calculates your own measured rate; if your measured rate is higher than the accepted one, the gap is a problem for your business anyway.

Frequently asked questions

Related calculators

To keep this calculation in Excel

Search terms: wastage rate calculationwhat is wastage ratewastage rate formulahow to calculate wastage ratewastage rate calculation excelproduction wastage rate calculationyield calculation

Last updated: September 18, 2026