The CAPE-OPEN WAste Reduction (COWAR) Algorithm is implemented as a CAPE-OPEN Flowsheet Monitoring Component that accesses the chemical flows and unit operations directly from within the Flowsheet and calculates the WAR score for a process. Users have the option to select individual Unit Operations for the WAR evaluation, as well as traditional WAR options of including energy use and inclusion of product streams in the evaluation. COWAR implements the CAPE-OPEN Flowsheet Monitoring interface specification.