Waste hierarchy

Reduce,Reuse, Recycle are the three Rs

most
favoured
option

point in the waste hierarchy. Prevention or reduction

minimizes the generation of waste products in the rst
place. Prevention usually results in the least environmental and economic life cycle costs because it requires no
collecting or processing of materials. Prevention also typically produces signicant benets in terms of production
eciencies and the use of resources. It involves using less
material in design and manufacture, trying to keep products for longer, and using less hazardous materials.

prevention
minimisation
reuse
recycling

least
favoured
option

energy recovery

Reuse: The reuse of waste is the next most desirable option. It is any operation where products or materials that
are not waste are used again for the same purpose for
which they were intended. Reusing waste often requires
The waste hierarchy
collection but relatively little or no processing. It involves
The evaluation of processes that protect the environ- checking, cleaning, repairing, and/or refurbishing, entire
ment alongside resource and energy consumption to most items or spare parts.
favourable to least favourable actions. [1] The hierarRecycle: Recycling of waste is the next step in priorchy establishes preferred program priorities based on
ity. It is any activity that includes the collection of used,
sustainability.[1] To be sustainable, waste management
reused, or unused items that would otherwise be considcannot be solved only with technical end-of-pipe soluered waste. Recycling involves sorting and processing the
tions and an integrated approach is necessary.[2]
recyclable products into raw material and then remanuThe waste management hierarchy indicates an order of facturing the recycled raw materials into new products.
preference for action to reduce and manage waste, and
Recovery: The recovery of waste is further separated into
is usually presented diagrammatically in the form of a
categories: the recovery of materials and the recovery
pyramid.[3] The hierarchy captures the progression of a
of energy. Whichever of these two choices is better for
material or product through successive stages of waste
the environment and human health is the preferred opmanagement, and represents the latter part of the lifetion. The recovery of materials is most often preferred
cycle for each product.[3]
and includes activities such as recycling and composting.
The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract the maxi- These management activities generally require a collecmum practical benets from products and to generate the tion system and a method of material processing and conminimum amount of waste. The proper application of the version into a new product. Recovery of energy, such
waste hierarchy can have several benets. It can help pre- as incineration, is usually the less preferred option. The
vent emissions of greenhouse gases, reduces pollutants, conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into usable
save energy, conserves resources, create jobs and stimu- heat, electricity, or fuel is done through a variety of prolate the development of green technologies.[4]
cesses, including anaerobic digestion, gasication, and
pyrolysis.

disposal

Disposal: The last resort is disposal and is only considered once all other possibilities have been explored. Disposal is any operation that involves the dumping and incineration of waste without energy recovery. Before nal
disposal, a considerable amount of pre-treatment may be
necessary to change the characteristics of the waste in order to reduce the quantity or harmfulness of the waste and
that may include physical, thermal, chemical, or biological processes. Landlls are the most common form of
waste disposal and the nal disposal option.

Stages

The waste hierarchy ranks waste management options according to what is best for the environment. It gives top
priority to preventing waste in the rst place. If waste
is not produced then it has not to be disposed of. When
waste is produced, it gives precedence to preparing it for
reuse, then recycling, then recovery, and last of all disposal.
Stages:
Prevention: The prevention of waste is the most vital
1

4 CHALLENGES FOR LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES

Life-cycle thinking

nity Strategy for Waste Management and this waste strategy was further endorsed in the Commissions review in
[7]
All products and services have environmental impacts, 1996.
from the extraction of raw materials for production to In 2008, the European Union parliament introduced a
manufacture, distribution, use and disposal. Follow- new ve-step waste hierarchy to its waste legislation, Diing the waste hierarchy will generally lead to the most rective 2008/98/EC, which member states must introresource-ecient and environmentally sound choice but duce into national waste management laws.[6] Article 4
in some cases rening decisions within the hierarchy of the directive lays down a ve-step hierarchy of waste
or departing from it can lead to better environmental management options which must be applied by Member
outcomes.[5]
States in this priority order.[6]
Life cycle thinking and assessment can be used to support decision-making in the area of waste management
and to identify the best environmental options. It can help
policy makers understand the benets and trade-os they
have to face when making decisions on waste management strategies. Life-cycle assessment provides a scientically sound approach to ensure that the best outcome
for the environment can be identied and put in place.[5]
It involves looking at all stages of a products life to nd
where improvements can be made to reduce environmental impacts and improve the use or reuse of resources.[5]
A key goal is to avoid actions that shift negative impacts
from one stage to another. Life cycle thinking can be
applied to the ve stages of the waste management hierarchy.

Waste prevention, as the preferred option, is followed by

reuse, recycling, recovery including energy recovery and
as a last option, safe disposal.

The European Union Waste Framework Directive has

introduced the concept of life-cycle thinking into waste
policies.[5] This duality approach gives a broader view of
all environmental aspects and ensures any action has an
overall benet compared to other options. The actions to
deal with waste along the hierarchy should be compatible
with other environmental initiatives.

Separate collection and sorting systems for many

dierent waste streams would have to be established

4 Challenges for local and regional

authorities

The task of implementing the waste hierarchy in waste

management practices within a country must be clearly
delegated to the dierent levels of government (national,
regional, local) and to other possible actors including industry, private companies and households.[1] Local and
regional authorities can be particularly challenged by isFor example, life-cycle analysis has shown, that it is often sues when applying the waste hierarchy approach.
better for the environment to replace an old washing ma- Some of those issues or concerns may involve:[1]
chine, despite the waste generated, than to continue to use
an older machine which is less energy efcient. This is
A coherent waste management strategy that must be
because a washing machines greatest environmental imset up and implemented. It would involve includpact is during its use phase. Buying an energy-efcient
ing management plans at all dierent management
machine and using low- temperature detergent reduce enlevels.
[5]
vironmental impacts.

European Union waste framework directive

In 1975, The European Unions Waste Framework Directive (1975/442/EEC) introduced for the rst time the
waste hierarchy concept into European waste policy.[6] It
emphasized the importance of waste minimization, and
the protection of the environment and human health, as a
priority. Following the 1975 Directive, European Union
policy and legislation adapted to the principles of the
waste hierarchy.
In 1989, it was formalized into a hierarchy of management options in the European Commissions Commu-

New or adequate treatment and disposal facilities

being established.
An eective horizontal co-operation between local authorities and municipalities and a vertical cooperation between the dierent levels of government, local to regional and when benecial, also at
the national level being established;
Finding nancing for the establishing or upgrading
of expensive sustainable waste management infrastructure to address the needs of managing waste.
A lack of data available on waste management
strategies must be overcome and extensive monitoring requirements must be met to successfully implement the waste programs.
The eective enforcement and control of sound
business plans and practices be established and applied to maximize benets to the environment and
human health.

3
A lack of administrative capacity at the regional and
local level. The lack of nances, information, and
technical expertise must be overcome for eective
implementation and success of the waste management policies.

[4] Waste-to-Energy Research and Technology Council

(2009). Waste Hierarchy.
[5] European Commission (n.d.). Life Cycle Thinking and
Assessment for Waste Management.
[6] European Commission (2014). EU Waste Legislation.

Source reduction

Source reduction involves eorts to reduce hazardous

waste and other materials by modifying industrial production. Source reduction methods involve changes in
manufacturing technology, raw material inputs, and product formulation. At times, the term pollution prevention may refer to source reduction.
Another method of source reduction is to increase incentives for recycling. Many communities in the United
States are implementing variable-rate pricing for waste
disposal (also known as Pay As You Throw - PAYT)
which has been eective in reducing the size of the municipal waste stream.[8]
Source reduction is typically measured by eciencies and
cutbacks in waste. Toxics use reduction is a more controversial approach to source reduction that targets and
measures reductions in the upstream use of toxic materials. Toxics use reduction emphasizes the more preventive aspects of source reduction but, due to its emphasis
on toxic chemical inputs, has been opposed more vigorously by chemical manufacturers. Toxics use reduction
programs have been set up by legislation in some states,
e.g., Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Oregon.The 3 R
's represent the ' Waste Hierarchy ' which lists the best
ways of managing waste from the most to the least desirable. Many of the things we currently throw away could
be reused again with just a little thought and imagination.

See also
Mottainai
European waste hierarchy

References

[1] Hansen, W., Christopher, M., and Verbuecheln, M.

(2002). EU Waste Policies and Challenges for Local and
Regional AUthorities.
[2] USEPA (2013). Non-Hazardous Waste Management
Hierarchy.
[3] United Nations Environmental Program (2013). Guidelines for National Waste Management Strategies Moving
from Challenges to Opportunities. ISBN 978-92-8073333-4.

[7] GOV.UK. Guidance on Applying the Waste Hierarchy.

[8] Mark Ruzzin. Pay-As-You-Throw - Lets Start. Retrieved 2006-11-26.

8 External links
Letsrecycle, Letsrecycle.com article on European
Debate on Waste Hierarchy
Getting to Zero Waste
Recovered Resource Blog
Action RE-buts in Qubec

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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