Most of us have heard about the 3 R’s – Reduce, reuse, recycle, but did you know that these actions are part of a basic zero waste hierarchy?
The waste hierarchy is a framework that outlines the guidelines we can use to improve systems and work towards zero waste. It is represented in a pyramid chart or an upside triangle. The levels indicate the progressive order of actions to take to reduce waste. The ultimate goal of the waste hierarchy is to generate the minimum amount of waste and extract the maximum benefits from products.
We should spend more energy on the more significant layers at the chart’s top, like refusing, redesigning, reducing, and reusing. And we want to minimize the activities at the bottom, like residuals management or landfill.
Below we take you through the basics of the zero waste hierarchy.
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What is the Zero Waste Hierarchy?
There are many different versions of the zero waste hierarchy. They all have a similar goal: to help display and explain the strategies needed to help reduce the amount of waste in the world. In this article, we are using a great example from Zero Waste Europe. Zero Waste Europe developed this updated version to incorporate circular economy principles, focusing on preserving the value of waste as a resource.
The Zero Waste Hierarchy developed by Zero Waste Europe looks at seven strategies to help tackle materials and waste management. The ultimate aim of this system is to ‘change the mindset from waste management to resource management.’ There is no waste, only unused resources!
If the waste hierarchy is applied correctly, it can have many advantages, including to:
- help reduce pollution
- decrease greenhouse gas emissions
- conserve energy
- preserve resources
- create job opportunities
- and stimulate the growth of green technology (DEA, 2017:27).
What are the levels of the waste hierarchy?
Refuse/Rethink/Redesign
The first level of waste prevention speaks to changing the way we design products. It’s about rethinking and redesigning products to have no waste, so once they reach their end of life, they become a resource again. It also means stopping waste at its source by refusing to buy or use poorly designed or unnecessary products, such as single-use plastics.
We need to ask questions like:
- Is the product necessary?
- Can the product be designed to be reused?
- Can the product be recycled at the end of its useful life?
The government, retailer, and brand owner have the greatest power at this stage. Governments have the authority to mandate that products must be recyclable or unpackaged. At the same time, brand owners have the ability to design products for the circular economy, minimizing waste and pollution and keeping materials in circulation.
There are many ways that brand owners and retailers can reduce the amount of waste they produce. The key areas that can make a significant difference are:
- To redesign their products so they can be recycled at the end of their life and there is no waste.
- To use recycled materials in their products to keep materials in use.
- Design products to be sturdy enough that they will last and can be reused.
- Use less packaging, or even no packaging, in their products
Many Producer or Product Responsibility Organizations (PROs) have developed design guidelines such as The Ellen Macarthur Foundation or The Plastics UK Pact. These key areas are aligned with the principles of circular economy taught by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation. Learn more about the circular economy here.
Consumers are in a challenging situation when it comes to rethinking or designing products and packaging. However, consumers can vote with their wallets and make choices that support the products that encompass these principles. They also have the power to refuse to buy products that are poorly designed or unnecessary.
You can read more about the power consumers have in What does it mean to be a conscious consumer?.
Reduce and Reuse
An all too familiar phrase, reduce and reuse, represents the next level of the waste hierarchy. Reducing our waste is important and can be achieved by reducing the amount we use and ensuring we keep items in use as long as possible through reuse.
- REDUCING – using less of something, e.g., reducing or removing waste by decreasing the number of items bought, created, or used.
- REUSING – use packaging or products in their original form,
- UPCYCLE – if it’s no longer useful in its current form, upcycle it.
The responsibility of reducing and reusing is equally split between brand owners and retailers, and you, the consumer. Brand owners and retailers can opt to offer less packaging in their products. They also have a responsibility to make products that are of good quality and will last. Products can be repurposed many times before their end of life and, of course, recycled when they are no longer useful.
Consumers need help understanding whether an item can be recycled or reused.
Consumers can make a choice to only support brands that put sustainability first. They might be companies that use less packaging or use recycled material in their products, working to keep resources in use. You can find many of these companies in our BRAND DIRECTORY.
There are many other ways that consumers can reduce their impact, here are just a few ideas:
When looking to purchase or replace an item
- Ask yourself do you really need the new item or to replace an old item
- Can you repurpose something else
- Look for other options like borrowing or renting the item
- Can you get a secondhand item
- Is it made well
- Will it last
- Can it be recycled
When it comes to food items
- Can you buy in bulk
- Can you make it yourself
- Is there a better option with less packaging
Consumers have the power to make a change by voting with their wallets. Learn more in What Does it Mean to be a Conscious Consumer?
Preparation for Reuse
The third level of the zero waste hierarchy refers to repairing and upcycling or repurposing items so they can be used again.
Once again, the responsibility is split between brand owners and consumers. However, the government has a part to play at this level also. The government plays a role in the introduction of right-to-repair and product stewardship laws that address built-in obsolescence. This is where products are deliberately made to break after a certain amount of time, often after the warranty has ended, so you have to buy a new one.
The UK and Europe are tackling these issues head-on. For example, new laws mean that manufacturers are legally required to make spare parts available for electrical appliances to ensure they can be repaired. These types of laws will hopefully result in products staying in use a lot longer.
Recycling and composting
In a circular economy where there is no waste, only two options should be available for the end of an object’s life. It is either recycled into something new or composted to break it down and convert it into a fertilizer.
RECYCLING – the process of recovering material from waste and turning it into new products.
COMPOSTING – a natural process of recycling organic matter, e.g., food or garden waste, into a material used to make soil or fertilizer to grow food or plants. There are two types (definitions by The Moss Group):
- Home composting – the breakdown of biodegradable material under conditions (temperature and moisture) found in domestic compost piles.
- Industrial composting – the breakdown of biodegradable materials under controlled conditions (50-70˚C, forced aeration, managed humidity) in an industrial composting facility.
Learn what biodegradable means in What Does Biodegradable Mean? You might be surprised by the answer!
At this level of the waste hierarchy, many more stakeholders are involved.
Product designers need to design for one of these “end-of-life solutions”. Governments and municipalities need to get involved to ensure items are collected and get to the correct facility. Retailers have a responsibility to label their products correctly so that consumers know what to do with them when they are finished using them. This labeling needs to be clean and detailed enough to help the consumer make the right decision.
Although there are many parties involved at this level, there are many things you can do as a consumer to support waste reduction. Here are just a few examples:
- Learn to be a conscious consumer and choose products that can be recycled or composted.
- Support recycling by learning how to recycle right.
- Set up your own home composting to reduce your food waste
If you want to learn more about recycling, check out our Recycling Guides in our Blog.
Material and chemical recovery
Material recovery is the extraction of valuable materials from mixed waste. It is an essential part of a Circular Economy Model as it keeps important resources in the loop.
The material sorting usually happens at an MRF or Material Recovery Facility. A material recovery facility is a plant where mixed recycling streams are sent to be separated into single streams. They are then bundled up and sold to end buyers who take the material to processing plants for reuse. Many different companies are involved in this phase; however, the overall process is usually managed by municipalities.
Although the recovery and processing of waste at this level are primarily in the hands of others, consumers have a vital role to play. Taking the time to learn how to recycle correctly helps the system operate better. It can even help to increase profitability by reducing contamination and increasing the quality of the recycled materials.
It’s important to reset your thinking and see waste as a resource. Consider the materials in every object and recognize that these materials are not trash but can be used in a new product even at their end of life. By recycling the right way, you help these materials to be used again.
Residuals Management or Disposal
Residuals management or disposal refers to sending waste to landfills. This should always be the last resort, a place where things that cannot be reused, recycled, or reprocessed are sent. The goal for the future is to see the amount of waste disposed of in this way head towards zero.
This level also refers to the safe management of existing landfill sites. In the worst-case scenario, waste is dumped and often leeches into the environment or incinerated, leading to hazardous fumes going into the air. In the best-case scenario, these sites are managed safely, minimizing leachate and emissions and perhaps even producing energy from the emissions or being converted into a solar power site.
Consumers have the power to help reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. They can dispose of their packaging and other waste responsibly by not littering and recycling correctly to help reduce the amount of waste in landfills.
Unacceptable
Finally, the last and smallest layer is unacceptable. This layer was added to represent the unacceptable waste practices we want to become a part of history. Activities that are now unacceptable and don’t belong in the zero waste framework. Some examples are littering, landfilling of non-stabilized waste, and incineration or destruction of materials.
The Wrap
The aim is to get to a place where we spend the majority of our time and efforts refusing, rethinking, redesigning, reducing, and reusing and having less to dispose of. There are many parties involved in the waste hierarchy and its many levels. Producers and retailers, many levels of government, including municipalities, and of course us, the consumers, all have our part to play.
As consumers, we can help by:
- getting familiar with the waste hierarchy
- respecting the materials that make up the objects in our lives
- Understanding the power that we have and that we can choose brands and retailers that are making an effort to change things for the better.
- Reaching out to the government and our local councils to keep the communication lines open.
- getting behind the circular economy
By understanding that we have the power to say no and make choices at the shelf that prevent us from needing to dispose of the packaging or products, we take the packaging and plastic problem into our hands. You can say no. You can shop somewhere else. You can choose a well-designed product. You can choose an item that doesn’t come in single-use plastic.
Learn more about the history of recycling in History of Recycling: Find out how long ago we really started recycling.
Sources
- 2020, What is the Zero Waste Hierarchy, and How Can I Use it?
- Joan Marc Simon, 2019, A Zero Waste hierarchy for Europe
- 2019, A New Zero Waste Hierarchy for the Circular Economy
- Department of Environmental Affairs. 2017. Industry Waste Tyre Management Plan. Tyre Waste Abatement and Minimisation Initiative of South Africa. http://sawic.environment.gov.za/documents/8596.pdf
- Natural Resources Defense Council, Shelia Hu, 2020, Composting 101
- Design for Recycling Guidelines
- Tom Espiner & Rebecca Wearn, 2021, Right to repair rules will extend lifespan of products, government says, BBC News
