Understanding the Waste Hierarchy: A Guide to Sustainable Waste Management

Throughout our Recycling 101 series, we've delved into what and how to recycle. While recycling is one aspect of waste management and living a more sustainable life, it's not the only - or the most important - part. In fact, as we've discussed in this series before, recycling has a lot of issues. From contamination to a lack of consumer understanding, recycling rates globally sit at around 9% - a far cry from ideal. That's where the waste hierarchy comes into play. This framework breaks down the best ways to go about waste management to get to a more sustainable economy and zero-waste future. And, as you'll note, recycling is far from the top.

The Waste Hierarchy Explained

The waste hierarchy is a strategic framework of waste management principles. Designed as a pyramid, the waste hierarchy lays out the best ways (at the top) and the worst ways (at the bottom) to reduce and eliminate waste. It's a helpful guide to follow if you're working toward zero waste. There are many different variations of the waste hierarchy, with more or less tiers, but they all generally break down the same things.

The Tiers of the Waste Hierarchy

Refuse + Reduce

The first tier on the waste hierarchy is refuse + reduce. This should always be the more preferential way to eliminate waste wherever possible. It may mean rethinking the way we use products, designing more efficient systems, and considering what we truly need and is beneficial to us. Refusing means stopping waste at its source by declining products that are harmful to the planet or aren't necessary. Reducing means cutting back on products that can't fully be eliminated but can be mitigated in some ways.

Reuse

Avoiding products and packaging altogether is not always possible. Accepting this, reusing products is always the next best thing. Reuse is a big category of actions that may include repairing or maintaining products to the best of your ability and buying used over new. Both on an individual basis and within our companies and communities, we should strive to reuse as much as possible.

• Reuse glass jars as food storage

• Repair electronics instead of replacing them

• If you're moving, ask local stores for cardboard boxes for reuse

• Buy used goods and clothing, instead of new

Repurpose

The next tier on the waste hierarchy is repurpose. When something can no longer be reused for its original purpose, trying to find a new way to use it - or parts of it - for another function, is the next best thing. It still prevents it from going to landfill and can often be just as useful in another function.

• Use old t-shirts as dusting rags

• Repurpose wooden furniture into shelves or different products

• Make a dog or cat bed out of old towels

• Use paper towel and toilet paper rolls as arts and crafts supplies

Recycle

Recycling, which includes composting food scraps, is often seen as an easy environmentally friendly thing to do. While we advocate for recycling and improving our recycling systems and material choices, it's not the best, most sustainable way to reduce waste. In fact, it's only one tier above dispose. That's because recycling involves breaking down a material and recreating it into something new. This can include melting down plastic, glass, or metal and reforming them into new products. It's a very energy-intensive process, though it's still less energy-intensive than producing virgin materials. Plus, while glass and metal are infinitely recyclable, plastic and paper are not and often require virgin materials to fully recreate.

Dispose

The lowest tier of the hierarchy, and the one that should be avoided as much as possible, is disposal. When all other alternatives have failed, disposing of something is the only option left. That's because disposing of products either means throwing them in a landfill, having them incinerated, or otherwise dumping them in the natural environment in some way. If you're working toward a zero-waste goal, keeping disposal at below 10% is generally a good first goal.

Recycling is often people's first introduction to waste reduction and minimization. But as you've seen, the waste hierarchy lays out many steps you can take to reduce waste before even getting to the recycling stage. Putting the waste hierarchy into practice as an individual, company, or society is a great way to work toward a more sustainable future.