The waste management hierarchy presents a systematic order of managing waste according to what&#;s best for the environment. But how exactly does it work?

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The Waste Management Hierarchy Explained

The waste management hierarchy is a conceptual framework designed to guide and rank waste management decisions at both the individual and organisational level. It gives top priority to waste prevention, followed by re-use, recycling, recovery and finally disposal.

The hierarchy helps us rethink our relationship with waste based on five priorities ranked in terms of what&#;s best for the environment. This is often illustrated as a five-tier inverted pyramid.

Waste hierarchy steps

Prevent &#;  Top priority is placed on reducing or preventing waste. Can waste be avoided by not using the material in the first place?

Reduce &#; Can less materials be used in the design and manufacturing stage?

Reuse &#; Can materials be re-used in other areas of your production process, or by someone else?

Recycle &#; Can the materials be recycled, either in whole or in part to turn the waste into a new product

Recover &#; Where further recycling is not practical or possible, energy or materials could be recovered from waste through processes such as anaerobic digestion or incineration

Dispose &#; When all else fails, materials that cannot be reused, recycled or recovered for energy will be landfilled and incinerated (without energy recovery). This is an unsustainable method of waste management because waste that sits in landfills can continue to have a damaging environmental impact.

The waste management hierarchy replaces the traditional waste management approach of &#;the three Rs&#; (reduce, reuse and recycle), expanding it into a five-step process where the most preferred actions are at the top and the least preferred are at the bottom of the inverted pyramid.  

The use of the waste management hierarchy came alongside the emergence of life cycle thinking in waste management policy, which looks at the totality of a product or service&#;s environmental impact &#; from raw material extraction, processing and manufacturing to distribution, usage and disposal.

This holistic approach to waste management is the impetus of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), a European Union directive that seeks to establish a long-term path towards sustainable waste management. Article 4 of the WFD makes the waste hierarchy legally binding, requiring businesses and governments of member states to dispose of waste in consideration of best waste management practices. 

Understanding Each Stage of the Waste Management Hierarchy

By following the waste management hierarchy, organisations can extract the most benefits from their products and services while minimising their waste output. But what does each stage of the hierarchy mean?

1. Reduce

The waste management hierarchy places top priority on reducing or preventing as much waste generation as possible. This stage encourages industries, communities and governments to reduce their use of virgin raw materials to produce goods and services. 

The idea is to maximise efficiency and prevent the unnecessary consumption of resources through steps such as:

• Procuring raw materials that come with the least packaging or require the fewest resources to refine.
• Avoiding disposable or single-use goods.
• Procuring materials that are recycled or can be recycled, repaired or reused.
• Optimising inventory to prevent perishable goods (e.g., food) from going to waste.

If your business can&#;t reduce or prevent waste, you can prepare them for reuse.

2. Reuse

Preparing materials for reuse in their original form is the second-best approach to waste management. Aside from reducing your landfill impact, reusing business waste also allows your business to avoid spending on new goods or virgin materials or paying a provider to dispose of your waste for you. 

For example, office-based businesses can use these measures to prepare common items for reuse:

• Refilling toner and printer cartridges instead of buying new ones.
• Using durable glasses, mugs, cups, plates and cutlery instead of disposable alternatives.
• Reusing envelopes, boxes and other packaging materials.
• Donating or selling used furniture, computers and other office equipment.

You can even generate income from items and business waste that are valuable to other organisations. For example, scrap stores will purchase scrap metals, fabrics, plastics, paper and cardstock. 

3. Recycling

Recycling involves processing materials that would otherwise be sent to landfills and turning them into new products. It&#;s the third step of the waste management hierarchy because of the extra energy and resources that go into creating a new product. For instance, scrap paper can be recycled, but the process requires water and electricity to transform it into pristine paper products.

To maximise recycling opportunities, your business will need to have the proper recycling infrastructure in place, which can be an on-site recycling facility (e.g., for grinding concrete into material for backfilling) or a total waste management provider that can handle segregation, collection and recycling for you. 

Get in Touch with Axil to Schedule a FREE Waste Audit of Your Organisation&#;s Waste Streams

4. Recovery

When further recycling is not practical or possible, businesses can recover energy or materials from waste through processes such as:

• Incineration
• Anaerobic digestion
• Gasification
• Pyrolysis.

The recovered energy can be made available for the organisation&#;s use or fed back into the electricity grid. 

5. Disposal

When all else fails, materials that cannot be reused, recycled or recovered for energy will be landfilled and incinerated (without energy recovery). This is an unsustainable method of waste management because waste that sits in landfills can continue to have a damaging environmental impact.

For example, one tonne of landfilled food waste is estimated to produce 450kg of carbon emissions. Landfills can also leak chemicals and toxic liquids that can contaminate the soil and groundwater underneath. 

Achieving Zero Waste to Landfill Status

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Are you interested in learning more about Commercial Waste Sorting Equipment? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

The waste management hierarchy also plays a vital role in helping organisations achieve their zero waste to landfill goals. 

In the UK, it&#;s estimated that 7.2 million tonnes of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) &#; food waste, green waste, cardboard, paper and more &#; were sent to the landfill in . That number is 20% of the baseline of landfilled BMW, putting the UK on pace to achieve the Landfill Directive target of restricting landfill disposals to 35% of the baseline by . 

Adopt the Waste Management Hierarchy Today

With the UK running out of landfill space, companies must find viable end-of-life solutions for their products and services to keep them out of landfills. Thankfully, zero-to-landfill targets are now in vogue, led by companies like Dell and Unilever. At Axil, we&#;ve worked with brands like Whirlpool and Cummins to help them achieve and maintain zero-to-landfill status

Waste Management and Covid-19

As several countries chart a course out of lockdowns and social distancing guidelines, the issue of waste management and its impact on the environment has once again come to the forefront of political discourse. 

According to the report, &#;COVID-19&#;s Impact on the Waste Sector&#; by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the pandemic poses multiple waste management challenges. For starters, it has slowed down the recycling of plastics and other products, not just because of the risk of coronavirus transmission but also because of supply chain disruptions. 

Economic Impact

The pandemic&#;s economic impact, paired with low commodity prices, has also raised concerns that manufacturers may increase their dependence on cheaper virgin raw materials over recycled feedstock. 

Disposal at landfills has also increased, in part because of the increase in recyclable materials (such as packaging and plastics) being sent to municipal waste centres. The IFC report also notes an uptick in single-use plastic production, driven largely by the increased use of plastic-based personal protective equipment (PPE) and packaging materials. 

For businesses and governments alike, this global increase in waste generation represents a critical opportunity to refocus their waste management efforts according to the principles outlined in the waste hierarchy. But what is a waste management hierarchy?

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Waste Management Hierarchy

The Highest and Best Use for Waste

The Solid Waste department follows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency&#;s (EPA&#;s) Waste Management Hierarchy by managing waste from the most preferred to least preferred options: reduction of waste generated; reuse of resources; recycling and sending materials back into the marketplace; creating electricity via Waste-to-Energy; and landfilling as a last resort.

This graphic depicts the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency&#;s Waste Management Hierarchy. The design is an inverted triangle with the most preferred option of source reduction and reuse at the top, recycling/composting is listed as the second-most preferred, energy recovery is listed as the third-most preferred and the treatment and disposal being the least preferred at the bottom.

The County operates an integrated solid waste management system with programs for waste reduction, reuse, recycling, energy recovery, and disposal. We refer to this system as the &#;4Rs&#; as in &#;Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover.&#;

Reduce

Waste reduction, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, means reducing waste at the source; it is the most environmentally preferred strategy to manage waste. It can take many different forms, including reusing or donating items, buying in bulk, and reducing packaging.  Take this pledge to reduce your use of single use plastics.

Reuse

The County&#;s free Mulch Pick Up Program is one example of the County&#;s reuse programs. Over 270,000 tons of yard trash is diverted from disposal to be ground into usable mulch every year.

Did you know that, according to our waste characterization study, 9.7% of garbage collected is yard trash? Keep yard trash out of the garbage by participating in a curbside yard trash collection program, or drop off at a yard trash processing facility. Use the Where Does It Go? Search Tool to find locations nearest you.

Recycle

Recycling is the 2nd most preferred method of managing waste. According to EPA, &#;Recycling is a series of activities that includes collecting used, reused, or unused items that would otherwise be considered waste; sorting and processing the recyclable products into raw materials; and remanufacturing the recycled raw materials into new products. Consumers provide the last link in recycling by purchasing products made from recycled content.&#; 

Recycling saves natural resources and diverts material from disposal. To learn more about why recycling is important, view the Why Recycling Is Important webpage.

According to the County&#;s - waste characterization study, 17.6% of disposed material was recyclable material that could have been recycled in local recycling programs; this material includes paper, cardboard, and metal, glass, and plastic containers.

Click here for our Recycling FAQ.

Recovery

Garbage is sent to the County&#;s Solid Waste Disposal Complex, where it is managed via the Waste-to-Energy Facility (WTE) and the Bridgeway Acres Landfill. Approximately 80-90% of garbage is burned at the WTE, which reduces the volume by 90%. This helps extend the life of the one and only operating landfill.

Disposal

Approximately 10-20% of incoming garbage is disposed in the Bridgeway Acres Landfill due to scheduled WTE maintenance periods. Items that are too bulky to fit in the WTE boiler, such as boats, as well as ash from the WTE combustion process are landfilled.

The Bridgeway Acres Landfill has only 80 years of remaining life. If residents were to stop recycling today, the landfill would fill up and be out of service within 60 years. As Florida&#;s most densely populated county, Pinellas County lacks the space to build another landfill.

Why Waste Reduction and Recycling Are Important

Recycling and waste reduction are critical components of the County&#;s integrated solid waste management system.

The County&#;s waste characterization study shows that over 50% of incoming garbage could have been recycled through existing and potential recycling programs.

The WTE is fast approaching its operating capacity, which means that more garbage will need to be landfilled without the added benefit of volume reduction.

Through residents&#; waste reduction and recycling efforts, we can increase capacity at the WTE, so that we continue to receive the benefit of volume reduction and avoid filling up our one and only landfill.

Zero Waste to Landfill by

The County recognizes the need to preserve its landfill, maximize its WTE capacity, and maximize recycling and waste reduction efforts. In , the County released its 30-year Solid Waste Master Plan, which includes 28 strategies that best fit the vision of zero waste to landfill by .

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You Can Help by Getting Involved

• Recycling Collection Service &#; find your community recycling and garbage collection providers.
• Recycle Guide &#; learn how to recycle correctly and where to find recycling programs in your community.
• Recycling Drop Off Centers &#; find the closest Recycling Drop Off Center to you.

Map of Recycling Drop Off Centers in Pinellas County

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