Reduce, reuse, recycle

[edit] Introduction

Reduce, reuse and recycle is a motto used by environmentalists to reduce waste, minimise consumption and ensure the best overall approach is adopted for the environment and human health. Such programmes when managed at national and/or local levels can save money, energy and natural resources.

Reduce, reuse and recycle are part of the ‘waste hierarchy’ guidance tool which ranks waste management options according to what is best for the environment and also considers resource and energy consumption. It aims to extract from products the maximum practical benefits and generate minimal waste. The priorities in the hierarchy are based on sustainability.

The waste hierarchy pyramid.

The waste management hierarchy features a distinct order of preference – usually represented by a pyramid diagram – which is designed to facilitate reduction and management of waste. The pyramidal structure emphasises options from those that are most favoured to those least favoured.

In the UK, this falls under the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, which came into force on 29 March 2011.

The origins of waste hierarchy guidance stretch back to 1975, when the European Union’s Waste Framework Directive introduced the concept into European waste policy. It emphasised waste minimisation, protection of the environment and human health.

[edit] Reduce

In the first instance, reduction gives priority to preventing waste as a basic step. In other words, through judicious purchasing and use behaviours, the amount of waste can be reduced. Reduced waste means less material to process, ie prepare it for reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal.

Reduction/prevention may include;

• Using less material in design and manufacture.
• Consuming only what is needed, avoiding pointless purchases. Sharing rarely-used items.
• Keeping products for longer.
• Buying only products that can be reused.
• Hire or lease items.
• Buy products with no or minimal packaging.
• Regular maintenance can extend the lifecycle of a product hence lower the need for new material.

[edit] Reuse

Reuse and preparing for reuse may involve:

• Checking cleaning, repairing, refurbishing, whether whole items or parts.
• Reusing items such as carrier bags, envelopes, newspaper, cardboard, bubble wrap, jars, pots, old clothes, packaging, tyres, used wood and building materials and so on.
• Buying a wide range of products from clothes to building materials at specialist recycling centres.
• Reusing containers.
• Maintaining and repairing products as far as possible, eg, clothes, tyres, bricks, roof slates
• Regular maintenance.
• Reusing surplus material from other organisations.

[edit] Recycle

Turning materials that would otherwise be thrown away into new substances or products. The benefits include:

• Reduced waste sent to landfill.
• Conserves natural resources.
• Less pollution from lower levels of extraction and manufacturing activities.
• May create employment opportunities.

[edit] Other recovery methods

The three steps above, once implemented, can lead to other recovery methods, such as anaerobic digestion, incineration with energy recovery, and finally disposal involving landfill and incineration without energy recovery.

The waste hierarchy as described above applies to most materials. However, the UK government concedes that for some materials, it may be better for the environment if they undergo waste management options that are not in keeping with the waste hierarchy order. These materials include:

• Food – research has shown that anaerobic digestion is environmentally better than composting and other recovery options;
• Garden waste and mixtures of food waste – dry anaerobic digestion followed by composting is environmentally better than composting alone,
• For lower grade wood, energy recovery options are more suitable than recycling. To determine the grade of wood handled, see Wood Recyclers Association grading structure for UK derived, non-virgin wood Applying the Waste Hierarchy: Evidence Summary, section 19.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Bin blight.
• BREEAM Operational waste.
• Building Back Better: Circularity and BREEAM.
• Casing.
• Circular economy.
• Environmental plan.
• Glass bottle floor foundation.
• Mean lean green.
• Recyclable construction materials.
• Recycling.
• RIBA Stirling Prize winners' open letter declaring climate and biodiversity emergency.
• Site waste management plan.
• Sustainability.
• The Carbon Project: infrastructure and the circular economy.
• UandI Think event with Studio SWINE.
• Waste hierarchy for construction.
• Wishcycling.