15-11-2012, 03:22 PM
Waste minimisation
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Waste minimization is the process and the
policy of reducing the amount of waste produced
by a person or a society.
Waste minimization involves efforts to minimize
resource and energy use during manufacture. For
the same commercial output, usually the fewer
materials are used, the less waste is produced.
Waste minimisation usually requires knowledge
of the production process, cradle-to-grave
analysis (the tracking of materials from their
extraction to their return to earth) and detailed
knowledge of the composition of the waste.
The main sources of waste vary from country to country. In the UK, most waste comes from the
construction and demolition of buildings, followed by mining and quarrying, industry and commerce
[1]. Household waste constitutes a relatively small proportion of all waste. Reasons for the creation
of waste sometimes include requirements in the supply chain. For example, a company handling a
product may insist that it should be packaged using particular packing because it fits its packaging
equipment.
In the waste hierarchy, the most effective approaches to managing waste are at the top. In contrast to
waste minimisation, waste management focuses on processing waste after it is created, concentrating
on re-use, recycling, and waste-to-energy conversion.
Industries
In industries, using more efficient manufacturing processes and better materials will generally reduce
the production of waste. The application of waste minimisation techniques has led to the
development of innovative and commercially successful replacement products. Waste minimisation
has proven benefits to industry and the wider environment.
Waste minimisation often requires investment, which is usually compensated by the savings.
However, waste reduction in one part of the production process may create waste production in
another part.
Product design
Waste minimisation and resource maximisation for manufactured products can most easily be done
at the design stage. Reducing the number of components used in a product or making the product
easier to take apart can make it easier to be repaired or recycled at the end of its useful life.
In some cases, it may be best not to minimise the volume of raw materials used to make a product,
but instead reduce the volume or toxicity of the waste created at the end of a product's life, or the
environmental impact of the product's use. (See section Durability).
Fitting the intended use
In this strategy, products and packages are optimally designed to meet their intended use. This
applies especially to packaging materials, which should only be as durable as necessary to serve their intended purpose. On the other hand, it could be more wasteful if food, which has consumed
resources and energy in its production, is damaged and spoiled because of extreme measures to
reduce the use of paper, metals, glass and plastics in its packaging.
Durability
Improving product durability, such as extending a vacuum cleaner's useful life to 15 years instead of
12, can reduce waste and usually much improves resource optimisation.
But in some cases it has a negative environmental impact. If a product is too durable, its replacement
with more efficient technology is likely to be delayed. For example, a washing machine produced 10
years ago may use twice as much water, detergent and energy as one produced today.[citation needed]
Therefore, extending an older machine's useful life may place a heavier burden on the environment
than scrapping it, recycling its metal and buying a new model. Similarly, older vehicles consume
more fuel and produce more emissions than their modern counterparts.
Most proponents of waste minimisation consider that the way forward may be to view any
manufactured product at the end of its useful life as a resource for recycling and reuse rather than
waste.[citation needed] Recycling a product is easier if it is constructed of fewer materials. Car
manufacturers have recently reduced the number of plastics used in their cars from twenty or more to
three or four,[citation needed] hence simplifying the recovery of plastics from scrapped cars. However,
exceptions (like having a combination of paper and plastic or plastic coating on glass) do exist, and
might enable a product to fulfill its role with the minimum of resources.