Meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

Management of waste is a basic requirement of ecologically sustainable development.

Sustainable Waste Management is a generic term used to describe waste management methods and solutions that maximise resource efficiency. This includes recycling, recovery, energy recovery and safe and efficient final disposal.

By minimising the amount of waste that is produced and making the best use of the waste that is produced there are immediate benefits and less risk of pollution from waste management practices.

Waste materials can originate from a variety of sources and include: industrial, agricultural, commercial and domestic activities.

This also includes:

• demolition waste
• energy and water waste
• mining waste
• radioactive waste
• sewage sludge

Waste management involves the monitoring, collection, transport, processing and disposal of waste materials.The primary goal of effective and sustainable waste management is prevention, followed by reuse and recycling and appropriate disposal

The aims of waste management are to:

• conserve resources of water, energy and raw materials
• control pollution of land, air and water
• enhance business performance and maintain corporate social responsibility
• improve occupational health and safety

Effective waste management strategies assist in minimising or avoiding adverse impacts on the environment, while allowing economic development and improvement in the quality of life.

Zero waste is a philosophy that aims to guide people in the redesign of their resource-use system with the aim of reducing waste to zero. Put simply, zero waste is an idea to extend the current ideas of recycling to form a circular system where as much waste as possible is reused, similar to the way it is in nature.

Many governments and organisations are adopting ‘zero waste’ policies. This whole-of-system approach aims to reduce waste at the source through product design and producer responsibility.

It also includes waste reduction strategies further down the supply chain such as:

• cleaner production
• product dismantling
• recycling
• repair
• reuse

Source: Waste Management Solutions Overview