Emphasizing waste prevention and minimization in waste management programmes

Anything that the customer pays for is product; all else that leaves the facility is waste. Ideally, manufacturing activities should produce zero waste. In reality, industry must strive to reduce the waste from manufacturing since this represents an inefficient use of scarce resources.

It can be argued that all waste can be indirectly associated with pollution since the management of waste consumes resources that would not otherwise be used, and pollution is often generated in these waste management activities.

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities. Agenda 21 recommends promoting waste prevention and minimization as the principal objective of national waste management programmes.