Activity 5 Don't throw that away - Zero Waste SA - SA.Gov.au

Activity 5 Don’t throw that away. . .RecyclingBackground InformationThe waste management hierarchy is the international guide for prioritising waste management practices to achieveoptimal environmental outcomes. It sets out the preferred order of waste management practices.Higher up the hierarchyThe further activity moves up the waste management hierarchy, the more greenhouse gains there are to be made.Reuse requires less energy than recycling, although designs which areboth adaptable and durable are essential to its success. Other factors,such as the consumer desire for ‘newness’, can conspire against reuse.There are many ways that clothes, cars, books, buildings and othermaterials are currently reused, such as:• trash and treasure markets• e-bay• Freecycle swap sites.Reuse is already part of our society, so there is an existing precedent tobuild on.Reduce requires less energy again, by designing out waste before it iscreated. Waste, in all its guises, is an indicator that systems and processescould be designed better. It makes no sense to pay both financial andenergy/greenhouse costs for waste twice – first to create it, then to dispose of it.Avoid is the ultimate zero waste challenge: the highest point on the hierarchy. The volume and rate at whichresources are being channelled through the human economy needs to be slowed, and we must recognise that allour material goods have an energy ‘price tag’.The zero waste and climate change agenda can be effectively tackled only with a move beyond recycling into thelargely uncharted territory of the higher end of the hierarchy – reuse, reduce and avoid – with a particular emphasison eco-efficiency (the same or greater utility from less material input).Happy Mothers Day20 | Recycle Right is a program delivered by Zero Waste SA www.zerowaste.sa.gov.au