Preventing waste

Avoiding waste
Using waste avoidance strategies

Description

Preventing waste involves implementing practical measures to reduce the generation of unnecessary materials, energy, and resources throughout production, consumption, and disposal processes. This strategy focuses on efficient resource management, promoting reuse, recycling, and responsible purchasing, and encouraging behavioral change to minimize excess. By targeting the root causes of waste, it remedies environmental degradation, conserves resources, lowers costs, and mitigates pollution, supporting sustainable development and long-term ecological balance.

Implementation

Less Waste: More Value, the UK Government's consultation paper on the waste strategy for England and Wales, was published in June 1998; A Waste Management Strategy for Northern Ireland was issued in June 1998, and the draft National Waste Strategy for Scotland: A Blueprint for Progress 1997-2001, published by SEPA in March 1997.