This document introduces the concepts of waste prevention. It discusses how waste prevention aims to reduce waste generation by focusing on not producing waste in the first place. It outlines EU initiatives on waste prevention and management. Key concepts covered include the waste hierarchy of prevention, reuse, recycling and disposal, and the challenges of measuring success of prevention since waste not produced is difficult to quantify.

1. Module 2
Unit 2.3 Waste Prevention

2. Learning Objectives
The aim of this unit is to introduce participants to the concepts
and principles of Waste Prevention
Once you have completed this unit you will be able to:
• Learning
objectives
• Have general information about
waste prevention,
• Identify EU initiatives (and examples)
• Elaborate case studies and examples
• Perform waste prevention in diverse
organisations
EQF Levels: This Content is mainly suitable for EQF
level 5
In this Unit we will look at:
• Introduction
• Waste Management
• Principles of Waste Management
• Waste Prevention
• Examples
• Case Studies & Further reading

3. Introduction
Natural resources are a vital component of every country’s national patrimony.
Valuing these resources by exploiting both the non-renewable raw materials (minerals and fossil fuels), and the
renewable ones (water, air, soil), and by processing them into life-necessary products largely determines the
economic and social development level of the country, the environmental conditions, and the population living
conditions.
In 2005, the EU launched a series of thematic strategies on the sustainable use of natural resources and on waste
prevention and recycling. Moreover, the revised EU sustainable development strategy, adopted in June 2006,
placed the natural resource preservation and management, as well as the sustainable consumption and
production, amongst the seven main challenges it tackled.
The document also identifies the appropriate targets and operational objectives. The Sixth EU Environment Action
Programme in the field of environment, revised in 2007, places a special focus on the EU need to achieve
economic and social development within the ecosystem carrying capacities. Breaking the connection between the
economic growth and the impact the resource use, consumption and waste have on the environment continues to
pose a vital concern.

4. Illustration of where Waste Prevention fits in to
the life cycle of products and waste
Waste is relatively self explanatory and is distinct from recycling and re-use.
The purpose is to prevent the waste from being generated in the first instance.
It focus is more on the manufacturing sector and the requirement to look to
avoid producing waste. The opportunities for waste prevention are lost once a
product has been given to the consumer. The following diagram (Adapted from
ADEME, the French Environment Agency, 2008) illustrates this well.

5. Waste Management
Waste management refers to the collection, transport, treatment, recycling storage and
disposal of waste. This term usually refers to the materials resulting from human
activities and to mitigating their impact on human health, and the environment.
The aim of waste management is often to save natural resources by re-using the
recoverable parts. Managed wastes can be in solid, liquid or gaseous form and have
various properties (for instance, radioactive), requiring specific treatment methods
adapted to each of them.
The EU economy uses 16 tonnes of materials per capita, on an annual basis. Out of
these, 6 tonnes become waste, with half being landfilled. As such, many Member States
still rely on the landfills, even though they are not a sustainable solution.
Landfills can contaminate the soil and pollute the water and air. Uncontrolled waste
disposal can lead to spilling hazardous chemicals, which can have harmful effects on our
health. Not to mention that the valuable materials in the wastes are lost with them.

6. Principles of Waste Management
Good waste management practice follows a number of principles:
• The prevention principle, according to which, the activities are ranked in the order of
their importance: avoiding waste appearance, minimising the quantities of produced
waste, reusing waste, treatment by recovery, treatment by disposal.
• The BATNEEC principle stipulates that the Best Available Technique Not Entailing
Excessive Cost shall be used. This helps define what technological solution should be
used when treating or recovering waste.
• The “Polluter pays” principle (PPP), mean that the person or company that generated
the waste should pay for it treatment or disposal. In the Uk the costs of waste
collection/treatment/disposal from households is paid for directly through a council
tax applied to everyone. This isn’t quite in line with polluter pays. (Quick question –
how could such a PPP arrangement be put in place for household?)
• The substitution principle stipulates that the hazardous materials should be replaced
by other non-hazardous ones.
• The proximity principle provides that the wastes be treated as close to their source as
possible. Transport is allowed only to facilities having the necessary treatment
technologies.
• The integration principle sets forth that the waste management activities are an
integral part of the social and economic activities generating them.

7. Waste Hierarchy
Another key concept is the waste hierarchy. The ranking of the waste
management options, as presented in the Waste Framework Directive
2008/98/CE, applies as a priority order within the legislation and policies on
waste management prevention, and the decreasing priority order is as follows:
Check out the video which follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS_8p-6XC7U&feature=youtu.be

8. Waste prevention
Waste prevention is directly linked to the generation of waste. You can expect that waste prevention would
inevitably result in a reduction in the amount of waste a country generates. One way we look at how effective we
are at waste prevention is to look at the relationship between economic growth and waste generated. One way of
looking at economic growth is Gross Domestic Product (GDP which measure the wealth created per person in a
given year) as our economies grow, GDP grows, but so will the amount of waste produced to create that wealth.
What is needed is to try and decouple economic growth from waste generation.
Look at the figure below (from an EEA Report “Waste prevention in Europe – the status in 2013”). It identifies 3
stages of decoupling. Most countries are in the no decoupling mode. Waste prevention and more efficient use of
resources will lead to a decoupling.

9. Exercise
Try to define two opportunities in an organisation that
will lead to waste prevention.
• Try to focus on prevention in terms of not producing the
product or waste in the first instance, rather than give a re-
use example.
Now check out the following video that seeks to realise
value from waste.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr_DGf77OhM&feature=youtu.be

10. Waste prevention Strategies
Waste prevention strategies re often supported by public campaigns to encourage behaviour change
and a rethink on the necessary use of material.
Informational strategies, aimed to change behaviour and make informed decisions, include:
• Awareness campaigns
• Information on waste prevention techniques
• Training programmes for competent authorities
• Ecolabelling.
The EU has actively encouraged Waste Prevention Plans from Member States in the EU, as part of
the requirements set out in the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC). Details of these plans are
given at this link (http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/facts/WPP) Here you find links to factsheets on the
selected waste prevention best practices. The factsheets summarise each initiative, describing the
regional background, policy context and targeted waste stream.

11. Challenges for Waste prevention
One particular challenge we have for waste prevention is to determine how
successful we have been. If waste isn’t produced in the first instance , how can
we determine the amount of waste we have actually prevented and therefore
how might be we possibly determine the saving we have made. Hence why
national waste prevention programmes want to understand the link between
economic growth (GDP) and waste generation.
The video in the following two slides will highlight particular case where an
health product retailer has given though to how they might reduce their waste
and a food restaurant.
https://youtu.be/zQObQ-Fj6Ew - health product retailer
https://youtu.be/FLKjUdPQiSg - food restaurant

12. Summary
Waste prevention:
• Is preferred to re-use and recycling since it directly tackles
the consumption of materials and eliminates waste
• Success is determined if the link between GDP and waste
generation is broken.
• Industry can play a key role by think about the products they
make and the materials they consume
• Often prevention requires promotion of government
campaigns to encourage society to adopt waste prevention
measures.