Zero waste: Difference between revisions

Zero waste is "a practical theory of how to wring maximum efficiency from the use of resources". ^[1] It addresses "...the difficult problem of how to redesign all of society's goods and processes so that nothing is designed for an early obsolescence followed by discard but, instead, is designed in many straightforward ways to be reused perpetually on many levels". ^[2]

History

Paul Palmer created Zero Waste Systems Inc in 1974,^[2] and Palmer states that the term zero waste "had never been used publicly" before he started using it in the early 1970s. ^[3]

Recycling

Recycling is only related to zero waste in the sense that even the most durable products break or wear out eventually. The goal is to design things so that we have significantly less to recycle than we do now.

From The Death of Recycling by Paul Palmer:

"The basic problem that has always plagued recycling is that it accepts garbage creation as fundamental."

"In the current jargon, recycling is an end-of-pipe theory. Zero waste is a redesign theory."

Related

• Annualized geo solar ^W
• Circular economy ^W
• Cradle-to-cradle design ^W
• Deconstruction (building) ^W
• Ecodesign ^W
• Ecoscaping ^W
• Edible tableware ^W
• Energy recycling ^W
• Environmentalism ^W
• Industrial ecology ^W
• Maintenance, repair and operations ^W
• Natural Capitalism ^W
• No such thing as waste
• Passive solar building design ^W
• Permaculture ^W
• Precycling ^W
• Remanufacturing ^W
• Repairable component ^W
• Resource efficiency ^W
• Reuse ^W
• Source reduction ^W
• Sustainable design ^W
• Sustainable packaging ^W
• Waste minimisation ^W
• Zero waste agriculture ^W
• Zero waste ^W
• Zero-waste fashion ^W

References