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]

Core concepts

"Zero waste demands that all products be redesigned so that they produce no waste at all and furthermore, that the production processes (a kind of product in themselves because they too are carefully designed) also produce no waste." - Paul Palmer ^[4]

Responsibility

"The essence of Zero Waste is responsibility for whatever you use, buy or control." - Paul Palmer ^[4]

Design for reuse

Design things to be durable and reused for as long as possible.

The intention is to reuse the function of a product, not just the materials (e.g. recycling).

"Zero Waste states that the best way to avoid waste is to reuse everything over and over – perpetually. And that this can only be done if reuse is designed into all products, right from the start." - The Zero Waste Institute ^[1]

More information:

• Wikipedia:Reuse
• An Analysis of the Spectrum of Re-use by David Parker (via Oakdene Hollins)

Design for remanufacturing

From the Remanfucaturing Industries Council:

Remanufacturing is a comprehensive and rigorous industrial process by which a previously sold, worn, or non-functional product or component is returned to a "like-new" or "better-than-new" condition and warranted in performance level and quality.

Remanufacturing is not the same as "recycling" or "repairing".

More information:

• Wikipedia:Remanufacturing
• Why remanufacture? - Center for Remanufacturing & Reuse
• Remanufactured Goods: An Overview of the U.S. and Global Industries, Markets, and Trade
• Product and Process Design for Successful Remanufacturing
• Remanufacturing: The next great opportunity for boosting US productivity
• A Perspective on Remanufacturing Business: Issues and Opportunities

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