How to Reduce Waste

There are many ways of disposing of waste. The waste hierarchy lists these methods in a sliding scale, from the most environmentally friendly option to the least for many types of waste:

• Prevention – the best option, this focuses on reducing waste being produced in the first place
• Reuse – for example, using old food containers as lunch boxes or old plastic bags as bin liners
• Recycle – taking materials from old products to make something new,making car parts from old metal drinks cans
• Energy recovery – creating energy from waste, for example by burning it to produce electricity
• Disposal – the worst option for most types of waste. This often involves burying rubbish in landfill

Reduce waste

Recycling can help save materials and energy. It’s even better to reduce the amount of things that are wasted in the first place. The best way of doing this is simply using less. Try asking yourself if you need a product before buying it and taking your own bags when you go shopping.

You can also be careful about what you buy. Choose items that will last longer and try to buy products you can use again instead of disposable items. For full information on environmental issues, waste and recycling please follow the link below :

http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/environment/waste/

This guidance is aimed at businesses and other organisations which take decisions on a day-to-day basis about whether something is or is not waste. In most cases, the decision is straightforward and whoever is taking the decision does not need guidance from the competent authorities to help them take it. However, in some cases, the decision is more difficult (e.g. where the substance or object has a value or a potential use or where the decision is about whether waste has been fully recovered or recycled and has therefore ceased to be waste). The aim of the guidance is to help ensure that the right decision is taken in these more difficult cases.