Zero waste

Zero waste is a design principle and movement that aims to conserve resources by preventing waste and keeping materials in use through reuse, repair, and recycling.

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Waste hierarchy: A ranking of waste-management options that generally prioritizes prevention and reuse over recycling, recovery, and disposal. It orders the interventions that zero-waste programs use, with prevention above downstream treatment.
Composting: The controlled biological decomposition of organic matter into a stable soil amendment. Composting returns food and yard scraps to productive use instead of sending them to landfill.
Landfill: An engineered site where waste is deposited and isolated from the surrounding environment. Landfilling removes materials from circulation rather than preventing their disposal.
Life-cycle assessment: A method for evaluating environmental impacts across a product’s life cycle, from material extraction to disposal. It tests whether a proposed waste-prevention measure reduces impacts across the whole system.
Bea Johnson: A French-American author and speaker known for promoting a low-waste household lifestyle. Her public account helped popularize household zero-waste practices internationally.
Design for disassembly: A design approach that makes products easier to take apart for repair, reuse, or material recovery. Products designed for disassembly retain more value when they reach the end of their first use.
Product stewardship: An approach in which producers, users, and others share responsibility for a product’s environmental impacts throughout its life cycle. It broadens responsibility for materials beyond the point of sale.
Waste-to-energy: The recovery of energy from waste through processes such as incineration or anaerobic digestion. Energy recovery treats residual waste but does not keep its materials in use.
Plastics pollution: The accumulation of plastic materials in the environment, where they persist and harm ecosystems and organisms. Reducing disposable products can limit a major source of persistent environmental pollution.
Zero Waste International Alliance: An international organization that promotes and develops definitions and standards for zero-waste practices. It helped establish shared language for a movement with diverse local approaches.