Non-Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Hierarchy

EPA developed the non-hazardous materials and waste management hierarchy in recognition that no single waste management approach is suitable for managing all materials and waste streams in all circumstances.

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The hierarchy ranks the various management strategies from most to least environmentally preferred. The hierarchy places emphasis on reducing, reusing, recycling and composting as key to sustainable materials management. These strategies reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. 

EPA is now in the process of reviewing the waste hierarchy to determine if potential changes should be made based on the latest available data and information.

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Source Reduction and Reuse

Source reduction, also known as waste prevention, means reducing waste at the source, and is the most environmentally preferred strategy. It can take many different forms, including reusing or donating items, buying in bulk, reducing packaging, redesigning products, and reducing toxicity. Source reduction also is important in manufacturing. Lightweighting of packaging, reuse, and remanufacturing are all becoming more popular business trends. Purchasing products that incorporate these features supports source reduction.

Source reduction can:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change,

• Save natural resources,
• Conserve energy,
• Reduce pollution,
• Reduce the toxicity of our waste, and
• Save money for consumers and businesses alike.

Recycling and Composting

Recycling is a series of activities that includes collecting used, reused, or unused items that would otherwise be considered waste; sorting and processing the recyclable products into raw materials; and remanufacturing the recycled raw materials into new products. Consumers provide the last link in recycling by purchasing products made from recycled content. Recycling also can include composting of food scraps, yard trimmings, and other organic materials.

Benefits of recycling include:

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change;

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• Preventing releases of air and water pollutants;
• Saving energy;
• Supplying valuable raw materials to industry;
• Creating jobs;
• Stimulating the development of greener technologies;
• Conserving resources for our children's future; and
• Reducing the need for new landfills and combustors.

Energy Recovery

Energy recovery from waste is the conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into useable heat, electricity, or fuel through a variety of processes, including combustion, gasification, pyrolization, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas (LFG) recovery. This process is often called waste-to-energy (WTE). Converting non-recyclable waste materials into electricity and heat generates a renewable energy source and reduces carbon emissions by offsetting the need for energy from fossil sources and reduces methane generation from landfills. After energy is recovered, approximately ten percent of the volume remains as ash, which is generally sent to a landfill.

Treatment and Disposal

Prior to disposal, treatment can help reduce the volume and toxicity of waste. Treatments can be physical (e.g., shredding), chemical (e.g., incineration), and biological (e.g., anaerobic digestor). Landfills are the most common form of waste disposal and are an important component of an integrated waste management system. Modern landfills are well-engineered facilities located, designed, operated, and monitored to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations. Landfills that accept municipal solid waste are primarily regulated by state, Tribal, and local governments. EPA, however, established national standards that these landfills must meet in order to stay open. The federal landfill regulations eliminated the open dumps (disposal facilities that do not meet federal and state criteria) of the past. Today&#;s landfills must meet stringent design, operation, and closure requirements. Methane gas, a byproduct of decomposing waste, can be collected and used as fuel to generate electricity. After a landfill is capped, the land may be used for recreation sites such as parks, golf courses, and ski slopes.

In order to keep as much material out of the landfill as possible, it&#;s important for each of us to do our part. One of the ways to put that plan into action is through the 3 Rs of waste management &#; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

1. Reduce means to cut back on the amount of trash we generate.
2. Reuse means to find new ways to use things that otherwise would have been thrown out.
3. Recycle means to turn something old and useless (like plastic milk jugs) into something new and useful (like picnic benches, playground equipment and recycling bins).

Learn to reduce

Reducing is simply creating less waste. It&#;s the best method for keeping the environment clean, so it&#;s the first of the 3 Rs. By reducing, you stop the problem at the source. Making less waste to begin with means there&#;s less waste to clean up. Here are some easy ways you can reduce the amount of waste you make:

Pack your lunch in a lunchbox. Paper and plastic bags create a huge amount of waste &#; and plastic bags take hundreds of years to decompose. Try a durable lunchbox or reusable lunch bag instead. Ditto for what goes inside your lunchbox. Instead of plastic baggies, try reusable containers.

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Bring reusable bags to the grocery store. Most stores sell canvas or durable plastic shopping bags that can be used again and again. Some grocery stores even give you a little money off at the checkstand when you BYOB &#; bring your own bags.

Say no to bottled water. Instead of buying bottled water, use a reusable water bottle.

Watch what you buy. When you&#;re in the supermarket, pay attention to the packaging. Can the container be cleaned out and used for something else? And when comparing two similar products, if one has less packaging, consider making that your selection.

Learn to reuse

Reusing is taking old or unwanted items you might otherwise throw away and finding a new use for them. There are all sorts of ways you can reuse items to help reduce your trash footprint:

Clean out your closet. Maybe your size has changed. Maybe your tastes have changed. Instead of throwing away clothes you don&#;t want anymore, give them to someone who will want them. If you have a box of toddler clothes, for example, and your &#;baby&#; is now in grade school, give the clothes to a friend with a young child. You can also donate your clothes to any number of charitable organizations &#; they give your clothes a good home, you get a nice tax deduction.

Share your toys. Do you have a bunch of old toys you don&#;t need anymore? Donate them to a local daycare provider, preschool or family with kids. You can also donate them to local charity. The more you share, the less you waste.

Find a new use for an old item. When it&#;s time to throw something out, think about other possible ways to use it. Glass jars, for example, can become storage for your crafting area or shop. Old bath towels can be cut up and used as wash rags. Plastic pop bottles take on a new life as bird feeders. Make a woven basket or tray out of old magazines. And the toothbrush you&#;re replacing is the perfect scrub brush for hard-to-reach areas.

Have a garage sale. You know that dining room set, exercise equipment, knick-knacks, blender and other things around the house you no longer use? There&#;s someone out there who would love to have them. A garage sale is a great way to clean out your space and help reuse all the items you don&#;t want. You can make a little money too. And when the sale is done, box up anything that didn&#;t sell and donate what&#;s left to a local charity &#; many of them will come to your house to make a pickup.

Learn to recycle

Recycling is the last &#; and most commonly used &#; of the 3 Rs. Recycling is changing discarded materials into new products in order to avoid using more virgin resources.

Corrugated cardboard, milk jug style containers, newspaper and inserts, and tin and aluminum cans can all go in your Rogue Disposal & Recycling red-lid cart to be recycled. But what happens to those items down the road?

Corrugated cardboard is recycled into paper bags, paperboard (like boxes for detergent, cereal, tissue and shoes), new cardboard and even the squiggly middle part of corrugated cardboard.

The plastic in milk jug style containers is turned into plastic lumber for decking, buckets, Frisbees, storage tubs, new plastic bottles &#; and stadium seats!

Newspaper is one of the easiest-to-recycle and most-recycled materials. Yesterday&#;s news gets turned into egg cartons, building insulation, paper plates, kitty litter, construction paper, books, sheetrock and new newspaper.

And when you put tin and aluminum cans in the recycling cart, they are taken to a plant where they can be reprocessed into a variety of new products &#; keeping them out of the landfill and continuing their useful life. Old cans might become new cans, or they may be changed into things like bike frames or asphalt roadway.

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