Reduce, reuse, recycle

The 3Rs of sustainable supply chain management - reduce, reuse and recycle -are now starting to receive much more attention in most companies today. There is a growing realisation that not only is a strategy focused on improving the environmental impact of economic activity good for all who live on this planet, but because such strategies consume fewer resources the overall profitability of the business should also improve. 

Some examples of the water footprint of different products and commodities are shown below. 

Strong evidence is emerging that consumers are increasingly basing their purchasing behaviour on ethical and environmental criteria. For example, the findings of a recent survey in the UK are summarised in the box below. 

69 per cent of all consumers plan to buy Fair Trade products, 53 per cent currently do. 

61 per cent plan to buy food from farmers markets, up from 43 per cent who do so now. 

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In October 1989 the Canadian Council of Ministries of Environment adopted as its goal the reduction of wastes in Canada by 50 % by the year 2000 [60]. Therefore the govermnent has spelled out the "four Rs" of waste management in order of preference reduce, reuse, recycle and recover. With respect to reduction, rechargeable batteries are promoted as preferable to primary batteries, even though the relative enviromnental risk is still debated by experts. 

Reduce, reuse, recycle, up-cycle, and efficiency terms are already placed into the textile and energy hterature, textile production and apphcations stages, and textile-using lifetime by consumers and even recycling stages. 

Reduce, reuse, recycle is a common slogan among environmentalists, and the order of the three words indicates their perceived relative benefits. Why is... 

Waste Hierarchy Refers to the three caveats of the green movement, reduce, reuse, recycle, which classify waste-management strategies according to their desirability. 

Scott, Nicky. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle An Easy Household Guide. White River Junction, Vt. Ghelsea Green Publishing, 2007. This book offers a helpful A-to-Z listing of household items, explanations on how to recycle discarded products, suggestions on how to make discards profitable, and information on how to draw upon local resources to get more involved in recycling projects and opportunities in local communities. 

The waste hierarchy refers to the 3Rs of reduce, reuse and recycle, which classify waste management strategies according to their desirability. The 3Rs meant to be a hierarchy, in order of importance. However in Europe, the waste hierarehy has 5 steps reduce, reuse, recycle, recovery and disposal. 

Waste is defined as a substance that is discarded and thrown after use and they are classified namely corrtrolled waste and noncorrtrolled waste as shown in Figtrre 5. The waste objects can be re rrtihzed and can be beneficialfy regained to its own value if the system is allowed to follow the 4 R s namefy reduce, reuse, recycle and replace (Vfelde and Kiebens, 2002). 

A life-cycle assessment (LCA) chronicles the life of a commercial product from manufacture to disposal ( cradle to grave ) in order to estimate its true cost and, at the same time, to discover how the product s life cycle might be modified to increase profitability within the framework of existing laws and regulations. The familiar admonitions to reduce, reuse, recycle seek to apply LCA concepts to both ends of products life cycles by minimizing both inputs of natural resources and the amounts of waste products. When applied to toxic chemicals, an LCA examines the quantities of toxics used in manufacturing a product, the exposure of workers who make the product and of consumers who use it, and the environmental fate and transport of toxic chemicals after the product is disposed of. Pollution prevention is based on the life-cycle-assessment approach and has been embraced by many governments. 

Scott, N. 2004. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle An Easy Household Guide. Green Books Totnes. 

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