Life cycle thinking can be applied to the five stages of the waste management hierarchy.įor example, life-cycle analysis has shown that it is often better for the environment to replace an old washing machine, despite the waste generated, than to continue to use an older machine which is less energy-efficient. A key goal is to avoid actions that shift negative impacts from one stage to another. It involves looking at all stages of a product's life to find where improvements can be made to reduce environmental impacts and improve the use or reuse of resources. Life-cycle assessment provides an approach to ensure that the best outcome for the environment can be identified and put in place. It can help policy makers understand the benefits and trade-offs they have to face when making decisions on waste management strategies. Life cycle thinking and assessment can be used to support decision-making in the area of waste management and to identify the best environmental options. Following the waste hierarchy will generally lead to the most resource-efficient and environmentally sound choice but in some cases refining decisions within the hierarchy or departing from it can lead to better environmental outcomes. Life-cycle thinking Īll products and services have environmental impacts, from the extraction of raw materials for production to manufacture, distribution, use and disposal. It can help prevent emissions of greenhouse gases, reduce pollutants, save energy, conserve resources, create jobs and stimulate the development of green technologies. The proper application of the waste hierarchy can have several benefits. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of waste. The hierarchy captures the progression of a material or product through successive stages of waste management, and represents the latter part of the life-cycle for each product. The waste management hierarchy indicates an order of preference for action to reduce and manage waste, and is usually presented diagrammatically in the form of a pyramid. To be sustainable, waste management cannot be solved only with technical end-of-pipe solutions and an integrated approach is necessary. The hierarchy establishes preferred program priorities based on sustainability. Waste hierarchy is a tool used in the evaluation of processes that protect the environment alongside resource and energy consumption from most favourable to least favourable actions. Tool to evaluate processes protecting the environment
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