ABSTRACT

In 1926, Henry Ford observed, “Waste is not something which comes after the fact. Ford, who was obsessed with reducing the waste of material and time, may have had a particular example in mind. Definitions of waste emerging from Germany are especially interesting. The German Recycling and Waste Management Act of 1996, for example, separates all goods circulating in an economy into just two categories: products and waste. The net effect is to attach the responsibility for managing waste to the manufacturer from the very inception of the product life-cycle. Launching a waste prevention program may seem a daunting enterprise. An EPA report says partners in the voluntary program eliminated 453,000 tons of materials through waste prevention activities during 1996, a 30% increase over the previous year. Corrupads are corrugated cushioning pads produced from 100% post-consumer waste paper.