ABSTRACT
Waste minimisation refers to strategies that are aiming to prevent waste through upstream interventions. On the production side, these strategies are focusing on optimising resource and energy use and lowering toxicity levels during manufacture. Strategies that are considered to minimise waste and thus improve resource efficiency in or even before the manufacturing process are, for example, product design, cleaner production, reuse of scrap material, improved quality control, waste exchanges, etc. On the consumption side, waste minimisation strategies aim to strengthen awareness and prompt environmentally conscious consumption patterns and consumer responsibility to reduce the overall levels of waste generation. Minimising waste often provides economic benefits such as using inputs more efficiently to reduce purchases of raw materials. Manufacturers will see a reduction in waste spend as the volume of Non-product Outputs (NPOs) decreases. Additional cost savings can be realised through reduced expenditures for costly hazardous material management and disposal. Waste minimisation involves redesigning products and/or changing societal patterns, concerning consumption and production, of waste generation, to prevent the creation of waste.
