Table 1 The difference between traditional waste management and zero-waste management ([91])
From: Plastics: are they part of the zero-waste agenda or the toxic-waste agenda?
Traditional Waste Management | Zero-Waste Management |
|---|---|
Waste is considered as the end of the resource life cycle | Waste is considered as resource in transition or an intermediate phase of a resource life cycle. |
Perceives waste as mainly a technological problem and thus often relies on engineering solutions (e.g. landfill, incineration) | Perceives waste as both social and technological problem and thus seeks social technology (e.g. reuse/recycling) as well as engineering (e.g. anaerobic digestion) solutions |
Highly depends on landfill and incineration technologies | Highly depends on waste avoidance and prohibits landfill and incineration technologies. |
Allows resource depletion for recovering resources from waste, e.g. waste-to-energy | Conservation of resources instead of depletion, e.g. reuse and recycle instead of waste-to-energy |
Limited job opportunities | Comparatively a higher number of job opportunities |