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Every business and household deal with heaps of rubbish every day. To resolve the waste problem, we utilise skip bins, bring our recyclables to the nearby recycling centres or hire a rubbish removal company.
Households and commercial establishments practising proper waste management significantly helped us mitigate the huge piles of garbage going to our landfills. If we are to commit and strengthen our advocacy in reducing our waste, you might want to learn more about the waste hierarchy.
The waste hierarchy provides us with a series of responsible disposal and reduction of our waste from the most favourable to the least preferred actions. Read on to learn how the waste hierarchy helps us mitigate the serious effects of improper rubbish removal and waste management.
What is Waste Hierarchy?
According to EPA-NSW, Waste Hierarchy is a series of priorities for the efficient use of our resources and what is best for our environment. The simplest way to describe Waste Hierarchy — less waste, more resources.
- Conserve our valuable resources
- Minimise the use of raw materials
- Proper disposal and waste management
Additionally, an average Australian generates 2.7 tonnes of waste each year. If we are going to sum it up, we will congest our landfills and other waste disposal facilities. To alleviate these problems, the waste hierarchy provided us with preferable actions to the least favourable options when it comes to waste disposal.
Waste Hierarchy’s Goal
The waste hierarchy will guide us to conserve our valuable resources and preserve our planet from the pool of rubbish we generate from every household to commercial establishments. Let’s take a look at the following list of proper waste disposal preferences according to the waste hierarchy principle.
1. Highest priority: Waste Avoidance and Reduction
The waste reduction and avoidance play an essential role in reducing piles of rubbish you generate from your household, commercial establishments and the industrial sectors. The main goal of waste avoidance and reduction is to maximise efficiency and avoid unnecessary consumption. As they say, buy (only) what you need by:
- Look for an item that requires the least packaging or few resources to produce
- Avoid single-use materials and other disposable goods
- Purchase products that are recyclable, refillable or biodegradable
- Use leftover rather than throwing away
2. Second priority: Recovering resources
When avoiding and reducing waste is not possible, re-use, recycling and recovery of the materials is the next preferable option. Recovery of resources is the second priority in the waste hierarchy that will maximise your options to effectively recover the waste materials.
In the recovery or re-use of waste materials, you’re no longer required to extract new materials which in return minimise the cost of production and processing of new products.
- Re-use. In preparation of reusing the waste materials, it has to undergo a series of checking, cleaning or repairs to avoid pre-processing the reused materials.
- Recycling. Some recyclables require a mechanical process to return its pure state. So, make sure that all your recycled materials go to your nearby recycling facilities.
- Recovery. Non-recyclable waste materials will be converted into usable heat, electricity or fuel which undergoes various processes. The process is often called waste-to-energy (WTE).
But, every operator who intends to use this type of recovery process must comply with EPA-NSW waste fuel guidelines to be an eligible waste fuel facility.
3. Least priority: Waste treatment and disposal
When recycling or recovery of waste materials is not possible, the waste hierarchy suggests the least option of waste treatment before disposal. The treatment process will help reduce the volume of toxicity of waste, especially hazardous chemicals or asbestos.
Conclusion
The waste hierarchy provided us with a comprehensive guideline for sustainable waste management, effective waste disposal and to be responsible consumers. Its main goal is to guide us in disposing of our waste effectively and reduce product consumption as much as possible.
But, the only question is, are we ready to take on the challenge? Check this ultimate guide in recycling waste in 2020, to help us strengthen our fight against this serious waste problem.
Trusted Rubbish Removal Service Provider in Sydney
At Aussie Junk, we will help you achieve your goal. Our company is an advocate for sustainable waste management that provides eco-friendly rubbish removal services in Sydney. We understand that living in a fast-paced world and with an always-on-the-go lifestyle takes time to fully commit to this challenge.
By hiring a responsible rubbish removal provider in Sydney, you’re taking part in our advocacy for a green and clean community. Be a responsible homeowner or business establishment owner by calling a trusted rubbish removalist to help you manage your waste.
You can always rely on Aussie Junk to provide you with efficient and affordable rubbish removal services solutions at any time. For more information on our rubbish removal services in Sydney, call us at 0435 569 921. We guarantee you that our rubbish removalist will come equipped and ready to take on the job 24/7.
