Zero Waste Management System

Zero waste management is the holistic approach which utilizes waste as a resource produced in the intermediate steps in the process of consumption of resource. It reduces the cost of product formation, protects the environment and creates additional job opportunities. This idea is being utilized in several sectors including management of waste and its treatment, manufacturing and urban development. Zero waste index is known to substitute energy, greenhouse gases, water by the resources recovered from the waste. In this chapter, challenges of industrial solid waste, e-waste, food waste, waste packaging and zero construction waste have been discussed to transform the traditional waste toward zero waste vision. Zero waste management so far has been used to form biodegradable plastic, clothes in sustainable fashion, production of biogas from organic waste. This can be achieved by using 7R strategy—reduce the amount of waste, reuse the resources, recycle resources, refuse to receive unnecessary objects, repair things for their prolonged use, rethink and refuse to think judiciously about the resources to be used and refuse to waste them. Such strategy is very useful as it does not utilize the processes like incineration that emit more toxins and pollutants thus degrading the quality of air. Zero waste management at home includes use of disposables, reusing the bottles, handmade cleaning tools, using ceramic dishes, cloth napkins, downloading music and videos instead of purchasing CDs and DVDs, using refillable pens, refillable whiteboard markers and many more. It is important to increase the awareness among the stakeholders by organizing campaigns. Moreover, sorting of the waste properly using temporary disposing sites, proper time management and improved waste logistics will improve the technical operations used in zero waste management. This strategy needs to be developed sustainably to minimize the environmental damage and protect natural resources.