'Sustainable materials management': A new international solid waste paradigm

摘要

In recent years, many solid waste practitioners and agencies have argued for a new approach to replace 'end of pipe' waste management technologies such as waste incineration and landfilling. This new approach is often called the 'sustainable materials management' paradigm, which aims at a comprehensive evaluation of how materials are managed upstream of traditional waste management techniques so they can be sustainably managed at all stages of their life cycle throughout the economy (Rogoff, 2013). That is, this new paradigm helps address all the stages of materials and products from raw material extraction to product design, manufacture, and transport, consumption by the consumer, use, reuse, recycling, and then final disposal of residuals.