What are 5r principal

Reduce

Reducing waste is the most important thing we can do. By reducing waste, we avoid the unnecessary use of resources such as materials, energy and water. It means there is less waste to manage.

Reuse

The next most important thing we can do is reuse waste material. That way it doesn't go in the rubbish and end up in the landfill. It also means you don't have to buy a new product. That saves you money and saves the energy and resources that would have been used to make the new product.

Recycle

Recycling involves some form of reprocessing of waste materials to produce another product. For example, recycling plastic bottles to make buckets.

Recover

This is the recovery of waste without any pre-processing. For example, waste oils that cannot be refined for reuse in vehicles can be burnt for energy recovery. Recovering the energy from waste oil reduces our dependence on coal and imported oil.

Residual Management

This is the last option when waste cannot be used in any other way. Usually, this means sending rubbish to a landfill. Residual disposal of liquid waste is normally into a sewer or septic tank.

It is very important to manage residual solid and liquid waste properly. Waste not disposed of correctly can cause damage to health and the environment.