Examples of Industrial Waste Minimisation Strategies

A. The Packaging Sector

A general waste minimisation strategy for packaging materials could be:

• Use the lowest quantity of packaging and aim for the flimsiest packaging that can provide the necessary level of protection for the product
  
  
• Minimise the amount of over packaging needed to make the product attractive to consumers at the point of sale
  
  
• For non-food applications, maximise the reuse of metal, glass or wooden containers
  
  
• Where reuse of packaging is not feasible, especially when there is a degree of food contamination, recycling of it as raw material should be considered
  
  
• As a least favourable option, prior to disposal, incineration with energy recovery should be considered. This is most prevalent for those packaging wastes that have a high plastics content
  
  

B. The Chemical Industry

The Institution of Chemical Engineers has proposed the following waste minimisation strategy for the chemical industry:

• Design for maximum chemical conversion through the optimisation of process flowsheets and plant inventories
  
  
• Design for maximum energy efficiency in all process plant, equipment and buildings
  
  
• Use low hazard solvents
  
  
• Minimise solvent use, although avoid wholesale substitution by water-based formulations should these require excessive water and/or energy consumption instead
  
  
• Minimise use of process water, henceforth effluent quantity
  
  
• Ensure minimum dilution of carrier liquids, otherwise there will be greater clean-up costs
  
  
• Maintain low inventories of materials and product.