How can the waste/materials hierarchy show a relationship to other objectives such as value, opportunity, responsibility, leadership?
My former Zero Waste SA colleague Andrew Hutcheon uttered the word 'value' one afternoon many years ago (around 2012), and changed my thinking and framing of ideas.
We had been kicking around ways to bring a social responsibility aspect into our work, which was focused on materials, diversion of waste from landfill and working towards highest and best use of resources.
On a whiteboard, here's what we cooked up:
We wanted to position the waste hierarchy withing two social axes - one, the opportunity for creating more value the further one travelled from 'Dispose' to 'Avoid', and two, acting responsibly creates reputational benefits by demonstrating good citizenship and leadership.
We reckoned pursuing these twin objectives would help drive action towards sustainability, and a social license to operate.
Our thinking then is now reflected in 'The Value Hill' concept which is a useful way to consider the intent of the original waste hierarchy in relation to the circular approach.
