Waste Hierarchy - reduce (prevent) > re-use > recycle > recover > disposal

It has been awhile since the US Congress passed the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 that ultimately gave us the 3 Rs. We have learned a lot since those early days. Arguably, the most important of these lessons is the value of waste. In circular economy terms waste or byproducts from one industry or process can provide necessary raw materials for another. Waste can also be converted to fuel or recovered as an energy source to reduce the need for new material extraction.

EU Member States Waste Management Hierarchy