Zero Waste: An Approach To Sustainable Waste Management- A Review

Rapid urbanization, booming economy, increasing population, and the rising quality of life in the world has greatly accelerated global solid waste generation. Solid waste is amongst the major environmental issues because of its management involving a constant decline of available finite resources, leading the world to an unstable future. In order to avoid further decline of global resources, strategic waste management system and sustainable consumption would be needed. One approach suggested to address these concerns is the "Zero Waste" concepts. The Zero Waste Approach was formulated with the goal of promoting the efficient use of resources; consumption and production at the highest possible level of waste recycling. The concept of zero waste (ZW) constantly encourages both consumers and producers to implement sustainable strategies to reduce their expenses and contribute to a better environment. With the reusability and recycling of the generated waste in another manufacturing process, sustainable production theories, use of optimization tools, and development of precision manufacturing systems, etc., zero waste management can be supported. It is still difficult to transform currently over-consuming practices into zero waste. Taking into account the growing and serious concern about solid waste issues and the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to their management, this study concluded a literature review on 'Zero Waste'.