Re Use
Reuse can be defined as recovering value from a discarded item without reprocessing or remanufacture (Waste Management Board, 2004). Typically this will involve an item being reused in its original function or similar. Importantly, the definition of reuse does not preclude relatively minor pre-treatments like washing, reconditioning or painting.
Reuse vs Recycling
Reuse is given priority over recycling within the Waste Hierarchy because it is assumed to provide greater savings in resource consumption. In other words, reusing an item for its original purpose generally consumes fewer resources than sending the item back to a manufacturer to be converted into the raw materials for the manufacture of a new version of the same item. The assumption that reuse is better than recycling has been challenged on many occasions by industry groups including the packaging industry - see for example FEFCO, 2003.
What can be reused?
Many materials can be reused with very little or no processing instead of being disposed of to landfill. Reuse benefits the environment by reducing the need to harvest new resources for each new product, and as a consequence of this the overall cost of production may be significantly reduced. Many waste products have the potential to be reused enabling cost savings from landfill avoidance and from not having to make and use new products.
Examples of reuse in initiatives include:
- Product reuse - retreading tyres, recovery of demolition materials, reuse of plastic bags, second hand clothing, reconditioning and repair of furniture and appliances;
- Materials reuse - Liquidpaper board for seedlings planters, bottles, scrap paper for notes/phone messages;
- Durable packaging - e.g. milk crates, bread trays, string or calico shopping bags.
Formal resource exchange networks are growing in popularity throughout Australia. The 'Industrial Waste Exchange' has been established in Western Australia with the objective of facilitating the reuse, recycling and reprocessing of materials through the provision of information registers, introducing the source of materials to people/industries searching for those particular materials. The IWE also facilitates the shift away from seeing redundant materials as waste to seeing them as a resource and a commodity in an industrial sense. Similar networks have been established in other States and around the world.
Positive effects associated with reuse
- More effective use of resources
- Employment opportunities in the service and repair industries
- Support for charity based stores
- Better protection of products as durable packaging is more robust
- Changes in attitudes towards disposable products
References
- Waste Management Board, 2004, Strategic Direction for Waste Management in Western Australia.
- European Federation of the Corrugated Board Manufacturers (FEFCO), 2003, Environmental Benefits of Recycling vs. Reuse: Corrugated Board Packaging as Illustration.
Other Sites
Mulch Net - Your Online "House & Garden" Products and Services Guide