Reducing the amount of waste we produce is not only good for the environment, but also has economic merit. The less waste we have, the lower the cost for treatment and disposal. An internationally-agreed waste hierarchy sets out a model for managing waste. At the most desirable end of the spectrum, no waste would be produced at all. The least-favourable option in the hierarchy is to simply take whatever waste is produced and dump it somewhere. In between are the options of reducing waste, reusing materials, recycling and recovering energy from waste.