Environment poster
Updated · Free to print and share
Waste hierarchy poster
The waste hierarchy ranks ways of dealing with waste from best to worst for the environment: prevent it, prepare it for re-use, recycle it, recover energy or other value from it, and only then dispose of it. This poster uses the five levels set out in Article 4 of the EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), drawn as an inverted pyramid, with a plant example for each. Other versions exist, such as the US EPA's waste management hierarchy and the R models (refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle); the order is the same idea.
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The words on the poster
The waste hierarchy
Start at the top. The best waste is the waste you never make.
Most preferred to least preferred
- Prevention Buy less, use less packaging, design out scrap.
- Re-use Returnable crates and pallets. Repair, don't replace.
- Recycling Separate metal, card, plastic and wood.
- Recovery Energy from waste that can't be recycled.
- Disposal Landfill: the last resort.
Levels from the EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), Article 4.
On the floor
How to use it
- 1
Put it by the waste and recycling area, and in the room where packaging and purchasing decisions are made.
- 2
Use it in a waste walk: which level is each waste stream at today, and can it move up?
- 3
Start at the top: the cheapest waste to handle is the waste you never create.
- 4
Pair it with the free environmental aspects and impacts register.
Which size to print
- 24 x 36 in or A2: a main wall or team board, read from a few metres away.
- 18 x 24 in or A3: a station or notice board. The A3 file also fits 11 x 17 in paper.
- Letter or A4: a clipboard, binder or handout, on any office printer.
Every PDF is vector, so it stays sharp at full size. Nothing runs to the edge of the page, so no bleed is needed.
Templates, decks and guides to go with it
- Environmental aspects and impacts registerAn ISO 14001-style register of aspects and impacts, with significance scoring, legal requirements, controls and owners.
- Waste walk checklist (TIMWOODS)32 things to look for across the eight wastes, with where and how much, and a findings log with dot votes, owners and dates.
- Cost savings trackerA savings log with hard and soft savings, payback and Finance's sign-off, plus a glide path against the year's target.
- Topic: Lean manufacturing fundamentalsEvery guide we have on the subject, sorted.
Terms on this poster
A poster reminds. A routine makes it stick.
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