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Waste Reduction and Sustainable Development

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education

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Definition

The meaning of waste has evolved in close connection with socioecological transformations and capitalist ideas of value and nature (Cooper 2010). Waste often refers to any material or object that is discarded after the end of a process either because it is no longer useful or desirable. The characterization of waste is mainly from the perspective of the user, and what constitutes waste to one person may still constitute a useful input to another person for a different process. Nonetheless, waste reduction simply entails minimizing the amount of useful resources (like food, water, or energy) that is disposed or applied for alternative uses which do not maximize their value. It could also refer to minimizing the amount of waste generated from anthropogenic activities, through efficient product design, production process management, and changes in consumption patterns.

Despite its defining role in the evolution of international environmental law and policy, there is no...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Law, University of Benin, Benin, Nigeria

    Pedi Obani

Authors
  1. Pedi Obani
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Correspondence to Pedi Obani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Sciences, World Sustainable Development Research and Transfer Centre, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

Section Editor information

  1. No affiliation provided

    Markus Will

  2. No affiliation provided

    Isabel Novo-Corti

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Obani, P. (2019). Waste Reduction and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11352-0_458

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