Zero Waste Initiatives in Business: A Critical Examination

Corporate press releases increasingly feature announcements of goals and achievements relating to zero waste, and the past few years have seen release of the first standards and certifications for “zero waste”. In... [ view full abstract ]

Corporate press releases increasingly feature announcements of goals and achievements relating to zero waste, and the past few years have seen release of the first standards and certifications for “zero waste”. In practice, achieving zero waste means that a business facility no longer sends waste to landfill; instead, waste streams are reduced through product/process redesign and are diverted from landfill to reuse, recycling, composting, or waste-to-energy purposes. Perhaps the first major U.S. facility to achieve zero waste to landfill was Subaru of Indiana’s auto assembly plant. Even though the plant produces 200,000 vehicles per year, Subaru claims that a typical household sends more waste to landfill in a single day than its assembly plant does over the course of a year. Subsequent years have witnessed an increasing number of companies throughout the world that have announced goals and initiatives for achieving zero waste.

Despite the increasing prominence of zero waste initiatives in the business world, the research literature has not examined the concept and implementation of zero waste from a critical, systems perspective. This research presentation addresses this gap in several ways. First, the definitions of zero waste as used by firms and as seen in emerging standards and certifications are systematically reviewed and compared. Next, while corporate initiatives invariably are focused on zero waste at the facility level, this research proposes an extended, conceptual framework of levels at which zero waste can be considered, including not only facility, but also, company, supply chain, product, community and economy levels. Issues and challenges for implementation of zero waste at each of these levels are critically examined, and connections are made with related concepts such as circular economy. In addition, this research identifies potential shortcomings and unintended consequences that can occur from zero waste initiatives in practice. Case studies are used to illustrate system-level issues such as: the shifting of waste burdens between firms (e.g. between supplier-manufacturer or manufacturer-retailer); the unintended environmental consequences that may be generated in the course of pursuing zero waste to landfill goals (e.g. impacts on sensitive airsheds from increased diversion to waste-to-energy); and the trade-offs that can occur from a life-cycle perspective when end-of-life and zero waste to landfill is the focal objective. From these conceptual frameworks and case illustrations, this research critically examines the concept and implementation of zero waste initiatives in business and identifies issues and opportunities for improvement.