The following is the EPA ' s preferred hierarchy of approaches, taken from its Web site. Source reduction can help reduce waste disposal and handling costs because it avoids the costs of recycling, municipal composting, landfilling, and combustion. It also conserves resources and reduces pollution. Recycling is the process by which materials are collected and used as raw materials for new products. Recycling prevents potentially useful materials from being landfilled or combusted, thus preserving our capacity for disposal.
Recycling often saves energy and natural resources.
Composting, a form of recycling, can play a key role in diverting organic wastes from disposal facilities. Waste combustion and landfilling play a key role in managing waste that cannot be reduced or recycled. Combustion in specially designed facilities reduces the bulk of waste and provides the added benefit of energy recovery. Source reduction and recycling can remove items from the waste stream that may be difficult to burn, cause potentially harmful emissions, or make ash management problematic. Landfilling is and will continue to be a major component of waste management.