Three R's

The Three Rs represents the 'Waste Hierarchy', which lists the best ways of managing waste from the most to the least desirable. It is a central theme of EU waste policy.

Reduce: not producing waste in the first place is the obvious solution and we can all play a part by thinking about how and why we produce waste.

Reuse: many of the things we currently throw away could be reused again and again with just a little thought and imagination

Recycle: waste products can be turned back into the raw materials they came from and then used to make new products. This helps to conserve natural resources and energy

Once all of us have done our best to reduce, reuse and recycle there will always be some materials left over and these have to be disposed of. Most of the waste in Northern Ireland goes to landfills where it is buried and decomposes slowly releasing gases and liquids. In some other European countries waste undergoes Thermal treatment or Incineration when the waste is burned or heated in some way to produce energy. Not only are we running out of space in landfill sites, but new European legislation (click here for more information) requires us to find better ways of dealing with waste.