---
title: Say what? Waste Management terminology guide
description: Every industry has its share of elusive acronyms and terminology. Here’s a glossary list to help you learn the lingo of the waste management industry.
---

[WastePlan Blog](https://blog.wasteplan.co.za/blog)

# [Say what? Waste Management terminology guide](https://blog.wasteplan.co.za/blog/say-what-waste-management-terminology-guide)

 Written by [Bertie Lourens](https://blog.wasteplan.co.za/blog/author/bertie-lourens) | Feb 7, 2019 10:28:00 AM

**Every industry has its share of elusive acronyms and terminology. Here’s a glossary list to help you learn the lingo of the [waste management industry](https://www.wasteplan.co.za/waste-management/).**

- ## **Business waste:**

Waste made by companies, retail, wholesale, entertainment, or the government.

- ## **Chemical waste:**

Waste that is made from harmful chemicals.

- ## **Circular economy:**

An economy regenerative by design, aiming to optimise the value of products, parts, and materials.

- ## **Clean production:**

Manufacturing in which waste is minimised, and toxic prevention practices are continuously applied.

- ## **Closed-loop system:**

A system that enhances supply chain sustainability, by recycling all of the materials in manufactured goods, usually to make the same type of product.

- ## **Commercial waste:**

Waste from a trade or business, or activity related to sport, recreation, education or entertainment. It excludes household, agricultural or industrial waste.

- ## **Compost:**

Decayed organic material, used as a fertiliser for growing plants.

- ## **Construction and Demolition waste (C & D):**

Waste, excluding hazardous waste, that is produced during the construction, alteration, repair, or demolition of any structure.

- ## **CO****2** **Equivalence:**

The amount or concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) within a greenhouse gas related to its projected impact on global warming.

- ## **Cradle to grave:**

The tracking of waste, from the moment it enters a site to the eventual treatment or disposal of that material.

- ## **Domestic waste:**

Material from businesses and households that cannot be recycled.

- ## **Duty of Care:**

A moral or legal obligation to ensure the safety or well-being of others.

- ## **Ecosystem:**

A system of relationships between animals and plants and their environment.

- ## **Electronic Waste (WEEE):**

Any end-of-life item that has an electrical plug or electronic battery.

- ## **Extended Producer Responsibility:**

Measures that extend a person’s financial or physical responsibility for a product to the post-consumer stage of the product.

- ## **Food waste:**

Food intended for consumption that is lost or discarded along the food supply chain.

- ## **General waste:**

Waste that does not pose an immediate hazard or threat to health or to the environment.

- ## **Greenhouse gas emission:**

The generation of greenhouse gas - a gaseous compound capable of absorbing infrared radiation and on setting global warming.

- ## **Hazardous waste:**

Gaseous, liquid or solid waste that has substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment.

- ## **Incineration:**

The destruction of waste material through burning.

- ## **Inert waste:**

Waste that does not undergo any significant physical, chemical or biological transformation after disposal, nor impact negatively on the environment.

- ## **Inorganic waste:**

Non-biodegradable, chemical waste, of mineral origin. Example: aluminum cans.

- ## **Integrated waste management:**

A combination of waste management approaches, including: source reduction, composting, incineration, recycling, and landfills.

- ## **Life-cycle assessment:**

The evaluation of a product or service’s potential environmental impact over its entire life cycle.

- ## **Medical waste:**

Any waste consisting wholly or partly of human or animal tissue, blood,other body fluids, excretions, drugs, or other pharmaceutical products, swabs,dressings,syringes, needles or other sharp instruments.

- ## **Mixed waste:**

Any combination of waste types with different properties, ranging from biodegradable to inorganic waste.

- ## **Municipal solid waste:**

A waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public.

- ## **Organic waste:**

Biodegradable waste that comes from either a plant or an animal. Example: Food waste.

- ## **Recovery:**

The collection and reuse of disposed materials.

- ## **Recycle:**

A process where waste is reclaimed for further use, and processed as a [product or raw material.](https://blog.wasteplan.co.za/blog/reuse-reduce-recycle-renew-the-journey-to-zero-waste-to-landfill-part-1)

- ## **Renewable energy:**

Energy from a source that is not depleted when used, such as wind, hydro, or solar power.

- ## **Reuse:**

To re-utilise articles from the waste stream for a similar or new purpose, without changing their form or properties.

- ## **Sustainability:**

Avoidance of the depletion of [natural resources](https://www.wasteplan.co.za/sustainability/), in order to maintain ecological balance.

- ## **Treatment:**

Any method, technique, or process, which is designed to change the physical, biological, or chemical character or composition of a waste.

- ## **Waste generator:**

An entity, by site, whose acts or processes generate solid waste.

- ## **Waste hierarchy:**

The prioritisation of waste management options (in descending order) throughout its lifecycle.

- ## **Waste management:**

The activities and actions required [to manage waste](https://blog.wasteplan.co.za/blog/where-does-your-waste-go-infographic), from its inception to its final disposal.

- ## **Waste minimisation:**

To make every means possible to avoid and/or reduce the amount of waste and toxicity generated.

- ## **Waste reduction:**

[Using less material and energy](https://www.wasteplan.co.za/waste-reduction/) to minimise waste generation, and preserve natural resources.

- ## **Waste to energy:**

Generating fuel or energy in the form of electricity and/or heat, from waste.

- ## **Waste treatment facility:**

Any site used to accumulate waste for the purpose of storage, recovery, treatment, reprocessing, recycling, or sorting of that waste.

- ## **Zero waste to landfill:**

Waste management and planning approaches that emphasise waste prevention, as opposed to end-of-pipe waste management [disposed in landfills.](https://www.wasteplan.co.za/zero-waste-to-landfill/)

 

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