The waste hierarchy orders the possible situations of waste production and management from the most desirable to the least desirable in terms of environmental and economic health. It begins with the most desirable situations being to redesign products and systems to avoid waste and to reduce overall waste and reuse products. It then it continues to recycling, composting, material recovery, and biological treatment and landfilling. The least desirable practice is waste deregulation and incineration.

This factsheet explains the hierarchy and why it is important to reduce and prevent waste by using a "zero waste" method.