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Recycling should be seen as a last defence against landfill. Lance/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

In the wake of the final episode of the ABC’s War on Waste, in which a dismayed Craig Reucassel canvasses Australia’s rubbish-related sins, the idea of “zero waste” is pretty hot right now.

The City of Sydney’s Zero Waste campaign. City of Sydney

But often when we hear of zero waste movements, or civic and corporate zero waste commitments, they are actually “zero waste to landfill” campaigns. They’re not aiming for zero waste to be produced, just for all waste to be managed somehow – usually, relying heavily on recycling.

In fact most of us have probably said, or at least heard, the statement: “It’s not waste – it gets recycled!” or for food, “it goes to compost!”

Certainly it’s old news to the waste recovery industry that one person’s trash is another’s treasure. High-quality, well-sorted waste isn’t just usable, it’s desirable – either for recycling or conversion into fuel.

The Australian recycling industry is doing a good job of repurposing most of our collected recyclable material. This contributes to developing circular economy, in which recycled waste displaces virgin material in production.

But, like many words, there’s a crucial difference between the common and technical definition of waste. Conversationally, “waste” is understood as something unwanted or unusable, that has no value. In technical terms, it’s a classification of a resource or product at a certain point in its value chain.

It might seem like a pedantic distinction. But language shapes our understanding and behaviour, and our conception of what is possible and important.

Albert Shamess, Vancouver’s director of waste management said recently, “we can’t recycle our way to zero waste”. It goes to the heart of the question: is waste still waste if it gets recycled?

The standard waste hierarchy generally demarcates between waste avoidance and waste management, with recycling squarely in the waste management zone. In this sense, recycling is something we do to waste, not a way to avoid it.

The ‘waste hierarchy’ prioritises actions by those with the greatest environmental benefit. UTS: Institute for Sustainable Futures

These days, recycling is standard practice in most Australian households and in general is fairly simple. It’s not that hard to place an item in a recycling bin instead of the rubbish when they’re side by side in the kitchen (or in an office, or public space).

But recycling sits fairly low down the waste hierarchy. When we say “it’s not waste if it gets recycled”, it makes it easier to avoid more important actions with greater potential impact.

Similarly, when zero waste commitments are defined as “not going to landfill”, it’s too easy for companies or cities to set a diversion target and focus on recycling and recovery, rather than setting targets for the more complicated task of waste minimisation.

But while recycling (and recovery) is a great last line of defence, it’s nowhere near as effective as avoiding the waste in the first place.

Why is recycling low on the waste hierarchy?

The waste hierarchy prioritises actions based on how much they benefit the environment. Recycling is certainly magnitudes better than landfill, because it replaces virgin materials in the manufacturing process. For example, recycling aluminium is 95% more efficient than using virgin aluminium, recycling plastic is 85% more efficient, paper 50%, and glass 40%.

But the recycling process still consumes energy (and other resources), and costs money. And for many materials, particularly plastic and to some extent paper, recycling is also a downgrading process.

These materials can only be recycled a certain number of times before they degrade beyond all use, and generally then end up in landfill. At this point, they can’t be recovered for waste to energy.

On the other hand, if we could reduce the amount of material that needs to be recycled, or better yet, the amount that needs to be produced in the first place, these costs would disappear altogether. Better consumer choices can play a role, but more significant are improved resource management and smarter product design.

In our transition to a circular economy, the way we characterise things may shift to emphasise the that objects have value beyond the end of their intended life. But it’s essential we still call a spade a spade.

Regardless of whether something is “waste” if it gets recycled, recycling (and recovery) needs to be seen as what is is – a last line of defence. Minimising waste is more important than managing it, and we need to keep our focus there.

Jenni Downes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

Stable policies could expand the green market from 2% to 13% of the UK economy within three decades, says group representing more than 30 low-carbon companies including Ikea, Siemens and M&S

The UK could be a green business powerhouse in the next three decades, but only if given proper support by government, a group representing more than 30 low-carbon companies has said.

The low-carbon economy in the UK employs at least 432,000 people, with a turnover of more than £77bn in 2015. This is larger than industries such as car-making and steelmaking, which are frequently given the spotlight when politicians discuss industry and jobs.

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Ambitious and long-term policies are needed so that Britain can take advantage of the rapidly growing global market for low-carbon goods and services

Despite the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement on climate change (Anger at US as Trump rejects climate accord, 2 June), the global market for low-carbon goods and services is rapidly growing and the UK must make the most of this opportunity. Spurred in particular by major investments in low-carbon technologies by countries such as China, India, Mexico and South Africa, the Paris agreement could open up $23tn (£18tn) worth of opportunities for low-carbon investments in emerging markets between 2016 and 2030. The commitments made by six world leaders at the recent G7 summit and the decision by China and the EU to collaborate more closely on climate change support this trend.

Related: UK needs government backing to unlock billions in green business, says industry

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A new gold rush is targeting rich ores on the ocean floor containing valuable metals needed for smartphones and green technologies, but also hosting exotic ecosystems

Mining the deep ocean floor for valuable metals is both inevitable and vital, according to the scientists, engineers and industrialists exploring the world’s newest mining frontier.

The special metals found in rich deposits there are critical for smart electronics and crucial green technologies, such as solar power and electric cars. But as the world’s population rises, demand is now outstripping the production from mines on land for some important elements.

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Sustainable fish is the only option if we’re not going to wipe species out. So it’s a big round of applause for new Princes tuna with the all-important blue tick

Whenever a sustainable seafood product reaches the shelves of UK stores I feel like doing a little dance. Step forward tinned tuna from Princes. Prosaic it may be, but it’s the first certified tuna from the Western Pacific wearing the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) blue tick.

It’s time to remove all non-sustainable fish from shelves and menus

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The US president accepts human activity is partly to blame for global warming., says a top official.

Did someone get away with murder? A German detective re-examines a case 5,300 years old.

Humanity is up against enormous challenges, says science writer Julian Cribb. So what could be the key to survival?

Humanity is up against enormous challenges, says science writer Julian Cribb. So what could be the key to survival?

White House has dodged declaring president’s view on climate change, but Haley says leaving Paris accord ‘doesn’t mean we don’t care about the environment’

Donald Trump “believes the climate is changing” partly because of pollution, according to the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.

Speaking on the CNN programme State of the Union, due to air on Sunday, Haley was seeking to define the president’s thinking about climate change in the wake of his announcement that the US will leave the Paris climate accord, joining Syria and Nicaragua as one of three non-signatories.

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The Indian and French leaders pledge to fight climate change together and "protect Mother Earth".

Only three countries have not signed up to the Paris agreement - but for very different reasons.

Former New York mayor says during surprise trip to Paris on Friday that Americans ‘don’t need Washington to meet our Paris commitments’. Bloomberg, who is the UN’s special envoy for cities and climate change, says cities, states and businesses will instead step in to ensure the targets are met

• Michael Bloomberg: US states and businesses will still meet Paris targets

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Teifi Marshes, Pembrokeshire Bilidowcar the cormorant’s called in Welsh – Billy the Ducker

Bound for hides in the Teifi Marshes reserve, I paused to lean against railings on the riverside path and a cormorant arrowed into view, threw up its broad, webbed feet to brake, and touched down on the water.

Seeing it reminded me of a morning 20 years ago in a fishing boat careening into Roonagh in County Mayo on green combers that were the aftermath of an Easter storm. A cormorant had kept us close, wave-skimming company. I asked the skipper, Jack Heanue, what the folk of Inishturk – an English-speaking island – thought of these weirdly beautiful birds.

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Former New York mayor, now UN cities and climate ambassador, says Trump may have withdrawn from Paris accord but American people haven’t

The United States will meet its Paris accord greenhouse gas targets despite Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has said.

A decision by President Trump to pull the US out of Parisand seek renegotiated terms “fair” to America has drawn widespread international condemnation.

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Draft decision says Australia would not, at this rate, meet interim or long-term targets in the Reef 2050 report

Unesco has expressed “serious concern” about the impact of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef and warned Australia it will not meet the targets of the Reef 2050 report without considerable work to improve water quality.

The criticism was contained in a draft decision published as part of the agenda for the upcoming world heritage committee meeting (pdf), which will take place in Krakow, Poland, in the first two weeks of July.

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Samples from waste water treatment plants reveal trends in populations such as the use of nicotine, pharmaceuticals or illicit drugs and the persistence of chemicals from manufacturing.

Biologist Kerensa McElroy is employing crowd funding, to quickly raise funds allowing her work to proceed now, before it is too late.

The fates of the black rat and the phasmid are as intertwined as the air roots of a banyan tree. The survival of one is linked to the extermination of the other, and the battle is on.

It’s clearer than ever the economic interests Trump claims to defend can only be served by acting on global warming

For precious decades experts have explained, over and over, that the science of climate change is incontrovertible, the consequences of blindly sticking with fossil fuels catastrophic and the costs of inaction far higher than switching to a low-emissions economy.

But these facts had no impact on the sceptics, who cling to a worldview where they find “alternative facts”, where fossil fuel power is the only path to prosperity and mounting environmental and economic evidence to the contrary is some kind of dastardly leftwing plot.

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