There is no such thing as throwing an item "away." It goes somewhere. It may be "single-use," but it is not "disposable." It may be moved, compacted, buried or changed to ash and vapour, but something still must be done with the resulting waste and emissions.

Prevention is better than cure.

Much of today's environmental protection focuses on what to do with wastes and emissions that have already been created, focusing on 'end-of-pipe' treatment. As opposed to this notion, the ultimate goal of CP is to avoid generating pollution in the first place. The idea underlying the promotion of CP is:

"It makes far more sense for a generator not to produce waste rather than develop extensive treatment and disposal schemes to ensure that the waste stream poses no threat to human health or the quality of the environment."

Options for waste management are arranged in a hierarchical manner to reflect their desirability. The figure below gives an overview of the hierarchy.

Waste avoidance and reduction should be considered as the first options. If the waste cannot be avoided, then the quantities should be minimized. Once all avoidance and minimisation options have been eliminated, then options for recovery, reuse and recycling can be considered. Treatment and disposal should only be adopted as a last resort.