The best waste is the one that is not produced

It seems to be obvious, but the best rejection is what is not there, or, at least, that does not become such! National legislation defines waste as something which is discarded or which one is obliged to discard and, in order to prevent illicit trafficking and to ensure adequate levels of environmental and health control, is subject to complex and severe legislation, that often, paradoxically, makes difficult its re-immission in the circuit of "goods". A "circular economy" is low in the order of minimizing waste production, lengthening the life of goods -  tending to eliminate "disposable" -, re-use of goods before they become waste and, finally, through the recycling of waste to obtain new raw material. For these reasons, the new European and national legislation considers it first of all essential to rethink the design of goods and packaging according to this "hierarchy of options", in order to make it practical and avoid the two remaining options, considered the least environmentally acceptable, namely, in order, incineration and landfill.