By embracing an ambitious “zero waste” program, Vermont can, and should, break from current linear use of our resources, wherein which raw materials are extracted, processed into consumer goods, consumed, and then disposed primarily by being landfilled or incinerated.
Zero waste is a systems approach that seeks to drastically alter the way that materials move through our society, striving for the elimination of waste, rather than the management of it. A zero waste approach considers the entire lifecycle of a product and promotes a “circular resource management system” in which discarded materials are looped back into the economy to be reused, reprocessed, or composted.
This document presents a roadmap for how Vermont can move towards zero waste in the years ahead.
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