Waste Management

Throughout history, there have been four basic methods of managing waste: dumping it; burning it; finding another use for it (reuse and recycling); and not creating the waste in the first place (waste prevention). How those four methods are utilized depends on the wastes being managed. Municipal solid waste is different than industrial, agricultural, or mining waste. Hazardous waste is a category that should be handled separately, although it sometimes is generated with the other types.

The rapid increase in government regulation since about the early 1970s is a phenomenon that has had an enormous impact on all forms of waste management. This has been especially true in the United States, but it has also occurred in many other countries.