Sustainable use of natural resources
There is also an increased focus on sustainable use of natural resources. This means in simple terms that we may well spend the
income from the nature as long as it is relatively equally spent. However, we should be careful in using the
capital of the nature, i.e. the resources that are not renewable or is renewed slower than the consumption of them. The so-called “waste hierarchy” is an example of how to maximise the use of natural resources. In Europe there is a clear priority system regarding how to handle waste. The high priority term “
re-use” it is limited to use for the same purpose for which the component was conceived. The term “
recycling” includes “re-use” but also other sorts of recovery of components for useful purposes. However, “recycling” does not include using the component as fuel. The term “
recovery” also includes using the component as fuel. Then we have the
disposal activities, further down in the hierarchy. Typically it includes
incineration, landfill and re-injection.