Post-consumer waste

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Post-consumer waste is a waste type produced by the end consumer of a material stream; that is, where the waste-producing use did not involve the production of another product.

The terms of pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled materials are not defined in ISO standard number 14021 (1999), but pre-consumer and post-consumer materials are. These definitions are the most widely recognized and verified definitions as used by manufacturers and procurement officers worldwide.

Quite commonly, it is simply the waste that individuals routinely discard, either in a waste receptacle or a dump, or by littering, incinerating, pouring down the drain, or washing into the gutter. Things that are used by a consumer and then recycled instead of being permanently disposed of are also considered post consumer waste, even though they are meant to be repurposed. ^[1]

Post-consumer waste is distinguished from pre-consumer waste, which is the reintroduction of manufacturing scrap (such as trimmings from paper production, defective aluminum cans, etc.) back into the manufacturing process. Pre-consumer waste is commonly used in manufacturing industries, and is often not considered recycling in the traditional sense.

It should also be noted that post-consumer waste should not be equated with post-consumer material. Post-consumer material is post-consumer waste that is diverted from landfills and reprocessed into new material to reenter the production cycle. ^[2]

Post-consumer waste is associated with a cradle to grave or linear cycle of production. In this system goods are created using standards of what is the easiest and most cost effective instead of using standards focused on creating recyclable and reusable materials. Instead of being sent back to the industrial sector to be repurposed into new products, the material is sent to the “grave” or landfills/open dumps. ^[3]