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. It is the garbage that individuals routinely discard in a waste receptacle or a dump, or by littering, incinerating, pouring down the drain, or washing into the gutter.
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. Post-consumer material is post-consumer waste that is diverted from landfills and reprocessed into new material to reenter the production cycle.
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.