Waste prevention is the best waste management policy option according to the waste hierarchy, the main EU standard for the environmental classification of waste management policies. Its main objective is to reduce waste generation, the environmental impacts of waste management and the hazardousness of the waste generated. It is mainly expressed as the aspiration to break the link between waste generation and economic growth (decoupling).
This report by the European Environment Agency aims to assess progress towards the main objective of decoupling waste prevention measures in a specific area of activity, textiles.