zero-waste

adjective

ze·​ro-waste ˈzir-(ˌ)ō-wāst 

ˈzē-(ˌ)rō-ˈ

variants or zero waste

: generating little or no waste

a zero-waste event

zero-waste manufacturing

zero waste noun

The creative waste management strategy of "zero waste" is a combination of community and industrial responsibility that includes deconstruction in spite of demolition, composting to keep odorous organic waste out of landfills, recycling, and a screening facility to allow more separation and reuse of waste rather than incineration.

—Aimee Dolloff

Examples of zero-waste in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This year’s events will feature comprehensive zero-waste initiatives, including composting and recycling stations expertly managed by the Bro-Am Green Team. —Dawn Giangiulio, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 May 2025

While anaerobic digestion is not a new technology and has long been used in agricultural settings, the campus is pioneering a closed-loop, zero-waste system that returns municipal food waste to the soil in the form of nutrient-rich compost and to the power grid in the form of renewable energy. —Adriana Pérez, Chicago Tribune, 5 May 2025

The company had met its zero-waste promise by the end of 2021, with its packaging fully recycled, recyclable or reusable. —Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 1 May 2025

Upcycling transforms easter holiday prep into a zero-waste design challenge with kids. —Dianne Plummer, Forbes.com, 18 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for zero-waste

• aftertaste
• interfaced
• interlaced
• abased
• barefaced
• debased
• defaced
• disgraced
• displaced
• distaste
• effaced
• embraced