Review A comprehensive review of the development of zero waste management: lessons learned and guidelines Atiq Uz Zaman Zero Waste SA Research Centre for Sustainable Design and Behaviour (sdþb), School of Art, Architecture and Design, University of South Australia, G.P.O. Box 2471, SA 5001, Australia article info Article history: Received 29 August 2014 Received in revised form 17 October 2014 Accepted 4 December 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Waste management Zero waste concept Zero waste study Zero waste strategy abstract Zero waste is a visionary concept for confronting waste problems in our society. The idea is being developed and implemented in various sectors including waste management and treatment, mining, manufacturing, and urban development. The zero waste concept has been embraced by policymakers because it stimulates sustainable production and consumption, optimum recycling and resource re- covery. Professionals in waste management systems, however, perceive and apply it in different ways. This study aims to conceptualize zero waste development based on a critical review of available academic journal publications. Very few studies have been found in the domains of zero waste design, assessment and evaluation that have examined production, and sustainable consumption. This study reveals that the scope of the zero waste studies is diverse, and a zero waste concept is constantly developing through various programmes, plans, policies and strategies. The findings of this review study suggest that the zero waste programmes are applied in many countries without any holistic zero waste strategy. The study emphasizes that countries might be able to achieve zero waste goals by developing a national zero waste strategy and by integrating and promoting zero waste initiatives (in communities and industry) through waste management policy. This article presents a critical review of the major studies conducted by re- searchers on zero waste in the last decades. Based on the review findings the study concludes that zero waste concept has been applied widely in different phases of production and waste management sys- tems. The findings of the study assist to identify priority areas of zero waste strategy and to develop national zero waste guidelines. Thus, this study can be useful to policy and decision makers in developing the evidence-based zero waste guidelines. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In the industrial age, resource extraction and production of goods has constantly expanded to satisfy the ever-growing con- sumption culture (Lopez, 1994). A broad range of consumer prod- ucts, such as cloth, white goods and electronic products, once treated as luxury items are now used as everyday goods (Crocker, 2013). Production processes have transformed into a complex system that mainly use composite and hazardous materials. As a result, the waste we produce today is from mixed sources, envi- ronmentally damaging and expensive to manage sustainably. The multiplicity of various waste streams leaves decision makers no other option but to choose inefficient and environmentally polluting waste management solutions such as landfill. The shortage of landfill sites in urban areas forces waste authorities to look for an alternative waste management systems (Wen et al., 2009). Zero waste (ZW), a visionary waste management system, has been presented as an alternative solution for waste problems in recent decades (Connett, 2013a). Zero waste has become an aspi- rational goal for tackling waste problems. Many cities such as Adelaide, San Francisco and Vancouver have adopted zero waste goals as a part of their waste management strategies (Connett, 2006; SF-Environment, 2013). The ZW concept has been embraced by policymakers because it stimulates sustainable pro- duction and consumption, optimum recycling and resource recov- ery, and restricts mass incineration and landfilling. However, professionals in waste management systems perceive and apply the zero waste concept in different ways by. For instance, a number of studies have claimed to achieve ZW goals while using waste-to- energy technology, such as incineration, as a part of waste E-mail address: atiq.zaman@mymail.unisa.edu.au. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Cleaner Production journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.12.013 0959-6526/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (2014) 1e14 Please cite this article in press as: Zaman, A.U., A comprehensive review of the development of zero waste management: lessons learned and guidelines, Journal of Cleaner Production (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.12.013