Abstract: Garbage disposal has experienced three stages. In the first stage, garbage were directly thrown away; in the second stage, garbage are reclaimed before being thrown away; and in the third stage, they are engineered for reuse, to realize “zero waste”. Therefore, garbage indicates those non-reclaimable and worthless articles. Over the past few years, many countries/regions have set sustainable development target based on “zero waste” and “zero landfill” concepts. For example, Beijing launched the domestic garbage “zero waste” pilot program in 2010. The article introduced the concept, principle and hierarchy management of “zero waste”, aimed at offering theoretical basis for promoting “zero waste” practice in China.

Key words: zero waste; zero landfill; hierarchy of zero waste; Zero Waste International Alliance