According to the EC (19 November, 2008) “waste means any substance or object which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard.” Recycling materials and products – that are considered waste - is an ancient practice which shows that in times of resource scarcity (i.e. shortage of virgin materials) societies attach more economic and societal value to their own waste. This implies that throughout time the definition of waste can change as well. Generally speaking longer use or re-use of materials and products this is often mainly to cover a society’s needs.

Integrated solid waste management (ISWM) can be defined in different ways, but it refers to the strategic approach to sustainable management of solid wastes covering all sources and all aspects such as waste generation, segregation, transfer, sorting, treatment, recovery and disposal in an integrated manner, with an emphasis on maximizing resource use efficiency. A plausible solution to waste management would be an integrated approach which would include collective management of all types of wastes and implementation of the 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) policies and strategies

Recycling is a process which reconsiders the current life cycle of creating products and materials and associated process and final waste. Specifically, paper recycling is the process of recovering waste paper and remaking it into new products. Recycling provides several socio-economic development benefits as well as environmental benefits.