It is better to prevent waste than to treat (or) clean up waste after it has been created

Natural ecology evolved over millions of years where one's waste becomes feedstock to others or some other useful purposes. However, in the man-made industrial ecology, waste management is a business and it creates its own environmental damage.

Part of systems engineering cascade, customer requirements are translated to system requirements, sub-system requirements, and component requirements. Part of this cascade, sustainability requirements should be explicitly added. That is, every process step should avoid creating waste and if any waste is created, it should become feedstock to some other system.

When a material input results in waste, the "User" pays a minimum of three times

First Payment	When the virgin material is bought
Second Payment	When separating the product from non-product
Third Payment	When the non-material is collected and disposed
Fourth Payment*	A fee added for collection service

• If scrap/waste has a residual value, sometimes, the collection service pays the manufacturer (e.g., scrap steel, scrap aluminum)

Ford Motor Company and Henry Ford in the early 1900s' practiced sustainability

According to the story, Ford Motor Company had a strict requirement for the wood crate used for the shipping of the wheels for the early Model T truck. The wood from the crate was removed and cleverly used in the bed liner of the truck.