Avoid is the ultimate zero waste challenge; the highest point on the hierarchy. The volume and rate at which resources are being channelled through the human economy needs to be slowed, along with a recognition that all our material goods have an energy 'price tag'.
To effectively address the zero waste and climate change agenda, there needs to be a move beyond recycling into the largely uncharted territory of the higher end of the hierarchy, to reuse, reduce and avoid, with a particular emphasis on eco-efficiency (the same or greater utility from less material input).