Lansink's Ladder
Lansink's ladder is said to have formed the basis of the waste hierarchy or waste management hierarchy. Conceived as a ladder of decision steps it distinguishes five forms of waste management: prevention, reuse, sorting/recycling, incineration and landfilling.
The ladder or steps were later translated to a triangle running in the same order (perhaps because of similarity with energy ratings symbols), with prevention at the top, but it may also now be seen as an inverted triangle with prevention at the top, at its widest, indicating the level of impact each approach might have, ie prevention has the highest level of impact on the overall issues. Ironically, until recently, statistics show that globally incineration and landfill in most countries continues to outweigh other forms of management in terms of what is actually done.
The Ladder of Lansink was adopted in 1979, significantly impacting Dutch waste policy, the Environmental Management Act in 1993, and the European Waste Framework Directive 2008. The Netherlands remains one of the Nations in Europe with the highest rates of recycling.
Ad Lansink worked as a Senior Lecturer in Physical Chemistry at the University of Nijmegen, as Biochemist at the Pathology Department of the UMC Radboud, becoming politically active in the Catholic People’s Party. In the 1977 he was elected to the Dutch parliament and worked on topics such as environment, energy, higher education, science policy and public health. After his parliamentary career, he became a member of the Advisory Board for the state-owned company for the storage of radioactive waste and worked as the Chairman of the Gelderland Environment Federation.
For further information visit https://www.adlansink.nl (in dutch)
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Bin blight.
- Circular economy.
- Quantification of construction materials in existing buildings (material intensity).
- Plastic and recycling.
- Recycled waste plastic in construction.
- Recyclable construction materials.
- Recycling.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle.
- Reused construction products.
- UandI Think event with Studio SWINE.
- Waste management plan for England.
- Waste hierarchy for construction
Featured articles and news
Plumbing and heating for sustainability in new properties
Technical Engineer runs through changes in regulations, innovations in materials, and product systems.
Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Future Homes Building Standards and plug-in solar
Parts F and L amendments, the availability of solar panels and industry responses.
How later living housing can help solve the housing crisis
Unlocking homes, unlocking lives.
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.
The changed R&D tax landscape for Architects
Specialist gives a recap on tax changes for Research and Development, via the ACA newsletter.
Structured product data as a competitive advantage
NBS explain why accessible product data that works across digital systems is key.
Welsh retrofit workforce assessment
Welsh Government report confirms Wales faces major electrical skills shortage, warns ECA.
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
Inspiration for a new 2026 wave of Irish construction professionals.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.