zero waste, adj. & n.

zero-waste
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zero-waste_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2021

# zero wasteadjective & noun

## Factsheet

### What does the word zero waste mean?

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the word zero waste. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the word zero waste?

About 0.2occurrences per million words in modern written English

2017 | 0.14
2018 | 0.14
2019 | 0.15
2020 | 0.17
2021 | 0.18
2022 | 0.16
2023 | 0.17
2024 | 0.16

### Where does the word zero waste come from?

Earliest known use

1970s

The earliest known use of the word zero waste is in the 1970s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero waste is from 1974, in the Guardian.

### Nearby entries

1. zero-power, adj. 1950–
2. zero-rate, v. 1972–
3. zero-rated, adj. 1972–
4. zero rating, n. 1971–
5. zero sound, n. 1957–
6. zero-sum, adj. 1944–
7. zeroth, adj. 1850–
8. zero tillage, n. 1963–
9. zero tolerance, n. 1940–
10. zerovalent, adj. 1906–
11. zero waste, adj. & n.1974–
12. zero-zero, adj. & n. 1930–
13. zerumbet, n. 1640–
14. zest, n.¹ 1674–
15. zest, n.² 1706
16. zest, v. 1702–
17. zest, int. 1705–22
18. zester, n. 1963–
19. zestful, adj. 1797–
20. zestfully, adv. 1843–
21. zestiness, n. 1912–

## Meaning & use

1. 1974–
   a. n. (Esp. with reference to the manufacture or distribution of a product) generation of very little or no waste; b. adj. (esp. of the manufacture or distribution of a product) characterized by the generation of very little or no waste.
   1. 1974

      > The delegates voted in favour of..efficient production without misuse of the environment or excessive consumption of nonrenewable resources. They also agreed to an amendment which..shifted the emphasis to a philosophy of ‘zero waste’ as a desirable economic goal.

      Guardian 14 September 7/2
   2. 1994

      > He affirms that our profession should work toward zero-waste engineering and the controlled environmental production of compost as a bioresource.

      Resource October 3/2
   3. 2011

      > Many cities that have enacted zero-waste plans say they have taken up the task in the name of sustainability.

      Wall Street Journal 12 September r7/1
   4. 2021

      > Zero waste is more like an ideology than a reality. It is something that we are aiming towards.

      Shields Gazette (Nexis) 16 March

## Frequency

zero waste typically occurs about 0.2 times per million words in modern written English.

zero waste is in frequency band 4, which contains words occurring between 0.1 and 1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zero waste, adj. & n., 2017–2024

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the corpus.

Period | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
2017 | 0.14
2018 | 0.14
2019 | 0.15
2020 | 0.17
2021 | 0.18
2022 | 0.16
2023 | 0.17
2024 | 0.16

Originally published as part of the entry for zero, n. & adj.

zero waste, adj. & n. was first published in 2021.