Our Waste: Our Responsibility was the topic of CAE's second major project, which was carried out in 1991/92. The aim of the project was to provide a set of guidelines for waste management and to contribute to better management of wastes in New Zealand. Better waste management means not only the appropriate management of wastes already produced but, more importantly, aims to avoid or reduce future wastes at their sources. Better waste management in this sense means less wasting of resources and minimising the risk of pollution from wastes. The topic was considered timely because of the widespread interest in waste management, both in New Zealand and overseas, and although New Zealand does not have the pressures of high population and the level of industrialisation of other OECD countries, there is still ample scope for improvement in the management of wastes.