3r

3R commonly denotes a set of three guiding principles for resource and waste management: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The concept is used in environmental policy, product design, and consumer behavior to minimize environmental impact by shortening material life cycles and conserving resources.

Reduce aims to lower the generation of waste and the use of energy and materials. This includes efficiency improvements, product design that uses fewer resources, consumption changes, and policies that discourage unnecessary packaging or disposables.

Reuse focuses on extending the life of items through repair, refurbishing, repurposing, or passing products to new users. Reuse reduces the need for virgin materials and can lower disposal volumes, often supported by second-hand markets and take-back schemes.

Recycle involves recovering materials from used products to make new items. It relies on collection, sorting, processing, and remanufacturing, and it can save energy and resources compared with producing from virgin materials. However, not all materials are equally recyclable, and recycled products may have limited performance or require additional processing.

In some contexts the term 3R has expanded to include additional principles such as Repair, Refuse, or Recovery, and many jurisdictions promote policies that encourage the full implementation of the 3Rs along with broader sustainability goals.

A related but separate use of the acronym 3R appears in biomedical and life sciences, referring to Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement in animal research. Replacement seeks non-animal methods; Reduction minimizes the number of animals used; Refinement improves animal welfare and minimizes suffering. This framework is integrated into many ethical and regulatory guidelines worldwide.