In any manufacturing process, there is a notion of an acceptable waste of raw materials to manufacture a desired finished product. This wastage includes, storage waste of raw materials, unusable raw materials that do not fall under the tolerance limits required to manufacture the finished goods, and the finished goods that sit at the plant either not being sold or becoming defective due to some errors during manufacturing. Many methods like JIT for raw materials, increasing shelf life, and forecasting seasonal variations do exist to reduce waste.
When these various methods are orchestrated for efficient production, the cost of manufacturing falls but profits are realized at higher rates. The story however is not that rosy if the product has to be thrown out for health reasons when they do not get sold before the best before or use before dates and the food even though is fit for consumption, they go wasted. The situation is worse when the product has to be recalled because of some bacterial infection and amounts wasted will be in millions. So the price point of an item may change not just because of supply shortages or wastage, but needing to take account of an acceptable waste scenarios that include the nonconsumption. As the supply chain grows, so is this ratio and the waste. Do we see any other scenarios that can account for manufacturing waste that I have failed to mention here? How this can be taught at primary and secondary schools to create awareness?
I suggest some kind of code on the finished product to help those who use the product to think twice before throwing it away and somehow ensure the product is not bought otherwise not stored in excess. Do we have any other suggestions?