Waste prevention is considered with highest priority within waste management hierarchy. Therefore, it represents an important focus of research at ABF-BOKU. Our approach comprises the whole life cycle of consumer goods and material flows (e.g. food, electrical and electronic devices, bulky waste), if possible. The presence of consumer goods after their use is analysed with respect to individual psychological (e.g. consumption behaviour) as well as contextual (e.g. social, legal, economic) influencing factors. To enable target-oriented waste prevention it is essential to understand the motivation behind the disposal intention. Based on the waste related properties different approaches with respect to waste prevention, product design and optimization (reuse, repair) are developed along the whole product life cycle. ABF-BOKU investigates basic data, designs concepts, supervises the implementation of innovative measures and develops methods to evaluate them. Contact: Dipl-Ing. Gudrun Obersteiner