Waste management: the cornerstone of a circular economy

December 3, 2022

Waste management encompasses a variety of processes including sorting, collection, treatment, disposal and even recovery—all with the aim of creating cleaner environments by reducing materials sent to landfills and incinerators. Effective waste management techniques can also improve air and water quality, as well as reduce the emissions of hazardous materials into the atmosphere. Through efficient waste management, resources can be recycled and reused to create positive feedback loops for better resource stewardship. Waste management is the cornerstone of sustainability and a circular economy. Below are some key takeaways.

• Understand the waste management value chain.

Your waste doesn't disappear when you are done with it. It goes somewhere... where exactly, though? Let's take the banana peel as an example. We probably toss it in the trash. But what happens next? It is picked up by waste collectors who bring it to a transfer station. From there, it goes to a landfill or an incinerator.

Landfills collect and dispose of waste materials. Although they are designed in such a way to minimize its environmental impacts, there are nonetheless ongoing environmental and health risks association with contamination of groundwater, soil, and air with hazardous chemicals or toxins, in addition to the emission of greenhouse gasses.

Today, many landfills have been filled to overcapacity. In America, the average landfill lifespan is 30 years, and with the current rate of waste production, landfill space will be used up by 2045. In Europe, it will likely be even sooner. In developing countries, waste management is even more of an issue, with informal dumpsites still being used as the main way to deal with waste, which can have dire effects on health as well as soil, air and water quality.

The alternative to landfills are garbage incinerators, which burn waste to generate energy. While this is a more efficient way of dealing with our waste, the by-products are still harmful to the environment, including heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and dioxins. Waste incinerators have caused high levels of air pollution in many countries. This means that the traditional approach to dealing with our waste must change, and circular economy principles must be more widely adopted in order to sustain our planet.

Therefore, reducing our dependence on landfills and incinerators is imperative - circular economy principles need to be implemented in order to sustain our planet. This includes recycling and reusing materials, rather than simply tossing them out, as well as composting organic waste and using the resulting fertilizer in future agricultural efforts.

When we adopt circular economy principles, we reduce strain on existing resources, decrease emissions associated with waste production and disposal, create new jobs related to circular economy activities such as upcycling or composting... the list goes on! Implementing circular economy solutions is an opportunity for us all to not only protect the environment but also benefit from it economically.

• Waste is a precious commodity, but unlocking its real value requires more diversified management solutions.

You might not realize it, but what you have in your kitchen rubbish bin is precious. Plastic bottles can become insulation for buildings. Coffee grounds can be used to produce biofuels. Leftover food can be composted to create fertilizer and food for livestock. Even the cardboard boxes collecting dust in your basement can be broken down and used as mulch.

Moreover, breakthroughs in waste management technology could also revolutionize the way we consume energy. Today, most waste management systems are limited to recycling (with varying levels of discipline and outcomes) and some composting (generally an initiative of consumers and not local governments).

Tomorrow, your waste could actually be transformed into gas right in your home, allowing you to generate your own gas for heating water and cooking meals. Technologies such as methanisation, biogas and anaerobic digestion create circular energy flows from waste, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels while preventing emissions of greenhouse gases.

Realizing the value of garbage requires enhanced recycling technology. We must build circular infrastructure with technologies that capture and recycle materials such as plastics, rubber, glass, paper and metals. This can be done by collecting waste separately at the source and then sending it to recycling facilities for proper processing, as is the case in Amsterdam.

Garbage also needs market-based solutions. To move forward, we need to develop a system for buying, selling, valuing and appropriately reflecting waste management issues into the value of a product. For example, a circular economy approach could enable businesses to use circular product designs and shared resources. This means that waste materials can be retrieved during the life cycle of products, breaking down linear consumption patterns into circular ones.

It also requires recognizing that garbage is a commodity that is not currently supporting by transparent market principles. Garbage remains almost entirely the responsibility of the state, whereas private actors are generating an increasing amount waste with relatively few financial or reputational penalties.

• Focus on circular consumption and disposal instead of "out-of-sight-out-of-mind"

Circularity can help to reduce waste production and consumption by recycling or reusing materials that used to be thrown away. This includes composting, upcycling and the circular economy. There are many different ways to use waste in a circular fashion: from reducing manufacturing costs by reusing materials, to creating new products with recycled content.

Today, packaging is a huge issue - it accounts for roughly 40% of all waste that goes to landfills. We need to move away from single-use packaging and find circular solutions such as reusable, refillable and recyclable products. Instead of using plastic containers and bags, find eco-friendly alternatives like paper or cardboard packaging, or even glass bottles. We should also look into new technologies such as bioplastics which are derived from renewable sources and are designed to be compostable.

We also need strong public-private partnerships and a systematic approach to planning, coordinating, regulating and financing circular economy initiatives. Opt-in recycling solutions that are currently only affordable for businesses need to be made open and available to individuals and communities.

We can all make a difference by limiting our consumption and finding creative ways to reduce waste. Instead of buying disposable items, choose items that can be reused, such as reusable water bottles or bags. We should also look into second-hand stores and consider buying pre-owned items whenever possible instead of buying new ones.

Realizing the true value of garbage also requires rewarding citizens for putting in place positive consumption habits such as repairing. In many cities, repair cafes are popping up to help citizens make use of items that would otherwise end up in the waste stream. In Germany and Austria, the “repair voucher” system has been developed to allow citizens to receive subsidies when they choose to repair instead of discard.

We must also explore different ways to incentivize circular behavior such as short-term rentals, pay-as-you-go models and zero waste initiatives. These can be done through circular economy platforms like ReCircle and circular economy startups like Refurbed, which offer circular solutions such as circular leasing, circular second-hand shops and circular repairs.

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As my late grandfather would say, “waste is not garbage... it's an opportunity.” He certainly knew what he was talking about, having retired in the 1980s as Deputy Chief of the DSNY, also known as the Department of Sanitation of New York City. It's the world's largest municipal sanitation force, collecting 24 million pounds of trash and recycling each day, and offering numerous programs to promote circularity, such as the reuse and recycling of materials that can be used again or refurbished.

Many decades ago, he was already convinced that the circular economy is an attractive alternative to traditional waste management. It can reduce our dependence on natural resources and keep materials out of landfills and incinerators, thus reducing the environmental impacts associated with waste management. Furthermore, circular economy models can create jobs while keeping money within local communities by encouraging circular production processes in which the same materials are reused again and again.

Circular economy strategies that encourage recycling and reuse can help to optimize resources in our communities so that valuable items are not discarded or underutilized. By leveraging waste management tactics to their fullest potential, we can create circular flows of materials that reduce the burden on our planet, while providing benefits to society. For organizations looking to reduce their environmental impact and achieve circular economy goals, waste management is essential.

CPM