WASTE
world and deliver naught. Take WEEE for environmental protection. The environmental anything, that don’t add any value to the
example - a domestic fridge regulation that’s agenda is historically held up as the classic economy, i.e. the parasites.
been patched, by the civil service, onto the example of the benefit of the European Along the way there a range of high-street
belly of corporate knowledge management Union, but in the future it may also become retailers that sell absolute tat and it’s great to
and, given their track record on basic data the reason for its dissolution. see the back of them. How they’ve been able
security, I sense they’re hopelessly out of Consider the latest comment from to get away with it for so long I will never
their depth. Orgalime, the European Engineering understand. Past reputations are not enough
I asked and was informed that at the last Industries Association which represents to get me into their stores. Brand loyalty
reporting period less than 10,000 tonnes 130,000 companies. by the stupid is a poor substitute for quality
were collected and evidenced from business “It really is time that the Commission and/or innovative product.
out of 184,000 tonnes of WEEE. Compared adopted a coherent approach: at the macro- The government wants me to believe that
with estimates of what was actually disposed, economic level, they are making attractive a price collapse is bad news. Ha! Executives
that’s less than 0.01% effectiveness. Further, proposals, but in their day-to-day approach to have been siphoning immoral profits for
Economic recovery versus
exports of the collected waste have increased regulation, in particular in the area of climate far too long and it’s about time they got
and no one knows how much ended up at change and the environment, through a raft squeezed. There’s plenty to squeeze. Long
landfill sites. Great regulation, eh? of ill conceived and ill drafted regulation, live the squeeze.
environmental improvement
As a friend recently said to me, 'you get they are just making Europe a less attractive From an environmental perspective I
what you measure'. They’ve simply never environment for companies to invest can only see good. Less will be made, less
got it. in: this only increases the temptation of will be thrown away, people will appreciate
The single biggest contributor to computer manufacturing companies to redeploy outside what they’ve got more and the community
disposal is what the software vendors decide the EU.” will hack proprietary locks to allow greater
(one in particular) and not what the hardware There is also an internal rebellion within utility and longer usefulness than the
vendors do. Let’s face it, most components the Commission. For example, Poland original designers could ever imagine. True
within a machine are replaceable and recently led a six nation bloc against the EU innovation happens when we have scarcity
reusable. climate change agenda on the basis of two of resources. If you don’t believe me, visit
How will we hold software vendors killer facts: (1) that reducing reliance on an impoverished area and watch recycling at
accountable in the future? locally abundant coal will increase Europe’s work.
Further, the WEEE regulations seem to energy dependence on Russian oil and gas, The recession might just teach us how to
ignore the way we purchase technology. It is and (2) artificially forcing the closure of do better with less. Regulate against that, Mr
a long time since we bought ‘products’. For labour intensive business in preference to Brown.”
the past decade we’ve bought ‘projects’, and foreign substitutes at a time of economic
more recently we buy ‘services’ in a utility crisis is wholly inappropriate to the risks and n Derek Morgan is a lifecycle management
model. This is good for the environment (and expected benefits. They have an argument specialist in the ICT sector; specifically
owes nothing to the regulators) as future that we need to consider carefully because experienced in innovation management, new
capacity will be shared across companies and the world order is changing. product development and ITIL operations, in
the required branch office infrastructure will This is not just a financial problem, but green IT, next generation infrastructure and
shrink. the changes are accelerated by it. convergence products. His friends are real,
Just don’t get me started on the seven For me, when I started this was all about but the characters in this article are fictional.
colour coded bins occupying my parking future generations, now I’m worried about
space at home and the use by my council of the impacts within my own life. It’s getting
anti-terror powers to spy on my youngest too hot in the debating chambers.”
child’s ‘approved’ use of the different bins.”
GADGETBOY JORGE
SOOTY
“I’m self-confident and trust my own ability
“Simply, my role is about life and death. I’m to survive and prosper - given access to the
a survival nut on a big scale. Internet of course (that’s where I socialise).
Our population has exploded beyond the I’m glad that there is a recession and I can’t
capacity of the earth to support it, genetic wait for deflation.
crops are already required rather than Did you know that pollution gets trapped
optional and our reserves of fossil fuels are in the bowl around Cape Town? So long as
dwindling rapidly. The threat of war now the weather is perfect the stink builds and
hinges around the availability of simple builds to unbearable levels. The beauty spot
essentials, like clean water. There’s no becomes oppressive and vile. That is until a
question in my mind about the importance of cold, stormy south-easterly wind sweeps in
environmental policy and the role of Europe ferociously and blows all the filth away from
and the UN. the city. For good reason, the locals call this
My greatest fear is that economic wind ‘The Cape Doctor’.
challenges will fuel a major backlash That’s what this recession is to me - a
against ‘green priorities’ and lead to good doctor cleaning out the greedy and
if less is made, less will be thrown away.
budgetary neutering of bodies charged with the middle(-life) managers who don’t make
SuStainable SolutionS December/January 2009 43
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