Waste?
Is a resource in the wrong place
I have been working in the waste sector for more than 20 years but if you had told me six years ago, when I moved to London, that I would have written an article for FOCUS magazine championing waste prevention and recycling, I would have probably laughed at you. How times have changed thanks to Blue
Planet II television series. It went on air in October 2017 and the final episode marked the turning point in raising public awareness of the impact humans are having on our oceans. After having seen albatross parents feeding plastic to their chicks, there was no going back.
From a ‘linear’ to a ‘circular’ economy
Since the Industrial Revolution, companies and consumers have largely adhered to a linear economy model based on a ‘take-
make-use-dispose’ approach. Tis linear approach is completely detached from na- ture, which creates circular processes. It is not sustainable from environmental or economic perspectives and it will inevitably leave future generations poorer. Additionally, this approach largely con- tributes to carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) to be re- leased in the atmosphere. With a world’s population increasing ex-
ponentially, in the last six decades we have been overusing the Earth’s finite resources. We are not only exploiting them, but we are tangibly seeing our impact on the planet. In 2016 global waste generation was 2.01 billion tonnes; it is expected to increase by an additional 1.40 billion tonnes by 2050. An alternative to the ‘linear’ model, is
the ‘circular economy,’ one in which re- sources retain long-lived value within the economic system, by being designed for longer lifetimes, repair, post-use recovery, reuse and reprocessing.
Why are waste management and recycling so confusing?
Blue Planet II along with the documen- taries Drowning in plastic and Hugh's War on Waste, have been showcasing the reali- ties and complexities of recycling and waste disposal. Te UK and London are no different.
Waste devolution to local authorities (33 in London alone; 345 in England) has brought a lack of consistency in the mate- rials accepted for recycling. For example Wandsworth, Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham still do not ac- cept food waste and only a handful of
©chrisjordan
www.focus-info.org
©
instarmac.co.uk FOCUS The Magazine 21
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