Welcome to Convolution, a newsletter for those looking to reduce their impact, by first understanding their impact. Where technology meets trash. Where we can explore just really what is happening in this space.
So much focus has been placed on energy efficiency and water conservation, both notable impacts and worthy of study and reduction. However, often misunderstood is the role of the waste stream in sustainability.
We hear on the news that China is no longer taking recycling form the United States, what does that mean? We see on our invoice “contamination fee” or “overage fee” - what is that, why is that?
Of all the important aspects of sustainability, perhaps none is as visible as the waste stream. Likely, none is also as misunderstood.
This little experiment is an attempt to pull the veil back a bit. To take a deeper look at what is going on in this space. To pull together champions of the waste management industry and tell their story. I would love to hear your feedback, tips, questions, or general thoughts. I can be reached at ctlaughman@gmail.com.
To tackle this often misunderstood area of impact and figure out how we can zero in on the signal while avoiding the noise.
Sign up now to be sure to catch every issue and please tell your friends. This is a journey for us to take together, learning along the way, peeling back the layers and together climbing all faces of mount sustainability.
This Week in Waste
It’s hard to escape the stories on Coronavirus and it’s impact on both waste and recycling across the United States. Covid-19 has shook our economy, bringing entire industries to their knees. While attempts at restarting the economy continue to be made, it is difficult to understand how we can truly recover until the curve is truly flattened.
The waste and recycling industries, while essential, remain vulnerable to manpower shortages connected to the illness. Staffing shortages, lay offs, and social distancing all present challenges to the removal of waste stream.
There are glimmers of hope, cities have announced plans to return waste and recycling services to normal levels. People are starting to move around a bit more, which may provide relief to the hospitality industry. Businesses have also announced plans to return to the workplace over the next several months.
One such bright spot has been the continued momentum of the embodied carbon movement in real estate and the built environment. Despite moving to a virtual environment for the past several months, this renewed focus on life cycle analysis promises some opportunity for the world of recycling and waste management.
The concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Policies, when thoughtfully developed can play well with this concept as these policies require producers and distributors to take back products that are more difficult to recycle or that might contain toxins that could cause harm if disposed in a landfill. Batteries, Mercury containing products, and paint are just a few examples of products impacted by EPR policies. Such policies place importance on understanding the full life of products and how those products will be disposed of at end of life.
Such forward thinking can help companies mitigate risk associated with environmental impact related to disposed goods. Pulling these items from the waste stream is good for both people and planet.
Finally, data…. I’ve been thinking a lot about the role of data and waste management. It goes back to my introduction of Convolution and the concept of “Throwing Away.” When we throw things “away” they leave our site (or sight) and we tend to stop thinking about them. The US produces over 230 million tons of trash per year, nearly 4.6 lbs per person per day. Nearly 70% of that is actually recyclable, while less then 25% of that which could be recycled is.
To me, this spells out a lack of understanding or lack of awareness. These are issues that data has the potential to address. With knowledge, policies can be developed and practices implemented that reduce that impact.
Its no secret that if you can recycle a product, you don’t have to go and obtain virgin materials. From electronics to wood, metal to minerals, the ability to reuse reduces our need to go get new and start over again. What isn’t as well understood is the economic impact of that recycling effort. It is estimated that for every 1,000 tons of recycled materials, nearly 1.5 jobs are created.
But key to that material being of value in the supply chain is it not being contaminated. Here technology may play a role in sorting materials.
Understanding the potential value of those resources also means understanding how much material is available - as in how much can be produced. No different then the petroleum engineer estimating how many barrels of oil an oil well is likely to produce, if the recyclable material is to be considered a viable source of raw material, it is important to understand how much can be produced.
Again, technology can be deployed in understanding the amount of waste being generated and of that waste stream, what the viable diversion amount is for each sorted material.