For the past few weeks we have talked about compliance as well as a couple of new technology entries in the waste management space in Compology and Sensibin. Last week we started to discussion of why, specifically why recycle.
Staying on the theme of why, a term you may have heard is Zero Waste, or Net Zero Waste Initiatives. Typically these initiatives launch in industrial or commercial settings, more often then in residential settings. There is a reason for this, in that the waste stream in industrial and in some commercial settings is more easily controlled. Controlled?
Controlled as in there is a much smaller presence of food and other typical contaminates we often associate with residential waste streams. However, the reason for Zero Waste Initiatives still applies to residential real estate. In fact, as additional local governments start to drive down the environmental impacts of their jurisdictions, you can be sure that residential waste will be a significant element of those plans.
So why Zero or Net Zero Waste? Quite simply, despite how large the planet seems, our unused land mass grows smaller every day, at the same time our waste volume is increasing. In fact, our annual waste production will increase by 70% by 2050 under our current patterns according to a 2018 report from the World Bank entitled “What a Waste 2.0”.
Currently we produce a little over 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste globally, of that only 13.5% is recycled and 5.5% is composted. Even more distressing is nearly 40% of solid waste that isn’t disposed of properly, instead dumped or openly burned.
Diving even deeper, wealthier nations such as the United States, Canada, and the nations that make up the European Union only represent 16% of the worlds population, but we produce 34% of the world’s waste.
From a land use perspective alone, it is clear that this path is not sustainable. The issue unfortunately runs deeper. Global Emissions from that waste stream account for 5% of all global emissions (in 2016), the equivalent of 1.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide. A number that will grow to 2.6 billion by 2050.
We are literally drowning ourselves in our own debris. We can do better, something has to change. Our current sleepwalking approach towards the waste stream simply isn’t working.
Nothing has really changed around the formula to positively impact these numbers, it remains “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.” Reduce consumption, reuse instead of sending the product into the waste stream, and recycle (or compost) if it can’t be reused. We didn’t miss the formula, if we would apply it, it would be effective in impacting the waste stream. Instead we often choose to throw our debris “away.” That magical place, “away” that we imagine our refuse goes, where it has no impact and it causes no harm.
Unfortunately, like so many other fairy tales, “away” is an imaginary place which requires us to develop other strategies to reduce the impact of the waste stream. One of those strategies is (Net) Zero Waste. The Zero Waste strategy does not accept simply incinerating the refuse as a solution, as this action holds tremendous implications from an emissions perspective. The strategy recognizes that there is no place called “away”, meaning “megalandfills” and a society that values a disposable or throwaway perspective are not part of the Zero Waste Strategy.
The goal of Net Zero is to evaluate the waste stream and apply the age old formula of “reduce, reuse, and recycle” taking steps to reverse our current waste stream trajectory, but with a twist of adding a fourth “R” - “Redesign.” The Net Zero Strategy involves rethinking business as usual, and looking at our economy from a “circular” perspective. From cradle to grave, rethinking the way that we use and recycle, incorporating reuse into products.
I began this post by stating that Net Zero Initiatives are more common in industrial or commercial real estate settings compared to residential real estate. This does not mean that residential real estate cannot develop strategies to advance towards the goal of Net Zero Waste. It simply means that it may take more effort, a deeper analysis of the waste stream and the tools available to manage the residential waste stream.
John F Kennedy once said, “We choose to … do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone …” Taking that leadership, and applying the goal of reducing our impact under the category of “to do other things.”
Over the next few weeks, I intend to dig into the goal of net zero waste and share with you my thoughts on what we need to consider in order to reach the goal of Net Zero Waste in residential real estate. “Not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because this goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.” Taking on waste will be infinitely easier now then 30 years from now when it is a problem 70% larger then it is today.
I look forward to your thoughts, either privately or by commenting to this post. If you have taken the time to read this post, you are most likely among the best and brightest in the industry. This is demonstrated by your quest for knowledge and your commitment to lifelong learning. Please consider sharing your ideas about Net Zero Waste goals at the intersection of residential real estate - the good, the bad, and the ugly. It will take all of us to do better. Doing better begins now, with the first step.
Stay Well