Innovative use of waste – problem or resource?

The meaning of the term ‘waste’ has tremendously changed in the last 35 years. While people from the Third World countries reuse goods that have been thrown away, people from the First World countries became aware that (plastic) waste has become a huge problem. This leads to the creation of a whole new industry of “upcycling”. The paradigm has shifted from a linear to a circular economy resulting in to what began as “waste management” is now declared as “sustainable materials management” focusing on resource, environmental, and human health impacts over the entire life cycle of materials.
In this unit we will take a look at some innovative ideas of using waste as resource.

Reusing waste efficiently

Although recycling waste dates back to the 11th century, when people recycled paper, nowadays there are more types of waste. In the past, people produced only bio composed and soluble waste. Today, we generate waste such as plastic – that takes around 400 years to decompose.

Source: https://www.hintonswaste.co.uk/news/history-of-recycling-timeline/#timeline

Waste becomes a resource – innovation ideas; upcycling social status [16] 

Even though waste is generated on massive scales, there are some examples of organisations and businesses around the world that reuse and upcycle the waste.  In this part, you will learn about different examples of material reuse.

Reusing materials in the workplace

There are different ways to reduce the waste in your workplace and reuse the materials. Half of all printed documents are thrown away within 24 hours, and 30% are never picked up from the printer at all. To optimise use of paper products, provide a recycling container designated just for paper recycling in copy rooms and a designated receptacle beside each person’s desk (or at the end of a row of desks). Printing double sided and only making copies and prints when necessary will also drastically reduce your output. Paper and cardboard— free from any coffee spills—can be recycled around five to seven times before it degrades in quality.

To make compost in the workplace, set up an office-composting plan to recycle your food scraps. Compostable items include: vegetable trimmings, coffee grounds, food scraps, fruit peels, flowers, plants, and non-treated cardboard.

Learn which plastics are accepted  (the types have been explained in the Section 2.4)  and designate a commingled recycling bin for all of the business’s containers, bottles, cans, and jars made of metal, plastic, or glass. Whenever possible, choose to use durable items instead, bring and use your own aluminium or glass water bottles, rigid and washable food containers, and reusable bags.

When it comes to general waste, is estimated that 70% of a business’s landfill waste can be recycled. Understand the types of waste your business is creating through a waste audit and try to reduce it. Go a step further by asking your shipping providers to cut down on unnecessary packaging that’s hard for your business to recycle, and talk to your building manager about a collection program for anything your waste service does not accept.

3.1 Best practices of waste reuse

• Reverse Vending Machines by UN-Habitat Lebanon Office [17]

Since July 2015, Lebanon has been confronted with a solid waste crisis, characterised by temporary measures and landfills as well as a lack of serious intention to recover raw materials from solid waste. Sorting at source is the cornerstone of effective and comprehensive solid waste management practice. Reverse Vending Machines are devices that accept used empty containers (metal, plastic or glass) and return mobile call credit to the user. The Ministry of Environment has signed an agreement with Lebanese telecommunications services (Alfa and Touch) in coordination with UN-Habitat in order to realize the transformation of waste to mobile phone credit. A fine example of making profit out of waste.

• ETrash2Cash, Nigeria [18]

Only about one third of reusable or recyclable waste in Nigeria is collected and repurposed. eTrash2Cash, a social enterprise in the city of Kano, Northern Nigeria, incentivises residents and households to collect their waste and transfer it to kiosks provided around the city, in exchange for cash. 3,000 low-income individuals earn around $ 8 per month for providing their waste, and over 11,000 metric tonnes of waste have been diverted to the collection points, where it is treated as a valuable resource and recycled.

• SOSO Care, Nigeria [19]

In Lagos, Nigeria, 1,400 metric tonnes of waste is generated each day. Only five per cent of such waste is collected and recycled, severely impacting the environment and public health. At the same time, only three percent of Nigerians have health insurance. Trying to address both crises simultaneously, SOSO Care treats the donation of recyclable garbage as a resource and exchanges it for micro health insurance and food stamp points. This tech social enterprise transfers the money generated by the sale of the collected valuables into a health fund which, in turn covers the $ 3 premium for access to health services.

Source: https://sosocare.com/

Reusing electronic waste

Electronic manufacturers, from Apple to IBM, organise [20] mail-in collections, store drop-offs, and e-waste event recycling. Additionally, with half of states around the globe mandate ongoing collection, there is a strong chance that your municipality or local government has a program your business can seek out. There are also plenty of refurbishing stores that take old laptops or smartphones to repair them and make them work properly.

Some examples are:

• AfB social & green IT [21]

AfB is Europe´s biggest recycling company for E-Waste. Specialization lies in refurbing business laptops and those that cannot be used as laptops get disaggregated. AfB stands for Work for disabled people and is therefore environmentally as well as socially very friendly.

• Refurbed –operating only in Austria, Germany, Italy and Poland [22]

Refurbed is an Austrian start-up that refurbishes and sells old smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Their products are not only 100 per cent sustainable, but also 40 per cent cheaper in comparison

to the new products.

Source: https://www.startups.co.at/refurbed-wie-neu-nur-besser/

3.2 Reusing plastic waste

Battling Plastic Waste in Solomon Islands [23]

Rendy Solomon works as an Environmental Health Officer at the Ministry of Health, Solomon Islands. Solomon is also the founder and chairwoman of PlasticWise Gizo, an initiative to educate communities on waste management that also turns plastic waste into colourful handicrafts.

She and a group of friends started collecting plastic across the beaches. After a while they came up with creative solutions and started making bags, purses, or fans. Women started selling the plastic handicrafts to tourists from the cruise ships, which provided them not only with income, but also raised the awareness of the plastic problem.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Plasticwise-Gizo-476985899347783/

Bracelets from ghost nets

Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been left or lost in the ocean by fishermen. Millions of these nets are endangering fish and humans. “On the one hand, sea creatures of all kinds get caught in the nets and die,” said Madeleine von Hohenthal and Benjamin Wenke, co-founders of Bracenet GmbH [24]. “On the other hand, they litter the oceans. It takes 600 to 800 years for the nets to decompose and then they transform into dangerous micro plastics.” The Great Pacific garbage patch or the Pacific trash vortex is a gyre of marine debris particles in the Pacific Ocean and consists to 46 per cent of ghost nets, according to Bracenet. The German start-up creates a wide range of products, from key rings to dog leashes made from the ghost nets. That way they protect the oceans and reuse materials discarded in the waters worldwide.

Face masks into roads

Especially at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, single-use face masks have been massively used. According to a new study, we are using and disposing 6.8 billion face masks per day. Researchers at the RMIT University in Melbourne found a solution to reuse these masks and use them in road construction. Face masks contain polypropylene – plastic polymer that does not decompose and can hardly be recycled. Adding the masks to the concrete concoction needed to build roads would improve roads strength, ductility, and flexibility [25].

MUD JEANS creates ‘LEASE-A-JEANS’

In 2013, Mud Jeans introduced their ‘Lease-A-Jeans’ concept, which allows consumers to rent or replace their jeans whenever they want a new pair. This concept enables Mud Jeans to properly recycle or refurbish old denim. Over the past three years, Mud Jeans [26] saved 12,000 jeans from landfill and incineration and turned them into new denim.

ADIDAS X PARLEY FOR THE OCEAN

Adidas has teamed up with an environmental organization Parley for the Oceans to make athletic shoes made exclusively from plastic collected from the oceans. Adidas recently announced they have committed to using only recycled plastics in all of their products by 2024. “When you wear out this product, you give it back to us. And we recycle it,” says Tanyaradzwa Sahanga, a materials engineer at Adidas [27].

TIMBERLAND: FROM TIRES TO SHOES [28]

Did you know the tire and footwear industry are two of the largest users of virgin rubber? Timberland has collaborated with Omni United tires to create the first line of tires designed to be recycled into footwear outsoles at the end of the product life cycle. According to Timberland Tires, rather than exported, or ending up in landfills, the tires are re-claimed, separated, and recycled into Timberland footwear.