The need for recycling
In 2017, China stopped accepting recycling waste from the United States. In response, many American cities ended their recycling programs. Even before China took action, in New York City, the then Mayor Mike Bloomberg drastically reduced recycling shortly after taking office, although it was later restored as part of a groundbreaking sustainable development plan. At the height of the Covid crisis, Bill DeBlasio suspended a very promising food waste recycling program that has benefited 500,000 urban residents. When the budget is tight, recycling is an easy goal. The financial problems of recycling are the fluctuations in the recycling waste market and the separate recycling costs of recycling and “conventional” waste.
Some states, such as Maine, are experimenting with “producer liability” taxes, charging manufacturers, including the cost of recovering the goods they make. This helps local governments pay for recovery costs.As New York Times‘ Winston Choi-Schagrin recently reported:
“Maine has implemented a new law that can change the way packaging is recycled by requiring manufacturers instead of taxpayers to pay the cost. Nearly a dozen states have been considering similar regulations and Oregon I’m about to sign my own version in the next few weeks… Essentially, these programs operate by charging producers a certain amount of fees Factors, including the packaging tonnage they put on the market. These fees are usually paid to the Producer Responsibility Organization, which is a non-profit organization contracted and audited by the state. It uses fees collected from producers to compensate the municipal government for its recycling business. Almost all EU member states, as well as the five provinces of Japan, South Korea and Canada, have such laws. They have seen their recycling rates soar and their collection plans remain flexible, even in the face of the collapse of the global recycling market…”
Although fees can help reduce unnecessary packaging materials and can be used to encourage the use of biodegradable materials, another way is to reduce recycling costs. In the long term, this will be achieved through automated waste sorting machines, which can sort mixed waste and reuse it. Household-level recycling is a good educational tool that can raise public awareness of the waste we generate, but it is an inefficient and defective method of separating materials for reuse. Recycled waste is often contaminated, and the uncertain demand for recycled materials often results in the recycled waste eventually entering a landfill or incinerator.
If we are to achieve a circular economy and close to zero waste, we cannot rely on current collection methods and technologies. Fortunately, advanced robotics and artificial intelligence are helping to promote the rapid development of waste sorting technology. The capital cost of these technologies and the lack of tracking records used in the real world are obstacles to implementation, but many cities have already used automated waste sorting technology, and more cities will follow up.
Waste disposal is free, because landfill and waste incineration cost money. If the waste can be moved to a place where it can be reused, even if the price of the waste is zero, the city that handles the waste can still save money. The capital and operating and maintenance costs of waste treatment need to be viewed in the context of the entire material production, consumption and disposal system.And automated waste sorting technology cost Money, less garbage collection and less landfill save money. Garbage must go somewhere and anywhere, no matter where it gets, the government and taxpayers will bear the cost. With the advancement of waste sorting technology, it will improve its efficiency, effectiveness and increase its cost-effectiveness. On the contrary, as land becomes more and more scarce, the price of landfills will only rise. Materials that can no longer be reused can be burned in waste incinerators as energy, and the value of energy can help pay for waste disposal costs.
Although promising waste sorting experiments are underway, the development of large-scale automated waste sorting requires additional research and development. Although waste management is an important and expensive municipal service, it is not something that elected officials like to talk about. No politician wants to be seen cutting the ribbon on the new garbage facility. The public saw the big green bags waiting to be picked up on the street and believed that the garbage would enter some kind of solid waste paradise. A company even has an advertisement telling people that all they have to do is to make the trash disappear. Just point to it and the company will make it disappear. But where did they take this “junk”? who knows? (I’m a satisfied customer of that company, but I don’t know where they sent our stuff.) Some engineers and scientists have developed expertise in waste management, but like elected officials, many people prefer to send their Wisdom is applied to more fashionable topics. I can tell you from experience that no one thinks that municipal solid waste is a good topic for drinking cocktails and chatting.
In addition, the location of waste management facilities is almost always a victim of “Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY) syndrome. No one wants to see and smell a garbage truck driving in front of their house unless it is picking up their own household garbage. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain funding, research, construction, and operation for the advancement of waste management systems. But they are an important part of sustainable cities.
The population density of urban life can provide economies of scale in waste collection, processing, and reuse. As the global consumption of materials increases, the waste stream will continue to grow. If we don’t recycle more materials, we will actually fall into the garbage dump. The circular economy relies on recycling. The need to dispose of garbage instead of landfills, which increases the cost of garbage disposal. This increases the revenue sources of waste management companies and may stimulate investment in waste technology.
Although waste management does lead to climate change, climate change is only an impact of waste. The methane produced in landfills and the energy required to collect and process waste can contribute to climate change. Although these impacts are important, they are insignificant compared to the impact of our waste system on ecology and biodiversity. Improper handling of plastics and chemicals can destroy ecosystems. The ocean, in particular, is already full of plastics and other forms of non-biodegradable materials, such as drugs, fertilizers, and pesticides. Once these enter the food chain, they usually cannot be removed. We need a waste management system to collect all garbage, including garbage, and sort it to reuse as much as possible. As the energy system decarbonizes, the environmental impact of waste management should be reduced.
Producer responsibility is a useful concept for waste management. But other concepts such as consumer responsibility and collective social responsibility are also important. Rubbish belongs to everyone. The solution is not to stop consumption, but to change our waste management system and our concept of waste itself. Our waste should be regarded as a resource. Food waste can be processed into fertilizer. Used electronic products should mine rare earth metals and other valuable materials. It’s like the old world thinking about chickens. Every part of the animal is converted into food, nothing is discarded. What was not used initially can be used to make soups, stews, and sausages. Our modern economy is based on a linear model of production-consumption-waste. It may help build an efficient economy, but its impact on the planet is terrible. When I grew up in Brooklyn in the 1950s and 1960s, we delivered milk and eggs to our door-the milk bottles collected could be reused, and the same models were used to produce soda and soda. With the invention of plastic milk containers and disposable soda bottles and cans, this business model and these jobs disappeared. We need to rethink the linear business model and move to a circular economy. Without recycling, there would be no circular economy. Without a circular economy, we cannot build environmentally sustainable cities. If there is no sustainable city, we better start looking for another planet.
