Shaping-up Waste Management Policy in Support of Circular Economy: Examples

Prof.Dr. Hiroshan HettiarachchiHead of Unit – Waste Management

United Nations University (UNU-FLORES), Dresden, Germany

17 October, 2019, Forum on Transitions Towards a Circular Economy, Accra, Ghana

Learning Circular Economy from the MartianMark Watney grows potatoes in his lab using Martian soil fertilized with human waste, irrigated with waterproduced by burning hydrogen from leftover rocket fuel.

the-martian.fandom.com

This can happen on Earth as well Policy-backed success stories

• NEWater is the ultra-pure water produced from wastewater in Singapore.

• NEWater started in 1998, while water recycling dates back to 1974.

Singapore:NEWater

• One of the best examples of policy integration: wastewater treatment and its use in agriculture is a national priority.

• 70% of wastewater receives proper treatment. 90% of the treated wastewater is used in agriculture.

• By 2025, treated wastewater is expected to contribute 16% of the national water budget.

Hettiarachchi and Ardakanian (2018)

Jordan: Water Recycling in Agriculture

Colombia:Organic Waste Composting in Cajica

❑Ranked by UNEP as one of the 5 best urban waste management programs in 2017.

❑City waste governance modified within the municipality to run a pilot.

❑Full program running successfully for over 10 years now

Hettiarachchi et al. (2018)

Hettiarachchi, H., SNR2019 Conference, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia, November 2019

Can we address the “take-make-use” in a similar way?Can the markets adapt?

How did Watney handle “take-make-use”?

In fact his whole operation is based on the optimization of the “take-make-use” portion of the cycle. He even followed food rationing to improve his chances of survival.

the-martian.fandom.com

Rwanda:Banning plastic bags

❑The ban against use of plastic bags in the country fully came into force in 2008.❑Paper bag industry is thriving now as a result , and has become a model to other

countries in the region.

“I saw an opportunity in the Government ban of polythene bags a couple of years back”- Javier Ndayirata, Owner of a paper bag plant

newtimes.co.rw/section/read/205624

Pakistan:Wedding Receptions Policies

❑The ''one dish‘’ policy was applied all over Pakistan in 2000.

❑In 2018 Islamabad and few other cities enacted another law to end all marriage functions by 10pm.

https://www.brandsynario.com/new-wedding-regulations-announced-islamabad/

Dresden, Germany:Reaction to the new EU laws

❑In 2018 EU ratified new waste management laws based on circular economy, which will come into effect by 2035

❑Plastic bags started disappearing from the grocery stores❑And then this happened….

www.amazon.de

Michigan, USA:First time with a paper-straw

Should we wait for policies?Bring innovation first: policies will catch-up

Global Examples:Renting out the extra space

www.swissinfo.ch

3 Flights – 1 Boarding Pass

Global Examples:Simple ways of waste reduction

A cup you can eat

The Netherlands:Phillips now sells “light” instead of bulbs

A collaborative project between Philips and Turntoo is a showcase for the pioneering ‘Pay-per-lux’ modelwww.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/case-studies/selling-light-as-a-service

Again we can learn from the MartianWatney produced water by burning hydrogen, a big no-no in the NASA books.

Later NASA gave their blessings to continue.

the-martian.fandom.com

My two cents:Summary of observations

Key observations

❑We are keen to solve the waste part of the material flow equation. Not enough attention paid yet to the take-make-usepart of the cycle.

❑ Success stories often have policy backing prior to or during the implementation. But it does not have to be a pre-condition, if we use innovative thinking.

Malawi:Bicycle windmill

youtube.com

William Kamkwamba

UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY

Institute for Integrated Management ofMaterial Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES)Ammonstrasse 7401067 DresdenGermanyTel.: +49 351 892193 70Fax: +49 351 892193 89E-mail: flores@unu.edu

Thank you!

Bonus Observation

Singapore: Hidden Plastic Footprint Jordan: No time to clean the tables?