Zero Waste 2020 A Key Step towards Sustainability

1. Zero Waste 2020 A Key Step towards Sustainability Dr Paul Connett Emeritus Professor of Environmental Chemistry Director Zero Waste for Sustainability Project (AEHSP) www.AmericanHealthStudies.org Paul@fluorideALERT.org Portland, March 2, 2009

2. Outline • 1. Waste managment and the BIG PICTURE • 2. The Zero waste 2020 strategy • 3. Concluding remarks • 4. Postscript

3. Introduction. Waste management and the Big Picture

4. DIFFERENT TIMES DEMAND DIFFERENT QUESTIONS 21st CENTURY RESOURCE MANAGEMENT “ How do we handle our discarded resources in ways which do not deprive future generations of some, if not all, of their value ?” 20th CENTURY WASTE MANAGEMENT “ How do we get rid of our waste efficiently with minimum damage to our health and the environment ?”

5. DIFFERENT TIMES DEMAND DIFFERENT QUESTIONS 21st CENTURY RESOURCE MANAGEMENT “ How do we handle our discarded resources in ways which do not deprive future generations of some, if not all, of their value ?” 20th CENTURY WASTE MANAGEMENT “ How do we get rid of our waste efficiently with minimum damage to our health and the environment ?” The key issue is SUSTAINABILIY The key issue was SAFETY

6. We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to

7. We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to

9. We cannot run a throwaway society on a finite planet Waste is the evidence that we are doing something wrong Landfills BURY the evidence IncineratorsBURNthe evidence We need to face the real problem…

10. Our task is to fight over-consumption

11. Not only is over-consumption giving us a local waste crisis but also…

12. … a Global crisis

13. The Global Crisis:Since the Industrial Revolution we have imposed a linear society on a planet that functions in circles

14. A LINEAR SOCIETY

15. A LINEAR SOCIETY Extraction

16. A LINEAR SOCIETY Extraction Production

17. A LINEAR SOCIETY Extraction Production Consumption

18. A LINEAR SOCIETY Extraction Production Consumption Waste

19. A LINEAR SOCIETY See www.StoryofStuff.org Extraction Production Consumption Waste

20. Advertising/TV Extraction Production Consumption Waste

21. Over-advertisingproducesOver-consumption

22. By the time a high school student leaves school, he or she will have watched over 350,000 TV commercials. Paul Hawken The Ecology of Commerce.

23. Myth versus Reality • THE MYTH: • The more you consume the happier you become • THE REALITY: • The more you consume the fatter you become!

24. From Ape to...

25. Modern man!

26. “The world has enough for everyone’s needbut not for everyone’s greed”Mahatma Gandhi

27. A LINEAR SOCIETY ENERGY Extraction of Virgin Materials Production of Manufactured items Consumption Waste Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide

28. ENERGY ENERGY Extraction of Virgin Materials Production of Manufactured items Consumption Discarded Materials Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide

29. ENERGY ENERGY Extraction of Virgin Materials Production of Manufactured items Consumption Discarded Materials Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide GLOBAL WARMING

30. How do waste management practices affect this picture? ENERGY ENERGY Extraction of Virgin Materials Production of Manufactured items Consumption Discarded Materials Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide GLOBAL WARMING

31. LANDFILLS ENERGY ENERGY Extraction of Virgin Materials Production of Manufactured items Consumption Discarded Materials Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide GLOBAL WARMING

32. INCINERATION ENERGY ENERGY Extraction of Virgin Materials Production of Manufactured items Consumption Discarded Materials Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide GLOBAL WARMING

33. RECYCLING OF MATERIALS ENERGY ENERGY Extraction of Virgin Materials Production of Manufactured items Consumption Discarded Materials Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide GLOBAL WARMING

34. REUSE OF OBJECTS ENERGY ENERGY Extraction of Virgin Materials Production of Manufactured items Consumption Discarded Materials Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide GLOBAL WARMING

35. COMPOSTING ENERGY ENERGY Extraction of Virgin Materials Production of Manufactured items Consumption Discarded Materials Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide Solid waste Air pollution Water pollution Carbon dioxide GLOBAL WARMING

36. COMPOST

37. Kg Greenhouse gas/tonne Municipal Waste Waste Management Options and Climate Change. AEA 2001

38. Incineration is a waste of energy! • About 4 X more energy saved by reusing, recycling and composting the various components in the discard stream • Contact: Dr. Jeffrey Morris, jeff.morris@zerowaste.com

39. Energy Comparison: Recycling versus incineration(ICF consulting, 2005)

40. Energy Comparison: Recycling versus incineration(ICF consulting, 2005)

41. Arguments against incineration • It is a bad economic investment and very bad for the local economy • It wastes valuable material resources • It wastes energy • It wastes the opportunity to really fight global warming • It produces a toxic ash • It produces toxic air emissions • It is extremely unpopular with the public • It is not sustainable • It is very very BORING

42. Incineration is a poor investment • Most of the money spent on incinerators goes into complicated machinery and leaves the community, whereas • The money spent on the alternatives goes into JOBS and stays in the community.

43. Incinerator in Brescia, Italy The incinerator cost $400,000,000 and only produced 80 jobs!

44. Nova Scotia • 50% diversion in 5 years (Halifax ~ 60%) • 1000 jobs created collecting and treating discarded materials • Another 2000 jobs created in the industries handling the collected material • Nearly all the separated materials are re-used in Nova Scotia’s own industries.

45. Incineration is extremely unpopular • In the US over 300 incinerator proposals defeated between 1985 and 1995 • US has not permitted a new trash incinerator since 1995.

46. Think of an incinerator as three boxes 1. The Furnace which Converts 100’s of Tons of trash into Trillions of tiny particles and gases.

47. 1. The Furnace which Converts 100’s of Tons of trash into Trillions of tiny particles and gases. 2. The Air Pollution control devices Which attempt to capture the tiny particles and some of the gases

48. $$$$$ 1. The Furnace which Converts 100’s of Tons of trash into Trillions of tiny particles and gases. 2. The Air Pollution control devices Which attempt to capture the tiny particles and some of the gases

49. 1. The Furnace which Converts 100’s of Tons of trash into Trillions of tiny particles and gases. 3. A depository for the tiny particles captured (the fly ash) and the bottom ash 2. The Air Pollution control devices which attempt to capture the tiny particles and some of the gases

50. Incinerators don’t get rid of Landfills 1. The Furnace which Converts 100’s of Tons of trash into Trillions of tiny particles and gases. 3. A depository for the tiny particles captured (the fly ash) and the bottom ash 2. The Air Pollution control devices which attempt to capture the tiny particles and some of the gases