waste

30Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Would You Drink ‘Waste Water’ Made Beer?

As the Earth’s population grows and approaches a projected 9.7 billion by 2050, the world’s freshwaters will face mounting pressure to supply the needs of population growth. Approximately 33 per cent of people do not have access to safe drinking water and a similar number do not have access to proper sanitation — numbers that will increase as populations grow. In addition, climate change is predicted to increase the severity of floods and droughts, which in some places will limit water availability and reduce water quality. In some Canadian watersheds, like the South Saskatchewan River Basin in southern Alberta, licences for new water withdrawals — for municipal, agricultural, industrial or other uses — have reached their limit. To continue to sustain or grow populations — and economies —...

Two Waste Experts Explain What Wishcycling Is

12Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT

Two Waste Experts Explain What Wishcycling Is

Wishcycling is putting something in the recycling bin and hoping it will be recycled, even if there is little evidence to confirm this assumption. Hope is central to wishcycling. People may not be sure the system works, but they choose to believe that if they recycle an object, it will become a new product rather than being buried in a landfill, burned or dumped. The U.S. recycling industry was launched in the 1970s in response to public concern over litter and waste. The growth of recycling and collection programs changed consumers’ view of waste: It didn’t seem entirely bad if it could lead to the creation of new products via recycling. Pro-recycling messaging from governments, corporations and environmentalists promoted and reinforced recycling behavior. This was especially true for ...

A Waste Expert Explains What Pay-As-You-Throw Means

5Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

ENVIRONMENT

A Waste Expert Explains What Pay-As-You-Throw Means

Pay-as-you-throw is a policy that charges people for the amount of trash they toss out. It’s also sometimes called variable-rate pricing or pay-as-you-waste. Many cities and towns around the world, including over 7,000 in the U.S., have pay-as-you-throw waste policies. Examples include Seattle, Berkeley, Austin and Portland, Maine. Large cities often require residents to purchase special trash bags or stickers so that they pay separately for every bag of trash. Or people may have to sign up for a certain level of waste collection service, which limits how much garbage they can set out on the curb. Pay-as-you-throw is one of local governments’ most effective tools for reducing waste, controlling waste disposal costs and giving residents an incentive to participate in recycling and compos...

Turn Plastic Waste In Your Recycle Bin Into Profit

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

TECHNOLOGY, VIDEO REELS

Turn Plastic Waste In Your Recycle Bin Into Profit

People will recycle if they can make money doing so. In places where cash is offered for cans and bottles, metal and glass recycling has been a great success. Sadly, the incentives have been weaker for recycling plastic. As of 2015, only 9% of plastic waste is recycled. The rest pollutes landfills or the environment. Saved from the trash heap and ready for transformation. Nathan Shaiyen/Michigan Tech, CC BY But now, several technologies have matured that allow people to recycle waste plastic directly by 3D-printing it into valuable products, at a fraction of their normal cost. People are using their own recycled plastic to make decorations and gifts, home and garden products, accessories and shoes, toys and games, sporting goods and gadgets from millions of free designs. This approach is...

Systems For Managing E-Waste Aren’t Keeping Up – Consumer Electronics Have Changed A Lot In 20 Years

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

TECHNOLOGY

Systems For Managing E-Waste Aren’t Keeping Up – Consumer Electronics Have Changed A Lot In 20 Years

It’s hard to imagine navigating modern life without a mobile phone in hand. Computers, tablets and smartphones have transformed how we communicate, work, learn, share news and entertain ourselves. They became even more essential when the COVID-19 pandemic moved classes, meetings and social connections online. But few people realize that our reliance on electronics comes with steep environmental costs, from mining minerals to disposing of used devices. Consumers can’t resist faster products with more storage and better cameras, but constant upgrades have created a growing global waste challenge. In 2019 alone, people discarded 53 million metric tons of electronic waste. In our work as sustainability researchers, we study how consumer behavior and technological innovations influence the pr...

COVID-19 is laying waste to many US recycling programs

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

COVID-19 is laying waste to many US recycling programs

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the U.S. recycling industry. Waste sources, quantities and destinations are all in flux, and shutdowns have devastated an industry that was already struggling. Many items designated as reusable, communal or secondhand have been temporarily barred to minimize person-to-person exposure. This is producing higher volumes of waste. Grocers, whether by state decree or on their own, have brought back single-use plastic bags. Even IKEA has suspended use of its signature yellow reusable in-store bags. Plastic industry lobbyists have also pushed to eliminate plastic bag bans altogether, claiming that reusable bags pose a public health risk. As researchers interested in industrial ecology and new schemes for polymer recycling, we are concerned about challenges f...