In late June, high-tech company Eaton trumpeted the fact that 39 of its manufacturing facilities globally had reached a zero-waste-to-landfill milestone. To put it another way, the sites collectively since 2010 have eliminated 2,750 metric tons of trash and materials through recycling, reuse and other new processes. Eaton’s definition of zero waste is pretty specific…
In striving to create a waste-free world, it is important that we articulate not only our goals but the ways we plan to go about bringing them to fruition. I believe our objectives would be much better served in this regard with a simple word substitution. Rather than focusing on diversion rates as the way
Recently I met Farouk Banna of the World Bank, and we discussed the bank’s investments in the global waste business. What always strikes me is how the waste industry is all about collection and landfills. In fact, out of the $220 billion per year spent today, and even more importantly, the $375 billion anticipated annual
My previous blog was about the how the ultimate success of recycling programs with the long-range objective of achieving “zero waste” will depend not on incentives, but on instilling in the public a sense of respect for the intrinsic value of the things we now casually discard. No matter what physical assets we put in
In the course of nearly a decade spent working with and learning about waste streams and recycling technologies, I’ve managed to visit most of the countries that boast world-class reprocessing and recycling facilities and high percentages of waste diverted to other uses, as well as some at the bottom of the ‘refuse heap’. These experiences