End of Life – Redeeming the Waste Culture End of Life – Redeeming the Waste Culture

The John Ray InitiativeThe John Ray Initiative

Cheltenham – 11 February 2006 Cheltenham – 11 February 2006

Waste – Is there a problem?Waste – Is there a problem?

John FergusonJohn FergusonWaste and Resource Strategy UnitWaste and Resource Strategy Unit

OutlineOutline

Introduction: What is waste? What kind of wastes do we produce? Why is waste an issue?

Unsustainable Consumption. The Wasteful ‘Economy’ Climate change? What can we do about it?

What is waste?What is waste? There are complex legal definitions (EU):

Holders intent to discard? Is it hazardous? Does it have a market for its re-use? Evolving – When does it cease to be waste?

Essentially any matter in the wrong place at the wrong time! Single point or multi point (diffuse). Solid, liquid, gaseous. Natural or Xenobiotic. A ubiquitous and inevitable consequence of human activity. Inextricably linked to patterns of production and consumption. Closely related to ‘wealth’.

What kind of wastes do we produce?

What kind of wastes do we produce?

Industrial by products. (solid, liquid and gaseous) Pesticides. (escaped) Fertilizers. (escaped) Sewage wastes (domestic and industrial). Natural materials (food by products, forestry brash). By products of consumption. (plastics, paper, metals,

organics, pharmaceuticals – MSW) Construction and demolition wastes. Automotive (cars, tyres, exhausts, oils) Agricultural.

Why is waste an issue? (1)Why is waste an issue? (1)

Impact on human health: Pathogens (sewage, landfill leachates,

agricultural wastes). Heavy metals (Pb, Hg, Cr et al…) Persistent organic pollutants (POP’s) – PCBs’,

PAHs’. Air, water, food, skin contact. Infective, Toxic, Mutagenic, Carcinogenic.

Why is waste an issue? (2)Why is waste an issue? (2)

Economic loss: Contaminated land (heavy metals,

hydrocarbons). Polluted water courses (oil, eutrophication). Contaminated food sources (TBTO). Human health impacts.

Why is waste an issue? (3)Why is waste an issue? (3)

Impact on the Environment: Climate change – carbon effects. Water, land and air quality. Organisms (fish, birds, plant life etc) - Effects on

biodiversity. Ecosystem damage – acid rain.

The Root problem – Unsustainable Consumption

The Root problem – Unsustainable Consumption

Per capita consumption continues to increase as global GDP grows (3-4%) outstripping population growth (1-2%).

Resource consumption per capita and per unit GDP declining but overall resource consumption and waste production continues to grow due to population and economic growth.

Richest 20% account for over 80% of global consumption. 6,400 kgoe per capita. 1,600 litres of fuel per capita US.

Poorest 20% account for less that 2% of global consumption. 620 kgoe per capita. 31 litres of fuel per capita sub

Saharan Africa. Global forested area reduced from 12 sqkm – 7sqkm (1970-

1999). Global fish stocks under pressure. Oil, water, land and natural resource wars. ‘Filling a hole what needs to be made whole!’.

The wasteful ‘economy’The fundamental paradox:

The wasteful ‘economy’The fundamental paradox:

Sustained economic growth

versus

Sustainable consumption of natural resources

Can we make it a virtuous circle ?– or must it be a vicious circle?

Production

Economic growth

& prosperity

Consumption

Straining The Planet The Pollution EconomyStraining The Planet The Pollution Economy

10,000 kg annualResource

10,000 kg annualResource

Input per

capita

Input per

capita

1000 kgconsumption

100 kgs still intact after 6 months

100 kgs still intact after 6 months

Total UK Raw Resource Usage and Disposal per Annum (excludes

water)

Total UK Raw Resource Usage and Disposal per Annum (excludes

water)

57

0 M

illio

n T

on

nes

(Wast

ag

e)

Matter can neither be created nor destroyedMatter can neither be created nor destroyed

60

0 M

illio

n T

on

nes

(Raw

Reso

urc

es)

60

0 M

illio

n T

on

nes

(Raw

Reso

urc

es)

InputsInputs600 Million Tonnes600 Million Tonnes

Other 16%Other 16%

Minerals and Rock

50%

Minerals and Rock

50%

Fossil Fuels 34%

Fossil Fuels 34%

UseUse600 Million Tonnes600 Million Tonnes

Public Sector GoodsNot Measured

Public Sector GoodsNot Measured

IndustrialGoods

Not Measured

IndustrialGoods

Not Measured

Power Transport& Heat34%

Power Transport& Heat34%

Packaging 3%Packaging 3%

Consumer Goods10%

Consumer Goods10%

DisposalDisposal600 Million Tonnes600 Million Tonnes

‘Lasting’ Products1%

‘Lasting’ Products1%

Dredgings 4%Dredgings 4%

Air Emissions34%

Air Emissions34%

Mining Waste20%

Mining Waste20%

Landfill 15%Landfill 15%

Agricultural Waste16%

Agricultural Waste16%

Sewage 5%Sewage 5%

Recycling 5%Recycling 5%

30 Million Tonnes Re-use30 Million Tonnes Re-use

Financial And Resource Economies(UK) - Euro

Financial And Resource Economies(UK) - Euro

State 42%

Business 58%

GDP1200 Bn Eu

Savings

Debt

Spending

Taxes

Non RenewableInputs

600m Tonnes

PhysicalPurchases

60m Tonnes

Accumulated

1m Tonnes

GaseousWaste

170m Tonnes

Solid Waste400m Tonnes

Reused30m Tonnes

GJJ1999

SUN

Sunlightpasses

through the atmosphere..

..and warms the earth.

..most escapes to outer spaceand cools the earth...

Infra-red radiationis given off by the earth...

…but some IR is trapped by some gases in the air, thus reducing the cooling.

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

Possible causes of recent climate changePossible causes of recent climate change

Natural internal climate variability (“chaos”)

Natural factors that force change

orbit of the earth around the sun

energy output of the sun

volcanic particles in the stratosphere (“dust”)

Man-made factors that force change

greenhouse gases (CO2, methane….)

small particles (cooling effect of sulphates, etc)

RELATIVE WARMING OF GREENHOUSE GASES current emissions, effect over next 100 years

Methane24%

Carbondioxide

63%Nitrous

oxide 10%

Others3%

GJJ1999

CO2 per capita emissions and population (2000)

CO2 per capita emissions and population (2000)

USA

Canada, Australia, New Zealand

RussiaJapan

OECD EuropeOther EIT

Middle East

ChinaLatin America

Other AsiaAfrica India

Em

iss

ion

s (

ton

nes

of

carb

on

per

cap

ita)

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Population (million)

GLOBAL TEMPERATURE – Longer Term Cycle

GLOBAL TEMPERATURE – Longer Term Cycle

GLOBAL TEMPERATURE 1861-2003GLOBAL TEMPERATURE 1861-2003

TEMPERATURE RISE by the 2080sTEMPERATURE RISE by the 2080s

winter summer

°C

JTH 17-07-2001 27 COP6bis/SBSTA

Global ocean circulation

A simplified view of the global thermohaline conveyor belt, showing cooling and downwelling in the North Atlantic, warming and freshening in the southern hemisphere, and return flow as a warm surface current.

Cooling

Warm and less saline Antarctic circumpolar current

Warmsurfacecurrent

Intermediatewaters

Health risks

Decreased agricultural productivity

Increased storminess/flooding?

Human displacement and geopolitical instability.

IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

1900

2000

“Insurance companies estimate that the bill for severe weather in the 1990s worldwide was $480 billion, with the economic… losses over that period increasing by a factor of 8… If these rates are projected into the future in comparison to a standard growth in GDP of 3% per year, by 2065, the world would become bankrupt, as damages would outstrip global earnings.”

Simon Retallack, The Ecologist Report, November 2001

HOW CAN WE REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS?HOW CAN WE REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS?

Reduce emissions - Use less energy

insulate homes, businesses and factories

less polluting transport; travel less

Combined Heat and Power

Reduce emissions - Generate energy without emissions of CO2

renewable energy (wind, solar..)

nuclear power

Sequestrate carbon – soils, seas, forests, mechanical.

Reduce landfill of bio-degradables.

Adapt.

What can we do? (1)What can we do? (1)

The most urgent need: To close the gap between developed and developing countries.

Ensure waste collection services are available to as large a part of the world’s population as possible and to raise the quality of landfill sites.

Develop policy and economic support frameworks for the waste hierarchy.

Recognise wastes as a resource. Stop the increasing export of environmental

problems to the developing countries.

What can we do? (2)What can we do? (2) Reduce consumption.

Education – why do we consume so much? Global equity.

Improve production: Producer responsibility. Raw material taxes. Product taxes. Disposal bans and taxes. De-materialise - Decouple waste from GDP. Integrated Product Policy.

Technology and knowledge transfer.

What can we do? (3)What can we do? (3)

Develop national, economic block and global resource management plans (EU Thematic Strategy on Natural Resource Use).

Address the increasing deficit of human ‘happiness’ that is one of the driving forces in unnecessary consumption.

The Christian PerspectiveThe Christian Perspective

‘The Earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it’. It was our inheritance – this implies stewardship. Will judgement in part relate to how we have

treated God’s creation? Revelation 18 and 19.

Thank you for listening.Thank you for listening.