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Elizabeth Wade

Professor Hellmers

English 1201 Online

25 November 2019

Turning Trash into Treasure

The new age of information has brought awareness to many environmental crises that our

society faces today. Issues that, if not addressed, will ultimately be detrimental to this blue planet

that all living creatures call home. Most people hear about climate change, overpopulation,

pollution, over consumption, and many other overwhelming issues on a fairly consistent basis.

Whenever I used to hear or read about these issues, it seemed easier to ignore them and pretend

that somehow these problems would just disappear. The reality seemed so frightening and

overwhelming, and made me feel hopeless for my own future and for the generations to come.

However, after taking an environmental science class I had no choice but to face these issues

from a realistic perspective. One thing that surprised me was how much of a negative impact that

I was making as an individual, and how I chose to remain in denial. I was continually using

plastic water bottles, straws, fast food wrappers, things I had never thought twice about and

mindlessly tossing them into a trash bag. Did you know that there is an island of trash in the

ocean that is twice the size of Texas? Have you considered that the average human produces

about 2000 pounds of trash per year? It seems astonishing that America makes up less than 5%

of the world population but is responsible for almost 40% of the world’s waste production. Most

people rationalize that this is no longer a problem because of the big push towards the system of

recycling that is in place. However, most of what was intended for recycling often gets thrown
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into a landfill as its final destination, due to a crash in the recycling market. Must I say more?

This pending disaster is being fueled by a system called the linear economy: buy, consume,

dispose. This model has been in effect since long before I was born. I firmly believe that changes

must be made in order to sustain the human population’s current demands. A more efficient,

sustainable, and economic solution must be introduced and adopted. Although the linear

economy may be convenient, the shortcomings of our current waste system are not only

damaging but also no longer sustainable for the future wellbeing of our planet. The established

system and the waste management industry must move away from the harmful linear economy

and towards the circular economy to create environmental sustainability and in addition

providing new employment and economic opportunities.

The waste management industry is in complete disarray not only from a sustainability

standpoint, but economically as well. Recycling has long been a key part of this industry but in

recent years the market has stalled. The article, “Piling Up: How China’s Ban on Importing

Waste Has Stalled Global Recycling” explains that in 2018 China enacted the “National Sword”

policy. In essence, it was a ban on almost all recycling imports. This introduced a contamination

standard that was impossible to meet in modern day recycling facilities. China has backpacked

the world’s recycling market for almost 25 years, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the market.

Without this key player, recycling companies are struggling to sell materials due to high

contamination rates. Cheryl Katz, the leading scientist in the study, states that, “China’s plastics

imports have plummeted by 99 percent, leading to a major global shift in where and how

materials tossed in the recycling bin are being processed” (7). This is why recycling facilities are

now often forced to pay to dispose of their once valuable commodities in a landfill, as there is no
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longer a viable market to sell to. In many areas of the United States recycling programs are being

forced to shut down completely. The single stream recycling system, while convenient for

consumers, has made it more than a nightmare for the recycling facilities trying to meet new

contamination regulations and standards.

This has left the industry to either bury our waste in landfills, or burn it. Landfills, it turns

out, are more harmful to the environment than ever imagined. The article “Methane: The other

important greenhouse gas,” produced by The Environmental Defense Fund, explains that the

materials that have the ability to decompose do so anaerobically, meaning without oxygen. This

releases a gas called methane, a heating agent “84 times more potent than carbon dioxide” (9).

Safaa M. Raghab discusses in a similar article, “Treatment of leachate from municipal solid

waste landfill,” that another huge problem for landfills is leachate. This can be described as

“liquid that passes through a landfill and has extracted dissolved and suspended matter from it”

(10). Leachate threatens to pollute our water supply and soil. It is one of the most prominent

hazards generated from landfills. Also there is the fact that the earth is running out of space. It

can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to transport this trash to rural areas so it even affects

humans in taxes. So why not burn our trash and use it to generate electricity? After all, these

state of the art waste-to-energy plants contribute almost nothing to air pollution. Many countries

are exploring this alternative to landfilling and it has proven to be a lucrative market, projected to

grow to 35.5 billion dollars by 2024 as stated in the article “Waste to Energy (WTE) Market

Size.” While this does seem like an attractive remedy to our waste crisis, it is only a band-aid

solution. Peter Lacy, the Managing Director of Accenture Sustainability Services, states that “At

the current rate of (population) growth and levels of resource intensity we will need three
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planets’ worth of resources by 2050” (8). There are a finite amount of resources on our planet

and mankind has been utilizing and consuming them at exponential rates. With dwindling

resources and a rising population it is clear that the world cannot simply bury or burn its trash.

Ultimately it is clear that mankind must look towards a new system, the circular economy.

The circular economy stems from the idea that waste does not exist. It is hard for society

to comprehend this concept as people deal with continual and vast amounts of waste on a daily

basis. However, this idea of a waste free system existed long before the first humans ever walked

the planet, and still exists to this day. The perfect example is the natural ecosystem that has been

sustaining life on earth for billions of years. In nature, there is no waste. Everything is

repurposed in order to sustain the ecosystem. As something dies, it decomposes and is used as

nutrients to replenish other life. The circular economy is not to say that humans need to live in

the stone age again, but that society must reprogram how it thinks of waste by looking at waste

as a resource instead of as trash. The overall design of the circular economy is complex and

functions as a closed cycle. The circular model doesn't think about trash as waste but as

resources. Instead of simply disposing of a product we consider how we can reuse, repurpose or

recycle it in that order. The circular economy creates endless possibilities as Furkan Sariatli

explains in the journal “Linear Economy Versus Circular Economy: A Comparative and

Analyzer Study for Optimization of Economy for Sustainability” that “The core propositions of

natural capitalism are: creating closed-loop production cycle to reuse nondegradable materials;

elevating the efficiency of resource usage to lengthen the availability of natural resources;

redefining the producer – user contract to “service and flow” model rather than “sell and use”

and quantifying the value of natural resources to promote reinvestment in nature” (11).
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Figure 1: This image shows how the circular economy would close loops in not only the waste

industry but manufacturing, distribution and more.

The circular economy is often touted as a detrimental idea for the profitability of

business, but if one looks closely at the idea, it has the potential to be quite the opposite. Take

recycling for example. The factsheet “Industrial Waste Management: Waste Stream Statistics”

states that “Currently the U.S recycles about 30% of its waste stream, even though up to 75% of

our waste stream is recyclable. Over 60% of the average landfill is composed of paper, metals,

glass, plastics, and food waste” (4). This means that 60 percent of all mass in landfills is an

unrealized source of potential revenue. But could this actually be turned from trash into treasure?

Take food waste for example. Businesses could be created to compost this organic matter, in

order to sell it to farmers. During this process the natural gas could be captured and sold as
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another source of revenue. Another source is our electronic waste as the Ellen MacArthur

Foundation states that, “E-waste, worth USD 107 billion, is generated globally each year, of

which only 20% is collected and recycled under appropriate conditions” (15). This logic can be

applied to every piece of waste generated today to create millions of dollars in profits.

Not only would these new pathways increase efficiency in the economy, but they would

create an entirely new sector in the workforce. The Circular Economy would generate multitudes

of new jobs across the globe. Different types of waste would have to be treated accordingly, and

would potentially create entirely new markets. For example, old electronics can be used to create

valuable pieces of new or refurbished equipment. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation states that

“Refurbishing 1,000 tonnes of electronics creates 13 times more jobs than recycling the same

amount” (15). Electronic waste alone creates new job opportunities in engineering and

manufacturing that would boost the economy. The foundation also states that “On a European

scale, reuse can create significant local employment: on average, 80 jobs could be created for

every 1,000 tonnes of collected municipal solid waste. Europe-wide, 200,000 jobs could be

created if 1% of total EU municipal solid waste were to be collected and sorted” (15). Putting

aside materials with obvious value like electronics, would offer many opportunities for

significant economic growth in unexpected areas like municipal waste.

The circular economy would not only generate jobs in sorting through waste and reusing

or recycling , but add to other aspects as well. The circular system also presents a need for

innovation in many industries so that mankind can move towards this closed loop system. There

is a need to create entirely new materials, rethink package design, rethink waste collection and

disposal, and create new markets for previously non recyclable materials. Walter R. Stahel
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explains in the article, “The Circular Economy” that “To close the recovery loop we will need

new technologies to de-polymerize, de-alloy, de-laminate, de-vulcanize and de-coat materials”

(13). This shows that we will need investors to fund these new processes and scientists,

engineers and manufacturers to implement them. Another huge economic benefit will be seen by

everyday consumers. Stahel explains that “Ownership gives way to stewardship; consumers

become users and creators. The remanufacturing and repair of old goods, buildings and

infrastructure creates skilled jobs in local workshops” (13). Not only will this provide

opportunity for new entrepreneurs, but this presents a unique opportunity for consumers in

another way. Today, consumers pay companies to pick up our waste. In the circular economy,

companies could potentially pay consumers for their waste as it holds more value than in the

linear system.

The net benefits of the circular economy from a financial perspective alone are reason

enough to embrace the change. The Environmental Protection Agency explains in the study

“Environmental Factoids | WasteWise” that a city like New York which “generates more than 14

million tonnes of rubbish a year, and spends around $2.3bn disposing of it,” could instead

generate millions in revenue from exports of materials and reusable packaging. The Allied

Market Research Website states, “The global waste management market size accounted for

$330.6 billion in 2017, and is expected to reach $530.0 billion by 2025”(16). This shows that

these numbers would skyrocket if the full worth of the material society deems to be “trash” was

realized under a circular system. Peter Lacey from Accenture Sustainability Services states,

“Throughout the process we’ve been spurred on by recent research from the Ellen MacArthur
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Foundation and the World Economic Forum that the world stands to gain ​a staggering $1 trillion

from rolling out circular business models” (8).

Outside of hypotheticals, there are real world, tangible benefits of a circular system. The

Ellen MacArthur Foundation says, “... The European Ecodesign Directive (framework legislation

that governs European product design) is expected to generate EUR 55 billion in revenue per

year for industry, producing up to 800,000 additional jobs and will have a significant overall

positive effect on economic growth, investment, and innovation. It also ensures a level playing

field in the market for companies that are developing or using better design solutions” (15). This

exemplifies that the circular economy is bringing financial opportunities in a real case study and

shows that the circular economy can actually boost economics.

However, there are those who disagree about the feasibility of implementing a circular

economy. According to Tom Szaky, he explains that the economics are just not there in the

article “The Traditional (and Flawed) Concept of the Circular Economy.” He states, “The

economics of waste​ already prevent our most common waste streams from being captured and

recycled, let alone reintegrated into a circular production cycle. Our current recycling

infrastructure typically only captures commodities like aluminum, paper, glass and certain

plastics because the cost of collection and processing is less expensive than the resulting material

resource” (14). This is trying to portray that it the costs of recycling products with be more

expensive than simply making the product. He says that the expenses of recycling “makes linear

disposal the only viable economic option”(11). In essence, there are too many pieces of waste

with too little value to rid ourselves of waste all together. He goes on to explain the massive

changes that would need to be made to global infrastructure in order to accomodate the
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circulatory system. Szaky states, “Manufacturers and CPG (consumer packaged goods)

companies would have to design products and packaging in a way that would allow their waste

products to be easily captured in order to allow for re-implementation into the manufacturing

process”(14). These changes in infrastructure would be very expensive, and the return on

investment could take years, if not decades. This may not be something that many investors,

companies, or governments want to put their money behind as it truly is uncharted water. Not

only that, but the circular economy is hard to implement in most areas. If it is already this

difficult to incorporate in places like the United States and China, just imagine how hard it would

be for developing countries. This system would be a complete global change and would require

everyone to be on board to make a significant change, and with our world now, that seems hard

to picture.

Nonetheless, the planet is experiencing significant effects of overconsumption of

resources and problems with the current system of disposal that can not be ignored and will

eventually be forced away from this linear cycle. The world seems to have acknowledged and

accepted the severity of the environmental issues we are facing today. Whether it be climate

change, overpopulation, or over consumption they all seem to be unsolvable. While it certainly is

not the answer to all of these issues, the circular economy would have a tremendously positive

impact on nearly every one of these dire circumstances. This alone, is enough to take the idea of

moving to a circular economy very seriously. There cannot be a selfish compromise for

convenience. This is for the survival of our planet.

For example, climate change is a result of many things. Deforestation has resulted in the

inability for our planet’s forests to absorb sufficient amounts of carbon in order to sustain a
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stable temperature. A Circular Economy would use reduce the need for completely new paper,

cardboard and other products significantly decreasing deforestation. Sébastien Sauvé states in the

journal of ​Environmental Development​, “In a circular economy, the consumption of raw virgin

resources is reduced to optimize the use of by-products, wastes or recycling of discarded

products as the primary source of resource materials and to reduce pollution generated at each

step” (12). This shows that by taking advantage of the reuse of products there would be less

production meaning also less pollution and deforestation. Our Forests could mature, and be a

vital part in our fight against climate change.

In addition, plastic pollution is another huge issue contributing to climate change. Our

oceans ecosystem has been destroyed by plastic pollution. The oceans absorb almost as much of

the carbon in our atmosphere as plants do, but just like our forests they need a healthy ecosystem

to continue to do this. Unfortunately, plastic is destroying this vital ecosystem at unprecedented

rates. Sarah Kaplan states in an article by The Washington Post that, “If we keep producing (and

failing to properly dispose of) plastics at predicted rates, plastics in the ocean will outweigh fish

pound for pound in 2050”(6). This shows that our overuse and overproduction of plastics will

contribute to the destruction of the oceans. However, a circular economy is one without single

use products. It would propose reusable packaging for products like beverages, toothpaste, soap,

and food. Instead of the single use packaging we know today. This would eliminate billions of

tons of plastic waste and keep our oceans healthy and absorbing carbon. By continuing to use

virgin products not only is the ecosystem suffering, but exorbitant amounts of energy are being

utilized in doing so. The circular economy would alleviate both of these issues. It would not only

reduce the strain we put on our planet's resources, but greatly decrease our emissions as well by
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moving away from the energy intensive processes of creating virgin plastics, paper, glass, and

metals. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency states, It also states, “Producing new

plastic from recycled material uses only two-thirds of the energy required to manufacture it from

raw materials,” and that, “Producing glass from virgin materials requires 30 percent more energy

than producing it from crushed, used glass”(2). The EPA also describes how recycling aluminum

and paper would also require less energy than creating new products. These statistics show that

industry could save energy and create less pollution with the circular economy. These numbers

are also only from recycling the materials, if the industries used the original products that were

made to be reusable the numbers would be even more significant. All these factors would help

contribute to saving the earth from destruction.

In conclusion, it is essential that the waste industry moves towards the circular economy.

The linear system has been proven to be consistently detrimental to the health of our planet, and

continuing down this path is simply not a sustainable option. The circular economy is not only

economically viable, but environmentally sustainable. In order to create a robust global economy

and sustainable planet, the world should transition to this circular system. There will be those

who refuse to adapt to these changes, but in order to help save the planet it is crucial. The world

is changing rapidly, and those who refuse to adapt often get left behind. The waste management

industry must move towards the circular economy to create an environmentally sustainable

system that will create a new workforce and many financial opportunities along the way.
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