End of Life – Redeeming the Waste Culture The John Ray Initiative Cheltenham – 11 February 2006...
Transcript of End of Life – Redeeming the Waste Culture The John Ray Initiative Cheltenham – 11 February 2006...
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.