Prior to COP26, the UAE announced a commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, making them the first Gulf country and major oil and gas producing nation to make a net zero commitment1. This announcement was quickly followed by both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also setting out their commitments to reach net zero by 20602,3. To achieve these targets requires a system-based approach and an understanding of the key role that waste management must play in supporting the delivery of net zero ambitions.
Globally, waste and resource (materials) management has not been at the centre of that debate, which is surprising. The economy’s very existence is centred around consumption. To function, the economy requires extraction of materials, heat and power, transportation of those raw materials, products, and waste management at their end of life – which itself requires power for transportation and operational processes. Labour and financial resources facilitate this, policy and regulations govern it – the output: GDP.
So why is the focus on decarbonising this system, as opposed to rethinking the system? If you want to stop a bath overflowing, you don’t look at technological options to capture the overspilling water, and how you can re-use or repurpose the water; you simply turn the tap off. Waste and resource management, along with the circular economy, should be front and centre of those discussions and not just end of pipe.
So, what does this mean for the waste sector?
The waste sector has rightly been vocal about the positive contribution it has already made to decarbonisation, being associated primarily with managing the volume of material and emissions associated with landfill and energy from waste. Over the past two decades, significant strides have been made in diverting waste from landfill, making a major contribution to the reduction of emissions.
Mitigation strategies have been based on: Minimisation of waste to landfill; Reducing C02 from combustion facilities; Capturing landfill emissions; Recovering and recycling specific carbon intense materials; Optimising transport logistics; Vehicles switching from fossil fuel to sustainable alternatives, and so on…
Clearly these strategies, alongside increased recycling and even targeting materials for recycling based on carbon contribution, go some way towards contributing to these goals. But the waste sector has a bigger role to play – reducing consumption. The waste sector is about materials management. Circular economy is about delivering different business models. So as a sector, the potential value of our contribution is so much more!
Firstly, we should stop referring to ourselves as the waste or even resource management sector; we are part of the materials management sector. Stakeholders across our sector need to be involved throughout the supply chain. This starts with material design (to ensure the material can be circulated within either the material or bio economy); behaviour change (influencing what and how people purchase and consume); through to material supply driving secondary materials markets or contributing to society’s power requirements.
While net zero ambitions rightly focus on decarbonisation of energy supply, we must not forget that avoiding or reducing that energy requirement in the first place must take priority. A key principle of the circular economy is looking for alternative business models, replacing products with service-based solutions. Manufacturing new products requires energy, water, and materials. Transportation of the end products or raw materials to make a product will most likely create carbon emissions, especially if shipped or flown from overseas. Energy is required to pump water, and so the interconnected complexity of the materials management ecosystem goes on.
We make progress when the starting point is a circular economy and our actions drive sustained behaviour change at an individual, corporate or national level.
The waste and resources management sector can help to drive this forward and has a pivotal role in helping society to achieve net zero. Interestingly, one of the largest carbon contributors is shipping. Nearly half of ship voyages4 are transporting coal and oil to other geographies to produce power (and associated carbon emissions) much of which is used in manufacturing. Just think about that for a second and contemplate how a societal shift could theoretically happen overnight with multiple benefits! Local supply chain, circular economy to retain value of materials within that system – result: reduced energy demand. If our energy sources are then renewable (now easier to achieve as there is less energy demand), there is minimal need for shipping coal and oil.
As simple as 1, 2, 3
Our societal systems are complex and diverse, however, in my view achieving net zero can be distilled down into 3 simple points.
Travel: Everything within the supply chain needs to travel less
Our societal functions have become used to “just-in-time” logistics, with an “I-want-it-now” culture. The miles quickly rack up – food is imported from distant shores; material supply chains covering huge distances; our working patterns travelling to an office – and these all require a support infrastructure. Delivering net zero will require compromises, and yes, seasonal fruit may then be available only during certain seasons – and that should be OK.
For waste management, we need a combination of decarbonising the way we collect materials (e.g. electric or hydrogen instead of combustion-powered vehicles) and providing the solutions to convert waste into fuel, (initially biofuels and gasification and then hydrogen), whilst society seeks to address the just in time challenge.
Consumption: We need to consume less
It’s common knowledge that we consume more than two and half worlds’ worth of resources – however you look at it, that is not sustainable.
In addition, much of the world’s population is seeking a better quality of life and growth. Growth is measured by the gross domestic product, which is based on the level of consumption. Global economic growth assumptions of a mere 3%, as compound growth, quickly reach unsustainable levels. Put simply, success and growth measures are inconsistent with the urgent needs of humanity.
Clearly the less we consume, the less energy we need to source the raw materials, make the products, transfer them to the point of sale and then manage them at their end of life. Decarbonisation of the energy used solves only part of the problem.
We don’t need to abandon capitalism; we simply need to think differently about how we measure growth and success. Wealth is not just about money. An existing forest is worth more to humanity than money that is used to fund carbon-offsetting schemes to plant more trees. We also need to capitalise on service-based rather than product-based business models.
For the waste sector, the obvious point is application of a circular economy. But this also builds on the extensive work done on purchasing behaviour and waste minimisation. A good example is how we buy food and some of the great work done by organisations like WRAP in the UK on the love food, hate waste campaigns.
Personal accountability: We need to be accountable for our own actions
This is not just about politicians signing agreements, but more about individuals making the right decisions. We all have a role to play in the type and frequency of the transport we use, what food we eat, how much energy we use and so on.
For the waste sector, recycling, while the second worst option to landfill, has a key role to play in returning high quality secondary materials back to the supply chain. The recycling container is a key visible point of interface with the public. While recycling alone doesn’t solve the issue, an individual’s continual feeling of “doing their bit”, is part of a wider solution. Therefore, individuals need to maximise recycling levels in terms of participation and material capture rates, minimising (ideally eliminating), contamination.
In conclusion, the materials sector (formally known as waste sector) has a huge role to play in delivering net zero bringing key skills and experience to every stage of societal systems. Delivering net zero, however, needs us all to recognise our part in the consumption problem and work through the steps of how to kick that habit. The process will be uncomfortable for some but ultimately will give us all a habitable world with a viable economic future. Ricardo Energy and Environment have been helping clients globally to address these challenges.
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Dr Darren Perrin (MCIWM, PhD. MRes. BSc.) is Head of Waste and Resource Management Business Development and Growth at Ricardo Energy and Environment.
1. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/government/2021/10/07/uae-unveils-net-zero-initiative-for-2050/
4. https://qz.com/2113243/forty-percent-of-all-shipping-cargo-consists-of-fossil-fuels/