After years of being regarded as the poor cousin of waste disposal recycling is becoming the star. It has to do with the adoption of the circular economy. Instead of throwing things away – the waste disposal option, which is based on the linear economy – we are now starting to reuse them. The recycling
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The Planetary Health Diet was unveiled last week. Will this feed 10 billion people, save 11 million a year from starvation and do less damage to the planet than we are presently doing? Or, will it be another also ran along with Banting, Atkins and the Mediterranean diets? Diets used to be simple, cut out
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Judging by social media everyone is upset with plastic – especially single use plastic. The new cry is let’s have compostable plastic. But is this a dead end street? Concerned individuals are starting to make their voices heard and are resisting using plastic wherever possible. More consumers are refusing to accept plastic bags at the
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Early man, like the animals with whom he lived, wasted nothing. Everything was recycled. Recycling is no longer a natural activity of humans. The situation has been made worse in the present linear economy. We are conditioned to consume resources and dispose of the waste generated. Can we go back to our ancestors ways? Recycling
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“Benjamin Franklin said there were only two things certain in life: death and taxes. But I’d like to add a third certainty: trash. And while some in this room might want to discuss reducing taxes, I want to talk about reducing trash.” – Ruth Ann Minner This quotation got me thinking – are death, taxes
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The words “waste management plan” invariably conjure up an image of a thick document and a lot of cost. But it doesn’t have to be. At its simplest a waste management plan is something a homeowner can create on the back of a serviette while watching TV. Waste management plans have developed an image of
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The H1 figures are due out shortly. Even if the economy is not in recession we are teetering on the brink. Recycling can help a business survive the tough times. Waste is all about volumes – the more we produce, the more waste we generate. During normal or good times we tend to consume more
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‘Recycle at source’ is one of the mantras of recycling. But what does it mean and does it serve a purpose? It is a little bit like unscrambling an egg – once it is broken it is almost impossible to fix. Recycling is a volume driven business based on low margins – especially since China
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Very often when organizations decide to start a recycling program the first thing they do is buy new recycling containers. Which is all good-and-well – but, if they don’t change their culture first they are wasting their money. The container – be it a wheelie bin, office bin or specialized recycling bin – is necessary
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Whilst South Africa’s waste industry is massive in terms of job creation the recycling industry will soon be bigger. A mere twenty years ago there was no recycling industry. Now it appears that, in terms of employment, it will soon be bigger than the waste management industry. Few people are aware of the difference between
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