Relive the conference 'The future of waste"
Litter has become a significant problem in many urban areas. Cities and communities can’t keep up with the speed at which public trash bins are filled, causing them to overflow. Waste bags in front of our houses become targets for wind, rain, and animals. And the quantity of packaging that consumers face is uncontrollable. That’s why, on November 20, 2024, City to Ocean has invited experts from Germany, Prague, Paris, Stockholm and Brussels to share their ambitious projects. The solutions to the waste problem are very diverse, as was evident from the wide range of presentations during our conference. This is also the approach we take at City to Ocean, a global one. However, it is much easier to find examples of waste management than of preventing waste at the source. Fortunately, we have France as a neighbor to inspire us with their ambitious new law, which, for example, will ban all single-use packaging by 2040. Without ambitious legislation like this in France, we will continue to manage waste while leaving the tap running. You can view the presentations and photos below.
Stockholm - Waste travels in underground vacuum tubes
Lars-Olov Andersson, project manager at the Water and Waste Department of the City of Stockholm, presented their vacuum waste tube system. It is a sustainable, energy-efficient, and climate-smart waste management solution where waste bags travel at speeds of up to 70 km/h in underground vacuum tubes, reducing pollution from garbage trucks. Additionally, a study in Stockholm on litter provides the exact composition of waste found in certain areas. Lastly, Lars also explained how organic waste is converted into biogas for the city’s buses.
Paris - Ambitious new law to end waste at the source
Let’s stop the problem at the source—that is the objective of the ambitious anti-waste law in France. Blanche Laskar from the Waste Prevention Department of the City of Paris presented the key objectives of this law and how it is being implemented in Paris. For example, by 2040, all single-use plastic packaging will be banned; by 2030, there will be 50% less single-use plastic bottles; oxodegradable plastic bags will be prohibited; restaurants must accept customers with reusable containers; access to tap water will be ensured; and there will be an obligation to use reusable packaging. The law will also combat planned obsolescence. This law is a remarkable example of what all countries should aim for. If not, the industry will continue flooding society with more and more disposable packaging and items, and waste management will never be able to stop the pollution and squandering of resources this creates.
Prague - Smart underground waste containers
Within their Smart Prague Vision 2030, Prague aims to improve waste management through intelligent underground waste containers and trucks equipped with smart sensors. Zuzana Zadražilová, Waste Management Specialist in the Environment Protection Department of Prague, and Martin Lér, consultant at OICT, presented both the smart above-ground and underground containers. They first explained the general waste management system, followed by an overview of the intelligent containers with more details about the sensors and how the collected data is used to improve waste management. Currently, the data is not yet used to organize dynamic collection routes, but this will be the case in the future.
Germany - The German deposit system
Germany has the world’s largest and highest-performing deposit return scheme for cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles since 2003. The country achieves a record 98% return rate on eligible single-use drink containers. Robert Jansen, general manager at DPG Deutsche Pfandsystem, explained how this system was implemented, how it works, and what the key criteria are for a successful deposit system.
Warning: a deposit system is a solution for single-use cans and plastic bottles, and since these will not disappear overnight, we need a deposit system in Belgium. But the real goal should be to eliminate all single-use packaging in the future and shift to reusables. See the example of France above!
Brussels - New waste center with a focus on reuse
How is waste managed in our city? Jos Reymenants, Deputy General Manager of Bruxelles Propreté, explained the history of the waste management system in Brussels, including the introduction of an obligatory organic sorting bag. He also provided a detailed explanation of the new generation of sorting centers, which include a special section for reuse.
Two companies that try to reduce the amount of waste
Au Rayon Bio is a perfect example of how products can be sold in bulk and how packaging can be avoided all at once. Sylvie Droulans from Consomaction presented how the bulk system works, its benefits, as well as the challenges that can be encountered. This shop introduced vending machines that make it possible to sell a wide selection of products without packaging, even items such as honey or jam. All large supermarkets can learn a lot from a store like this, and they should all follow this example.
Billie Cup is an alternative to takeaway single-use cups. Elisa Defossé explained how this reusable cup, with a deposit value, can be used over 500 times and returned at multiple cafés and restaurants to make it easy for customers. Millions of throwaway cups could be avoided using systems like this.
Viewing tip
Parallel to the organization of our conference, a new documentary was launched on Netflix: Buy Now! This documentary explains why there is a need for a resilient waste management system. All the marketing tools we encounter in our lives, such as websites, ads, and social media, are designed in a manipulative way to make you buy more and more at an ever-increasing pace. The large companies behind these enormous sales do so without considering the environment. Enormous amounts of resources are wasted, pollution ends up in nature and our oceans, carbon emissions worsen climate change, and people in developing countries live amidst discarded goods.
Beware: only buy what you really need, and only buy items that are reusable and repairable.
