Waste is the current status quo of our consumer society's output. So yes, we can't change our current processes to the extent of being 'waste-free' as in nature, because the costs associated with it and the many other reasons such as consumer mindset will not materialize for now (maybe in 50 years time a possibility). So currently we seek to solve the problems we have around our continuous and growing output of waste. The numbers are staggering, the US alone generated more than 250 million tons last year, South Africa 42 million cubic metres.
Waste management has evolved over the years. From the 'basic waste management' of cleansing: waste storage, collection, transport and environmentally acceptable disposal. This is a fundamental strategy and a departure point for the current strategy of sustainability within waste management where waste solutions are implemented. These solutions encompass the ‘cradle-to-cradle’ approach (from the source of production beyond the typical ‘after-life’ management – e.g. via disposal). This concept requires that finished products and goods need to be designed in a way that they can be easily de-manufactured and dismantled for material recovery and recycling, in other words being almost 'waste-free' as mentioned above. These concepts are not easy to achieve, however, and will require a radical mind shift in our society on the consumer level (demanding waste-wise products) as well as on industrial level (increasing cleaner production technologies).
So, in the meantime until we reach this utopia, we will settle on putting our waste to good use. And one of the good uses is energy production. Yes, generating the very much needed electricity in South Africa.
Modern landfills are works of art. To cope with the increasing volumes of waste, engineers need to sculpt and compress these landfills to increase their capacity. But to get even more use out of them the US is collecting the methane gas emitted from rotting waste and burning it to generate electricity or using technologies to turn it into other valuable materials like crude oil or ethanol. At existing landfills in the US this method of using methane for energy production has created nearly 15 billion kwh, enough to power about 1 million households! There are more than 600 energy projects that pipe the gases from landfills to the surface in every state except two. Landfill gas has thus become an environmentally efficient way to produce power, alongside wind and solar. +Sustainable Waste Solutions is one of the companies which focus on using technologies to extract methane and then generate and sell the power back into the grid. In this case they use an 'Energy from Waste' recovery facility to convert the waste to energy. I must still do some research to see if there is any such company or technology currently in use in South Africa. We do have a lot of space still but that will become a precious commodity soon, and therefore to start investing and researching these technologies is a must.
What is happening to landfills in the US is now spreading to the rest of the developed world. Belgium is now partnering with a US based waste company to harness gases from a landfill dating from the 1960's, which reminds me of the mine dumps being re-processed in South Africa lately to create more land space. Even Sweden is now importing garbage from Norway for incineration to feed the growing energy demand. To think that even garbage has monetary value!
I often get depressed seeing all the landfills around Cape Town, but to know that there are ingenious ways to re-process and get value out of them is a great relief. To be 'waste-free' is still a pipe dream for now, but at least we are inventing ways to use the garbage for good and to protect the environment from further degradation.
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