7 Decomposition Technologies

Decomposition technologies utilise natural mechanisms to break down organic materials into useful products. Controlled decomposition or composting breaks down organic waste into simpler forms using bacteria or fungi. The resulting compost enriches the soil with beneficial nutrients and prevents soil erosion. There is also a shift to compostable bio-based plastics to reduce plastic pollution.

Blockchain enables responsible waste management by bringing transparency and traceability to the value chain. Waste tracking also enables compatibility with environmental regulations. This allows waste management facilities to divert more waste away from landfills. n

The event comprised four days of online seminar with around 60 guest speakers who discussed everything about the circular economy.

Around 23 countries participated in the event, over the four days to help reshape the world, celebrate circularity while also bringing it to life. Mark Shayler opened the first day of the Festival giving the participant some inspirational quotes:

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Liz Parkes followed his discussion, talking about moving the world beyond waste, discussing how we can tackle climate change going back to the basics and keeping the resources in use for a longer period. She explained” Our consumption habits do not make us happy or healthy. We must keep the resources spinning.”

Mark Hoek took over the conference highlighting two major challenges. He said that problems tie into marketing opportunities and that the biggest opportunity is a positive impact. Businesses need to be motivated to enter the world of circular economy and enter the world of new growth. They need to realise how big of an opportunity that is.

➜ “Systems and materials need to work in tandem.”

➜ “Start with the user; how do we make it easier for the user to make environmentally-conscious choices?”

➜ “The sector should focus on circular but must focus on the economy as well to showcase how circularity can grow businesses.”

➜ “Government need to catch up on the will of the people and the ability of businesses to make a massive change.” u

During the second day more speakers joined in the conference. Charlie Luxton, architectural designer and television presenter was talking about his business area. He stated that there is a lot of sustainability architecture, but he thinks more action is needed. 40% of the waste comes from the construction sector, affirming that the material should be reused and refurbished. It is also important the architects nowadays create designs that have greater life for the buildings.

The conversation then moved to discussing how the world’s leading brands are moving to a circular economy. Philip Mossop opened his discussion highlighting that the total volume of the waste produce is rising. Everyone has a critical role in recycling, and the government should influence everyone to be more sustainable.

An interesting question was made which was : how do we move from ideas to action?

Mossop delved into several case studies from Pentatonic’s portfolio.The first was the #Meltdown campaign the company created for Burger King following their commitment to end giving away single-use plastic toys. The campaign was part of a takeback system for any single-use toys, not just toys produced by Burger King. Consumers were incentivised to return single-use toys with a free meal offer. Once Burger King had the toys, the mission was then to turn the toys into something more meaningful that can have a longer lifecycle. The result was a food tray that children could also play with before it was recycled again at its end of life. The next case study was a reusable dining kit which was rolled out at a festival organised by Pharrell Williams. The cutlery could be scanned on-site to secure discounts on food, as well as access to specific events.

TRAILBLAZER’S PANEL:

Pranshu Singhal started by explaining that he sees circularity as when a product can be transformed at the end of its life into something different , such as recycling a plastic printer once it breaks and turning it into a bench.

Designer Lucy Hughes, the founder and CEO of Marinatex, then picked up the discussion and said that her company is working on creating an alternative to single-use plastic films from seafood waste and red algae.

The third day was based on Sustainability and Circularity, ReLondon’s Wayne Hubbard talked about the five circular business models which can be replicated in different businesses.

The Circular Economy Is There For The Taking

It was stressed that the linear economy needs to change if we’re going to have a chance to reverse these environmental issues and if we don’t change there will be disastrous effects.

The last session of Day 3, The Great Debate – Can we recycle our way out of plastics?

He shared that to tackle the climate crisis, globally, we must reduce the consumption of CO2 emission by 80% by 2050.

Environmentalist, Sustainability Advisor & Author, Tony Juniper addressed delegates with the pre-recorded message that you can’t go circular on your own and that we need a common cause with other actors in the chain.

Helen Jordan, Senior Recycling Expert, British Plastics Federation, said that plastic does not have a place in the environment and that recycling alone can’t solve the plastic pollution issue. The sector has come a long way and there’s opportunity to develop the recycling sector even further but there needs to be investment in facilities. “We need more UK facilities, and we need investment in UK recycling. We need money from the UK plastics packaging tax and form extended producer responsibility.” Helen said plastic gets a bad press, but she said we need to consider the potential environmental consequence of simply materials swapping. u

On the last day, Claire Shrewsbury, Director of Insights and Innovation at WRAP welcomed everyone to the final day with a message that circular economy and consumption needs to be brought more into the climate change conversation. WRAP was disappointed that COP26 had a lack of focus in the food system, the circular economy and consumption. We can recycle our way out of these problems and decarbonise the energy sector, but we need to be careful in what and how we consume it.

The morning continued with the question: “ Why should you invest in the circular economy?” Lord Robin Teverson stated that investing in the circular economy is fundamental to tackling the climate and nature crisis, but also there has been a rising need for security within supply chains.

HEY FASHION!

Pentatonic’s Lauren Greenwood took delegates through the Hey Fashion! The initiative is dedicated to elevating the issue of textile waste in the fashion industry. She said that there is currently an emphasis on upstream interventions, such as designing for circularity; however, if downstream processes don’t keep up, the industry won’t be able to close the loop.

Lauren explained that the initiative’s message is to push textile waste higher up the agenda. She went on to warn that there are currently little to no systems in place to handle the present amount of textile waste, and the waste stream is only going to increase. Polyester use is expected to double by 2030 and less than 0.5% of textiles are recycled into new clothing. “Textile recycling could create a 10–20-billiondollar profit pool by 2030. There is a huge opportunity, but it needs funding and attention.”

Mark Shayler and Professor David Greenfield made up the final panel of the 4 days, bringing the FoCE to a conclusion. Greenfield explained that, “the sector must understand consumer desire in order to learn how they can nudge this desire towards circularity.”

He added: “We need to find a more effective way of capturing materials before they become waste.” n