12/14/22, 4:41 PM Hazardous Waste meets Circular Economy - gaia liNc

HAZARDOUS WASTE MEETS CIRCULAR ECONOMY

By Alejandro Castilla, Member of gaia-liNc
January 24th, 2021

For a sustainable future, in the field of waste/resources management, we need

to embrace the vision of a circular economy. In order to close the loop, it is
essential to reuse products and to recycle materials.
Energy recovery from residual waste, which cannot be reused or recycled, also
plays an important role. After all, waste/resources disposal should be phased out
and, where unavoidable, it must be adequately controlled to be safe for humans and
the environment.
In my opinion, the effective enforcement of environmental laws and regulations,
including primarily the prohibition of incineration or landfilling for waste streams with
recycle potential, is the key for the development of the waste/resources
management sector. This implies the correct combination of technology solutions,
based on the right priorities, directly linked with the quantities to be treated in each
required process to guarantee the prevalence of a circular economy.
Generally speaking, when it comes to the topic of waste management and circular
economy, most of us tend to think about the recycling of household waste, e.g.
plastic, cardboard or products packaging. But what about industrial hazardous
wastes? Are we doing enough to get these resources closer to a circular economy?
The answers to these questions differ from country to country, nevertheless, in fact
not always the most developed countries set the right standards for a sustainable
management. What can be considered a general norm is that in developing
countries there is often a poorer or barely developed infrastructure for the treatment
or safe disposal of industrial hazardous waste, so that this is usually exported,
stored untreated or disposed of illegally.
An unfortunate example of this is what happened in Beirut, Lebanon in early August
2020, where a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the city port exploded,
causing more than 200 fatalities, 6.500 injuries, billions in property damage costs,
and leaving an estimated 300.000 people homeless. Therefore, solutions are in
growing demand, which are aimed at tackling the problems directly and locally, not
only in a more economical way but also safely and sustainably. This stands in clear
contrast to leaving industrial hazardous waste and contaminated sites to later
generations, whose long-term effects on the environment cannot be fully predicted
today. The latter should not be an option.

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Beirut, Lebanon view at the city port after the explosion. (Financial Times (2020)

It is advisable that not only governments, but also regular manufactures and waste
management service companies, should be driven by the idea of avoiding the
disposal of industrial hazardous waste by incineration or landfilling and instead
achieve material recycling in the most resource-conserving way possible. In fact,
this is nothing new and has been socialised for several decades already in the
waste hierarchy 1 (re-use, recycling, recover, disposal).

However, from the perspective of BATs (Best Available Technologies) there are
conflicts of interest in which technology suppliers from different levels in the

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hierarchy seek to establish their solutions in the market as “all-purpose/multi-level”

state-of-the-art technologies for the treatment of industrial hazardous waste, failing
to recognise that we live in a world with limited resources. For many of these
technology suppliers the availability and growth of waste remains as their driver of
market size. As an example, the opening of new hazardous waste landfills and
incineration plants (even with the highest technological standards) only cause
delays, in some cases for several decades, for governments and companies,
among others, to embrace the discussions on how to become part of a truly circular
economy.
In conclusion, the change in mindset towards a more sustainable, circular, and
environmentally friendly economic model will guide us and bring us closer to starting
such discussions. However, this must be led by society as a whole, independently
on how complex the planning of waste management strategies is. It is important to
be more curious and expand our knowledge of the impact our actions have, from
the products and services we get in supermarkets and shops, to the way the
companies we work at, invest in or admire manage their waste/resources.
In case you have any questions or comments, feel free to send me an email:
acastilla@gaialinc.org
References
1 The waste hierarchy from the EU: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/green-
growth/waste-prevention-and-management/index_en.htm
2 Beirut explosion deepens the tragedy of
Lebanon: https://www.ft.com/content/193d6c26-da02-4564-ae5c-0d0a4eb51e9e

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