Macaulay Conference: May

Welcome: Jonathan Krones

What kind of society do we want to live in? “Plastics in our Waste: Rethinking How We Manage Materials to Achieve Just Sustainability

64% Biogenic 85% of all municipal discards contain carbon! U.S. EPA 2011

Putrefaction

Synthetics: Permanence

Most municipalities offer curbside commingled collections, source-separated

What gets diverted to recycling? Paper: 71 million tons generated, 63% recycled Metals: 22 million tons generated, 35% recycled Glass: 11.5 million tons generated, 27% recycled Plastics: 31 million tons generated, 8% recycled

Problem with Plastics: Heterogeneity

garbage bags

Plastic Recycling Success Stories #1 and #2 Bottles and jugs (21% and 28% recycling rates, respectively) #2 tubs and trays (19%) # 4 wraps and plastic bags (18%) #7 other durables (26%) These account for 2.2 million of the 2.3 million tons a year of plastics recycling – out of some 31 million tons generated, leaving 28.7 million tons going to disposal

ages/stories/doc/chinapt2.pdf Chinese worker sorting residual plastics from US recycling  28 million tons plastics sent to landfill or incineration in US in 2008  2.1 million recycled Source: U.S. EPA ----  2.1 million tons of waste, parings and scrap plastic exported  90% to China (direct or via Hong Kong) Source: USA Trade Online

What Else to Do with it? Make something useful with it! – Energy – Materials – Both

Pyrolysis-Gasification Staged conversion of carbon-bearing fractions MSW to energy, with little or no oxygen Safer, yields more energy per ton of material Expensive, and unproven Can accept (and welcomes) plastics, dumped en masse

Anaerobic Digestion Accepts only biogenic wastes, Requires source separation Safer and more proven

If all goes well… Waste Management World, “Plasma Arc the Leading Light,” volume 11, issue 6

Energy production and consumption (U.S. 2010, in quadrillion BTU) Source: EIA 22011

The Vision: Growth Continued production, proliferation, innovation of types of synthetic polymers (plastics) Product design changes when and where profitable (lightweighting plastic bottles) Recycle what the market will buy Compost a bit of the high-end yard wastes Convert the rest to energy, fuels, and even base chemicals

Alternate Vision:

Regulatory: Diminish Consumption, Route Products Back to Producers Precedent in existing regulations in some states and many countries outside the U.S.

Bottle Bills

Auto Battery Laws 98% recycling rate

the need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems” quality of lifejustecosystems Agyeman, J., Bullard, R. D., and Evans, B. eds., Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World (Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press, 2003), 5.

Three circuits of material sustainability Mineral recycling Composting Ecosystemic integrity: Protect sites of extraction, utilize renewable materials and energy Ecosystemic integrity: Protect sites of extraction, utilize renewable materials and energy Minimize toxics (synthetics)

f Bamboo, Bagasse, Crop residues, Bioplastics, Kenaf…

Occupy Wall Street, September 22, 2012