A recent report reveals that the global economy is only 7.2% circular. These circular economy initiatives show, in certain areas, the circular transition is underway.
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KUALA LUMPUR: Local waste management experts are confident Malaysia can shift to a circular economy where reduction, reuse and recycling of resources prevail for the benefit of the environment. At least one trade organisation, the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association (MPMA), is already taking the necessary steps in that direction. The term “circular economy” is defined as an idea for a truly sustainable future that works without waste and is in symbiosis with the environment and its resources.
It is a future where every product is designed for multiple cycles of use, and different materials or manufacturing cycles are carefully aligned so that the output of one process always feeds the input of another. Rather than producing emissions, by-products or damaged and unwanted goods as waste during the manufacturing process, in the circular economy this waste become the raw materials or “nutrients” for new production cycles. A circular or regenerative economy can also be loosely described as maximising the use of resources or materials by channelling waste back into the production cycle to be used as a raw material source, thus closing the loop of product manufacturing and waste management. Waste management expert and senior lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Perlis (Unimap) Irnis Azura Zakarya said Malaysia would be able to practise a circular economy if the relevant ministry gave its full support to the idea. However, she said, in order to achieve a circular economy, the country must first put in place efficient recycling and waste management practices. “It is important to identify recyclable resources and materials that can be reused and returned to the economic cycle. “This means we have to now reconsider materials that are usually regarded as waste and view them as valuable resources or secondary raw materials. “And, to enable industries to make full use of such secondary raw materials, any obstacles that stand in their way should be eliminated,” Irnis Azura, who is also director of Unimap’s occupational safety and health unit, told Bernama.
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The Ville de Montréal is making sustainability a reality. From electrifying transport to promoting urban agriculture, Montréal is enacting policies and initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help create a safe, resilient, inclusive and sustainable city. As host of the ICLEI World Congress 2018, Montréal’s initiative on climate and sustainability will be on display when local and regional leaders from around the world come together to show how they are advancing sustainable urban development worldwide. Through its Sustainable Montréal 2016-2020 plan, the city is taking on four key priorities: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuel Strengthen biodiversity, increase green space, protect and ensure the efficient use of natural resources Plan on the human scale, ensuring access to healthy, sustainable neighborhoods Transition to a green, circular and responsible economy.
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VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed what it describes as “an efficient synthetic biology toolbox for industry and research organisations.” The toolbox enables, in an unprecedented way, engineering of a diverse range of yeasts and fungi, says the group. VTT says it comprises DNA parts which can be easily combined to create new biological systems.
The SES (Synthetic Expression System) toolbox seemingly enables expression of genes in yeasts and fungi considerably more efficiently and with better control than has been possible with previous methods. The toolbox is based on DNA components with well-defined functions and the components can be combined “as if they were Lego bricks.” In this way, molecular machines can be built, for example, for improved control of yeast cell performance in industrial bioprocesses for production of polymer precursors, fuels and medical compounds. Because the components of the SES toolbox operate the same way in different species, they can be used to engineer species that have attractive properties, but which have due to lack of engineering tools not been studied or used in biotechnology applications in the past. The SES toolbox is expected to enable development of numerous novel microbial production processes for valorization of various waste materials to higher value compounds. In doing so, the SES toolbox provides important solutions for bio- and circular economy challenges. VTT has written an article about the opportunities opened up by the toolbox, which you can read here. You can also read an article recently published in Nucleic Acids Research here.
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At Monday’s Environment Council, ministers exchanged views on the package presented by the European Commission on January 26, 2018, which aims at delivering on the circular economy action plan. The package consists of the following elements: European strategy for plastics in a circular economy; a Monitoring framework for the circular economy; and Implementation of the Circular Economy package: options to address the interface between chemical, product and waste legislation. They based their debate on a note prepared by the Presidency and took into account the interventions of Commissioners Vella and Arias Cañete, who were present. Ministers agreed that they welcome the presentation of the new EU plastics strategy. They highlighted the need to move forward with the plastics strategy as it aims to improve how we use and recycle plastics. Plastics have been instrumental in achieving the economic and social standards we have today. However, in recent years marine littering and other undesirable consequences linked to the use of plastic have been a concern to environment ministers. All Ministers welcomed the Commission package and called for an urgent implementation of concrete measures, in particular to increase the recycling of plastics, find solutions to the widespread use of single-use plastic and to find a holistic approach to the value chain of plastic production. Eco-design for plastic products can play a very important role here. In their exchange of views, ministers mentioned several other possible actions to be taken at EU or at national levels: campaigns for raising consumer awareness; increasing the quality of recycled products through setting standards; green public procurement; and the use of the rules on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), similar to the one which was agreed recently in the waste package, together with financial incentives and voluntary commitments by the industry. Finally, ministers agreed that they are all looking forward to the Commission legislative proposal on single use plastics. “We need to protect our environment from plastic pollution. We also need to protect our seas from microplastic particles.
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Circular economy has gained attention as a key solution for mitigating the increasing generation of solid waste and resource scarcity. As opposed to the linear economy, the concept describes how to develop closed-loop technical and biological cycles by either recycling materials indefinitely with no degradation of their properties (the technical cycle) or returning materials to the natural ecosystem with no harm to the environment (the biological cycle) [1]. Although circular economy practices (such as material recycling) are widely embraced as a sustainability strategy, it is important to consistently assess their net environmental benefits and possible drawbacks [2] and develop methods and indicators that are suitable for assessing circular economy concepts [3]. The term “circular economy” is frequently applied to suggest increased sustainability. However, it tends to focus on an increased quantity of reused and recycled resources and overlook the quality of resource flows re-entering to the product cycle [4]. This can pose a risk of augmenting unwanted recirculation of micro-pollutants [5,6,7,8], if disregarding the material quality, particularly in the transition period from linear to circular systems. In 2015, 241 million tonnes of municipal solid waste were generated in the EU [9]. Of this waste, 40–60% was organic waste [10], representing a great challenge in terms of its management. However, at the same time, organic waste also constitutes a valuable resource as a component in the circular bioeconomy [11,12]. Biowaste-based biorefineries, producing high value products such as enzymes, bioplastic and biofertilizer from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, is an emerging technology field whose environmental performance should be addressed to ensure a beneficial implementation [12]. This study refers to such circular economy systems related to management of municipal biowaste as circular biowaste management systems (CBWMS). Several decision support tools (DSTs) based on life cycle assessment (LCA) are currently available to assess the sustainability of waste management systems (WMS). These WMS-DSTs are specifically developed to analyse the performance of integrated WMSs from collection, treatment and final disposal. Winkler and Bilitewski [13] and Jain et al. [14] showed large discrepancies in the results obtained when modelling specific scenarios across different WMS-DSTs. Gentil et al. [15] analysed the technical assumptions that caused the difference in the results obtained with various WMS-DST; e.g., time horizon for landfill emissions and calculation of long-term carbon balance when applying biowaste derived compost on soil [15].
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Statistics for 2014 suggest that 44% of all municipal waste in the EU is recycled or composted. This compares to just 31% in 2004, and by 2020 EU member states should be recycling or composting over 50% of waste. In 2014, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden sent virtually no municipal waste to landfill, whereas Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, Latvia and Malta still landfill more than three quarters of their municipal waste. Although waste management in the EU has improved considerably in recent decades, almost a third of municipal waste is still landfilled and less than half is recycled or composted, with wide variations between member states. Improving waste management could deliver benefits for the environment, climate, human health and the economy. As part of a shift in EU policy towards a circular economy, the European Commission made four legislative proposals introducing new waste-management targets regarding reuse, recycling and landfilling. The proposals also strengthen EU provisions on waste prevention and extended producer responsibility, and streamline definitions, reporting obligations and calculation methods for targets.
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