Circular Economy and Waste Management by Dr Farshid & Ajewole
Circular Economy is a sustainable alternative to the traditional linear (take-make-dispose) economic model, reducing waste to a minimum by reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products.
Research shows that reclaiming value from solid waste can help people who lack resources and opportunities gain some. Waste should be viewed differently, as invaluable items and materials to be reused into useful items. It can be described as solid, liquid or gas, and it is produced by human activity, during the extraction and processing of raw materials.
Revamp Rave Network held the 6th session of the Second Virtual cohort training programme on climate change on“Circular Economy and Waste Management” on the 11th of June 2022. The session was taught by Dr Farshid Pahlevani — Research Scientist, Waste Innovation and Sustainable Solutions Expert and Taiwo Adewale — CEO WasteXchange and Circular Economy Expert.
Dr Farshid Pahlevani in the context of “Green Manufacturing”, described the current supply chain system as the following trends Materials à Make Products à Move à Sell à Use à Dispose of. However, in the circular economy, there are other steps following the “dispose of” stage, i.e., Revalue and Respect, Reform, Redesign, Renew, and Remake. The benefits of local Reformation of the disposed materials, using Australia as a case study, Australia has been able to produce value-added products from their locally recycled resources since China’s stop of waste collection. This applies to every country, as waste management is every nation’s responsibility.
The responsibility of circling out waste demands innovation as it creates value and closes the loop on waste materials in our local economies. The opportunities involved in waste management are profit (activating local economies with local recycling), creating employment for people locally, and reducing the environmental footprint on the planet. For instance, local waste reformations, such as Electronic waste (E-waste) converted into filaments or printed products, which are worth more. Also, textiles and fabrics can be reformed into fibre, and when mixed with waste glass, are used to make ceramic tiles, dining tables, coffee tables, etc. Wood chips and food packaging waste plastics can be reused to form fibre tiles as well.
Circular economy reduces material use, redesigns materials to be less resource, and recaptures ‘waste’ as a resource to manufacture new materials and products. However, a linear economy involve the collection of raw materials, the transformation into products, which are used, and then finally discarded as water”
In reducing waste mismanagement and tranisitoning into the circular economy model, particularly for a state like Lagos State, there are various methods to leverage on to combat illicit waste disposal, by residents and coorporations alike. One of the numerous ways involves the use is the PAKAM app launched by the Lagos State government. It enables recyclers to pick up recyclable materials and rewards residents for it.
Also, initiatives such as Lagos Recycle and Adopt a Bin initiative by LAWMA (Lagos Waste Management Authority), which involves the use of smart bins, built to last, and in accordance with internationally recognized quality standards and fitted with intelligent devices that enable tracking and identification. These unique devices also make it possible to register every single bin to individual addresses, for easy communication on issues relating to them.
