Unmaking Waste in Production and Consumption: Towards the Circular Economy

Description

The legacies of a century of fossil-fuel based development and overconsumption, of treating the environment as a waste sink for industry and agriculture, have left devastating impacts on the earth's air, water and land, and these are directly implicated in Climate Change. In response, a number of global institutions and nations, including the European Union and China, have committed themselves to the development of a ‘circular economy'. This will require a transformation of today's ‘linear economy' of ‘make, use and dispose' as the market dictates, into a Circular Economy. The aim of the Circular Economy is to decouple economic growth from resource and energy use through iterative, systemic social, economic and technological reform. This book provides scholars working in the many disciplines that relate to this emerging concept through a cross-disciplinary forum, especially in the areas of First Steps: Theory, Policy and Contexts; Improving Resource Efficiency and Reducing Waste; Changing Consumption and Behaviour by Design; and Transforming Technologies of Production. This book presents new theoretical and practical insights into the circular economy concept, based on case studies from both the developing and developed world, with a considerable emphasis on economic and material localization, circularity and 'symbiosis' (the circulation of resources within an industrial context or domain) and social entrepreneurship and innovation. Unmaking waste in production and consumption......Page 2 Contents......Page 6 List of Figures......Page 9 List of Tables......Page 12 Preface......Page 14 About the Contributors......Page 16 Introduction......Page 24 References......Page 32 Part I: History, Theory and Experience......Page 34 Chapter 1: From ‘Spaceship Earth’ to the Circular Economy: The Problem of Consumption......Page 36 Discovering ‘Spaceship Earth’......Page 37 Back to the Garden: 1960s Environmentalism......Page 39 Designing with Nature......Page 41 Recycling and Reuse......Page 42 The Postwar Political Economy......Page 43 Diminishing Returns and Increasing Volumes......Page 45 Designing the ‘Good Life’......Page 46 Plastics and Furniture......Page 47 Single-Use Products......Page 48 Smart Phones......Page 49 Conclusion......Page 50 References......Page 51 Introduction......Page 58 Economic Thought about Limited Resources......Page 60 Overcoming Market Imperfections – Economic Techniques to Transition to a Circular Economy......Page 62 Changing Behaviour and Changing Incentives......Page 66 Conclusion......Page 67 References......Page 68 Introduction......Page 72 Past-Decade Experiences......Page 73 ‘Several Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of CE’......Page 74 Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference System......Page 76 CE Promotion Law......Page 78 National Demonstration Bases for CE Education......Page 81 Special Fund for CE Development......Page 82 Typical Experience from National CE Pilot Projects......Page 83 Future Plans......Page 84 Success Stories......Page 85 Conclusions......Page 87 References......Page 88 Introduction to Biosolids......Page 90 Background and Approach......Page 91 Anaerobic Digestion. Although records in Western literature only date back to the seventeenth century AD (Abbasi, Tauseef, & Abbasi, 2012), the production and use of biogas can be traced back to the ancient Assyrians in the Tenth Century BC with the diges......Page 92 Co-digestion. With ongoing improvements in efficiencies of sludge-to-energy conversion processes in WWTPs, energy self-sufficiency can be achieved and maintained purely by digesting sewage. An example of this is the Strass WWTP in Austria, which achieved......Page 93 Liquid Biofuel......Page 94 Agricultural Use......Page 95 Blended and Heat-Treated Products......Page 97 Nutrient Recovery......Page 99 Thermochemical Processes......Page 100 Chemical Precipitation......Page 101 Policies and Legislation......Page 102 Discussion......Page 105 Conclusion......Page 106 References......Page 107 Part II: Consumption, Design and Behaviour......Page 112 Introduction......Page 114 Diverting Waste......Page 115 Interrogating Waste Through Household Disposal......Page 116 An Object-Oriented Perspective......Page 117 Material Mutation......Page 119 Morality of Waste......Page 121 References......Page 123 Introduction......Page 126 Circular Innovation within the Fashion and Textile Sector......Page 128 The Role of the Fashion/Textile Designer......Page 130 ‘Circular by Design’ as a Concept......Page 131 Circular by Design Example 1: Extending Material Flow by Reusing Postconsumer Waste......Page 136 Circular by Design Example 2: Extending Material Use through Design for Disassembly......Page 139 Reflection on the ‘Circular by Design’ Canvas......Page 140 Conclusion......Page 141 References......Page 142 Introduction......Page 146 Does the CE Offer a Holistic Approach to Sustainable Consumption?......Page 147 Community-Oriented Consumption......Page 150 Product Service Systems......Page 151 Prosumption......Page 152 Concept of the ByeBuy! Shop and the Four Consumer Paradigms......Page 153 The CE and the ByeBuy! Shop......Page 154 Swap Shop and Story Exchange – The Power of Stories......Page 155 Slow Market – Making Time......Page 159 Repair Deli –Co-Creating Value......Page 160 Conclusion......Page 161 References......Page 162 Introduction......Page 166 Approach and Methods......Page 168 Role of Social Enterprises in Collection of Used Goods and Materials......Page 169 Engagements with Government and the Corporate Sector......Page 175 Conclusion......Page 177 References......Page 179 Chapter 9: Developing Measures for the Waste Management Hierarchy: A South Australian Case Study......Page 182 Introduction: Measuring Pro-Environmental or ‘Green’ Behaviour......Page 183 Methods......Page 185 Results and Discussion......Page 187 Variations in Rank or Incidence of Behaviours by Demographics and Attitudes......Page 189 Predicting Pro-Environmental Behaviours......Page 192 Drivers of Pro-Environmental Behaviour......Page 195 Conclusions and Implications......Page 196 References......Page 197 Part III: Waste and Resource Recovery......Page 200 Chapter 10: Australian Regional Waste Footprints*......Page 202 Introduction......Page 203 WIO Models......Page 204 Model Construction Using IE Lab......Page 205 Regional Waste Footprints......Page 206 Discussion and Uncertainty......Page 209 Conclusion......Page 210 References......Page 211 Chapter 11: Renewing Materials: Implementing 3D Printing and Distributed Recycling in Samoa......Page 214 Background......Page 215 Field Research......Page 216 Tree of Life......Page 217 Mea Alofa......Page 218 Fa’a Samoa......Page 219 Materials Research and Production Technologies......Page 220 Production......Page 222 3D Printed Turtle Skull Gift – Symbolic......Page 223 Handgrip for a Taro Peeler (asi) – Practical......Page 224 Recycling Lab......Page 227 Creative Pathways......Page 228 Project Planning......Page 229 Conclusion......Page 231 References......Page 233 Chapter 12: The Current State of Scrap Utilisation by Thai SMEs......Page 236 Introduction......Page 237 Methodology......Page 238 Findings......Page 240 Conclusion......Page 244 References......Page 245 Introduction......Page 248 The Role of Formal Institutions in Moving Towards the CE......Page 250 ZW in the CE......Page 251 ZW in China and Europe......Page 252 ZW in the Construction Industry......Page 253 Content Analysis......Page 254 Construction Waste Regulations in the Philippines......Page 255 Polluter Pay Principle in Hong Kong......Page 256 Charges for Waste Dumping in the UK......Page 257 Conclusions......Page 258 References......Page 260 Chapter 14: Municipal Solid Waste Properties in China: A Comparative Study between Beijing, Guangzhou and Lhasa......Page 264 MSW Management in China......Page 265 The Dominant Disposal Technologies......Page 266 MSW Management in Beijing, Guangzhou and Lhasa......Page 269 Physical Composition Comparison of MSW in the Three Cities......Page 270 Progress of MSW Sorting and Recycling......Page 273 MSW Disposal Technology......Page 275 Conclusion......Page 277 References......Page 278 Part IV: Technology and Systems Innovation......Page 282 Chapter 15: Green Manufacturing: From Waste to Value Added Materials......Page 284 Introduction......Page 285 Materials and Methods......Page 288 Experimental......Page 289 Results and Discussion......Page 291 Fundamentals of Material Structures and Associated Characteristics......Page 292 Waste Polymeric Materials and EAF Slag: Interfacial Phenomena......Page 294 Waste Polymeric Materials and Metal Interfacial Phenomena......Page 295 Industrial Implementation......Page 298 Conclusion......Page 299 References......Page 300 Chapter 16: Towards an Agile Circular Economy for the Building Industry......Page 304 Introduction......Page 305 Background......Page 306 Agile Material Systems......Page 307 Agile Fabrication Layer......Page 308 Solution Objectives......Page 309 Design and Development......Page 310 IFC Concepts......Page 311 Mapping the Concepts......Page 312 Specified Type......Page 313 Conclusion......Page 315 References......Page 316 Introduction......Page 318 Rainwater Discharge System Planning for the Green Campus......Page 320 Rainwater Utilisation Methods in the Central Island Rainwater ­ Eco-Collection Area......Page 321 The Rain Garden and Grass Swale......Page 322 Natural Erosion Control......Page 323 Mass Balance Analysis of Available Rainwater Runoff and Landscape Water Supplement Demand......Page 324 The Water Quality Conservation System of the Landscape Waters......Page 325 Constructed Wetland......Page 326 Conclusion......Page 327 References......Page 329 Chapter 18: Re-Valuing Construction Materials and Components Through Design for Disassembly......Page 332 Waste in the Construction Industry......Page 333 Life Expectance of Buildings......Page 334 Energy in the Built Environment......Page 335 Embodied Energy......Page 336 Total Energy......Page 337 Recycling Energy......Page 339 Design for Disassembly......Page 340 Analysis......Page 341 Conclusion......Page 342 References......Page 343 Introduction......Page 346 Background to the Australian Construction Industry......Page 347 Construction in the Circular Economy......Page 348 Bim and Digital Technologies in Construction......Page 349 Prefabrication in Construction......Page 350 Reverse Logistics in Construction......Page 351 Creating Synergy through Saip......Page 353 References......Page 356 Afterword......Page 360 Index......Page 362