These Countries Are Leading The Way In Waste Management Innovation
Singapore’s unique waste management system has become a hot conversation topic in circular economy innovations in recent years, often cited as an inspiration for other countries. It involves burning trash and filtering the smoke in a dedicated incineration plant to burn the trash. The energy resulting from the heat is turned into electricity, while the ash resulting from waste incineration is used as a building material for the likes of walkways.
In fact, this system (otherwise known as “waste-to-energy”) is so strongly built around the principles of the circular economy, that it’s been widely talked about in the press and also featured in videos by prominent social media influencers.
So with these immense benefits at hand, how come this system isn’t being widely replicated all over the world?
The first reason is the many challenges posed by this approach. Some reports point at one thing that Singapore’s system fails to do, and that is actually to reduce the amount of waste being produced in the first place. In fact, a large amount of recyclable materials, including plastic, ends up in the incineration plant, which only produces 3% of the electricity consumed by the country. Coupled with general lack of awareness and personal responsibility, this means that citizens are generally given a false sense of how green this resource really is, while at the same time not tackling the bigger picture of reducing waste and plastic production.
On the other hand, countries that have looked at this system for inspiration have mentioned high costs as a burden, citing that waste-to-energy plants are simply too expensive when compared to landfills. But in fact, studies have shown that over time, waste-to-energy plants can match (and eventually beat) the costs associated with maintaining landfills, which we all know pose huge environmental issues of their own. In that respect, Singapore’s system wins hands down.
The key lesson here is that similar systems, in order to be truly sustainable, need to ultimately encourage citizens to produce less waste and recycle more.
In that sense, what other waste management systems and solutions can we look to for inspiration around the world?
A study by packaging supplier RAJA revealed the top 29 countries that have been efficient in minimising waste by looking at metrics such as recycling, composting, incineration and waste recovered levels between 2015 and 2020. The top 3 countries recovering the highest percentage of their waste on average during that period were Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark - all of which scored over 99%, with Switzerland achieving a whopping 100%. However, both Switzerland and Denmark were also in the top 5 for waste production per person, so this metric alone doesn’t win the battle.
When it came to waste production reduction, it was Poland, Japan and Czech Republic that came on top. But the ultimate metric is the one that averages both waste minimisation and waste recovery metrics, giving us the best results in sustainability, and that’s where Japan takes the top spot - by being the third lowest waste producer in the world, but also boasting a 93% waste recovery rate. Much of it comes from a continued green policy of reducing, reusing and recycling, which has seen a decrease in waste production of 4% in the five-year period covered by the study.
Outside of these, additional examples of course do exist, such as the case of vermiculture as a waste management option for developing countries, where the cost of some of the existing options presents a real cost challenge.
Ultimately, inspiration needs to come from looking at best practices and closely analysing their pros and cons - but there is no shortage of strong and innovative ideas present in the world today. Which one is your favourite?
