The overwhelming volumes of generated waste have always been a major global issue. Accordingly, as the international population grows, more waste is also produced. Thankfully, though, in our contemporary era, more people appear to be developing an interest in advocacies for promoting the conservation and protection of nature. Governments in numerous countries are also taking the waste problem very seriously. In fact, they are taking multiple actions and utilising technology to provide optimal solutions.
Here, we’ll explore several innovative ways for resolving concerns in waste management. This way, you’ll see the importance of hiring waste management providers in Sydney, Espoo, Utah, Pennsylvania, or wherever you are around the world.
Utah, USA
News reporter Lauren Bennett of Deseret News wrote about the new facility in North Salt Lake, Utah, which has the amazing ability to convert food waste to renewable energy. She described it as the first and only anaerobic food waste digester in the state that gives citizens a better option than just discarding their unconsumed food.
The system is grounded on anaerobic digestion, which is a complex biological process entailing the breaking down of microbes into biodegradable material. A public-private partnership between the South Davis Sewer District and ALPRO energy has paved the way for the birth of the Wasatch Resource Recovery, which will be tasked with taking in about 700 tons of food waste every day. In the future, it aims to expand its operations and double that amount to 1,400 tons daily.
Sydney, Australia
People all over the globe use the Internet on a daily basis. Thus, an online platform is a very effective means of communicating plans and strategies for educating the masses. This is what the Council of Sydney and all others in New South Wales, Australia had in mind when they chose to provide the public with downloadable files through a website run by the government.
The City of Sydney is a website that details the ‘Sustainable Sydney 2030’ — a development program that aims to transform Sydney into a green, global, and connected city by the indicated year. As mentioned, the plans can be downloaded for free in a variety of formats. These documents centralise on multiple targets and recommendations regarding six priority areas grounded on recycling and treatment solutions.
Pennsylvania, USA
According to Laura Parker of National Geographic, about 91% of plastic doesn’t get recycled and this is mainly because the material is usually produced as disposable items that easily end up being thrown away. Of course, pushing people to recycle is always the best solution for the long term. However, an innovative method is to lessen the production of plastic packaging by replacing it with materials that are more environmentally sustainable.
In Pennsylvania, USA, the University of Pittsburgh team applied the concept and disciplines of nano-engineering in order to create a recyclable material that can be an alternative to unrecyclable materials like plastic packaging. Moreover, it uses a process similar to how nature utilises relatively few building blocks in the productions of various materials.
Espoo, Finland
The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is a state-owned and controlled non-profit organisation located in Otaniemi, Espoo. Joe Iles of GreenBiz.com reported in a 2018 article that this company has created a compostable multi-layer material from agricultural and forestry by-products to create storage pouches for food items like nuts, rice, and dried fruits. Simply put, they designed ‘plastic’ derived from wood.
These storage products consist of cellulose, which is a renewable polymer that’s widely available all over the world, making it possible to be used extensively as an environment-friendly plastic packaging by almost every country.
Proper waste management is essential for the safety and welfare of all living creatures on the planet. This being said, it’s good to know that the global community is taking large-scale steps to design beneficial solutions. Moreover, with the rate at which technology is progressing, the future is guaranteed to see more innovative approaches in solving our waste problem.
