We produce enormous amounts of waste
Every 2 hours we throw out enough stuff to fill the world's largest container ship with trash. That's 12 container ships every single day, and 4570 container ships in one year.
Our waste production is increasing
As the world's population gets bigger, so does waste generation. By 2050 the amount of household waste will grow by 70 percent reaching 3.4 billion tons a year meaning that waste generation will actually outpace population growth by more than double. That is, if we don’t change!
Just the tip of the iceberg
You only see a tiny fraction of the waste actually generated by everyday human consumption.
Just the tip of the iceberg
Illustration of the waste creation behind our products
Steel: Every single product requires steel and energy along the process from extraction and production to distribution and consumption. Steel is, for example, used in the factory processing your food products, for mining of the aluminium for your soda can, and for the truck that brought the products to the store. 1 kilogram of steel produces 80 liters of wastewater.
Petroleum: Also needed for both mining and transportation. The American Petroleum Institute estimates that approximately 144 liters of drilling waste are generated for every foot drilled.
Where does our household waste go?
Most waste goes to landfills or is burned. Burning waste is the world’s largest source of dioxins, which is one of the most toxic chemicals known to science. The burning of waste therefore adds to the problem of air pollution.
Waste and climate change
Waste generation and burning also play a part in global warming accounting for 1.6 billion tons of CO2 equivalents in 2016 or about 5 percent of global emissions. By 2050, this number will increase by over 60 percent unless major actions are taken.
What to do about the waste problem?
Our waste problem is not going away by itself. We need to find new ways to solve the increasing waste-problem. The “cradle-to-cradle” approach implies essentially waste free regenerative systems. Leading green companies already apply these principles.
The World Bank highlights the following solutions:
- Financing to developing countries for state-of-the-art waste management systems.
- Comprehensive waste reduction and recycling programs.
- Consumer education
