SDG#12 - Imagine a world without waste

SDG#12 - Imagine a world without waste

The July UN Sustainable Goal is #12 - Responsible Consumption and Production. Effectively, use what you need and need what you use. We take a look at what it means to become a more conscious consumer and why that is so important for the world around us.

Whether it is fast fashion, electricity, flights, food or gadgets, overconsumption has become a key driver in the ecological crisis. The dopamine hit we get when we make a purchase, certainly feels great but it isn’t good for the planet. We are devouring the planet’s resources at a worrying rate, 1.7 times faster than it can regenerate. We have developed a collective mentality of ‘want now’ and ‘get now.’ We rarely stop to think about our purchases: What materials were used to make this product? Where were the materials sourced? Who made it? How far has it travelled? How can it be disposed of? As consumers we need to ask more of these questions.

Sustainable Development Goal 12 tries to address these issues by ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns; it is pushing us to think twice about the things we use and how we use them, and to minimise waste.

The waste issue

Globally, it is estimated that 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste is produced every year. It is a colossal issue, that leads to the pollution of air, soil, groundwater and our oceans. The volume of waste is increasing as the global population and living standards continue to rise. For instance, global electronic and electric waste production is on track to reach 120 million tonnes per year by 2050 if nothing is done, from c.50 million tonnes today.

Companies often plan obsolescence (the practice of producing items to only function for a set period of time) into their products at the design stage and they rarely build in the means to recover the raw materials. Instead, when the product lifecycle comes to an end, rather that repairing and reusing, companies encourage consumers to buy a newer, better upgrade through persuasive and intrusive advertising tactics. Some governments have banned planned obsolescence and introduced tax subsidies so it’s cheaper to repair something than it is to bin it, but more needs to be done.

The undercover investigation at Amazon exposed how thousands of unsold products, including laptops, TVs, headphones and phones – some still in their packaging – are destroyed. It is cheaper to dispose of perfectly working goods than it is to continue storing them in a warehouse.

Businesses need to be more transparent on their Environmental, Social and Governance aspects of their business and commit to improve. Whilst governments need to implement the necessary policies for change.

Can we blame it on plastic?

Global plastic production has rocketed from some 160m tonnes in 1995 to 367m tonnes in 2020. The reason that plastics cause so many issues in the environment is that they never biodegrade. Instead, they break into microplastics (less than 5mm in diameter) and nanoplastics (less than 0.001mm in diameter). Microplastics and Nanoplastics have managed to find their way across the entire planet and into every ecosystem, from Arctic snow and Alpine soils to the deepest oceans. Research has linked exposure to tiny plastics to infertility, inflammation and cancer.

Plastics have been critical in the formation of our society. Look at your phone, laptop, bank card, the syringe delivering your vaccine, cars, windscreen wipers, cavity wall insulation, the list goes on and on. It has become intwined in our day-to-day living. We can’t blame the issues facing the planet solely on the material itself, it is more the irresponsible quantities produced, our throw away mentality, inefficient recycling processes and its wide use in industry.

There is genuine consumer demand to stop using plastics shown by the increase in the use of re-useable cups and bottles, bamboo toothbrushes, wooden cutlery and not forgetting the world saving paper straw.

It is industry that needs to be answerable, especially the twenty companies responsible for producing more than half of all the single-use plastic waste in the world.

Food Waste

According to a study commissioned by the United Nations food agency around a third of all food goes to waste, that is about one billion tonnes of waste around the world every year. With an estimated 690 million to 957 million people going hungry every day, the system is broken, and needs redesigning at an international scale.

Change in the air – new habits?

Have you recently formed a new habit because of something you have learnt about the environment, your health or societal issues?

Do you:

• Recycle more?

• Use a bag for life?

• Buy second-hand clothes?

• Shun single-use plastic?

• Walk and cycle more and use the car less?

• Drive an electric car?

• Use apps like Olio or Too Good To Go? Apps that link customers to restaurants with excess food and reduces waste.

• Compost your food waste?

• Buy wonky veg?

• Eat less meat and dairy / plant based?

• Fly less?

How are your habits different to five or ten years ago? We have made progress and come a long way.

We know that at an individual level our impact is insignificant compared with the impact from business and government, but that doesn’t mean we should do nothing. If we want to hold ourselves individually accountable for our impact on the planet, if we aren’t already and can afford to do so, these are habits we should try to adopt. We must also start to buy better-quality, longer lasting goods and to buy less of them, whilst holding businesses and governments accountable for their processes and their impact on the planet. Imagine a world without waste…