of reduce, reuse and recycle is known as
the Circular economy.
Globally, the adoption of circular practises
offers a mutually beneficial situation for
the people, profit and the environment.
The tenets of the circular economy
have become a driving force which is
promoting efficient use of resources
to achieve better economic utilization.
It seems to move towards a model of
resource-product-waste-renewable
resource from the resource-product-waste
approach. According to a 2016 report
by Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the
United Nations Conference for Trade
and Development (UNCTD), India could
earn additional economic value of over
US$210 billion by 2030 and over US$600
billion by 2050 by the implementation of
circular principles in cities & construction,
food & agriculture and mobility & vehicle
manufacturing. The report also revealed
that circular principles could reduce
greenhouse gas emission by over 20% by
2030. Another 2015 report by McKinsey
and Ellen MacArthur Foundation argues
that the European Union could add
US$1.8 trillion in value by 2030 through
the implementation of circular principles.
A major advocate of the 3Rs of the Circular
economy, Japan, is the 3rd largest waste
generating country in the world, after
the United States and Russia. Though
generating 1.1kg of waste daily per
person, Japan has been able to achieve
the highest recycling rate of over 90% for
steel cans, 90% for glass bottles, 89% for
15
aluminium, 60% for paper, and 38% for
paper containers for liquid as at 2006. This
was achieved through the introduction of
recycling enabling laws and motivating a
shift in behaviour – nurturing the practice
of treasuring and using all things for as
long as possible – ingraining the culture
of “Mottainai” which promotes the habit
of ‘not wasting’ into the social fabric. A
practical example of the culture is the
“Nanbu saki-ori”, a traditional style of
weaving, created by residents in the
southern part of Iwate Prefecture in the
Tohoku region of Japan. They tear apart
used fabrics and weave them into new
clothes, furniture, accessories or other
items along with strips of hemp or cotton.
This eco-friendly practice not only creates
beautiful new pieces of fabric, but ones
with hints of nostalgia threaded in each
unique pattern.
Thus, as their economy grew, the spirit
of Mottainai restrained the generation of
waste and motivated the development
of technology for reuse, recycling and
effective use through heat recovery. With
limited landmass, the country developed
a system to collect and transport waste,
process it through intermediary treatment
by incineration and other methods, and
then dispose in landfills in a sanitary
manner,
preventing
environmental
pollution in the areas surrounding densely
populated cities. These efforts have
earned Japan the waste management and
recycling capital of the world while most
Japanese cities have remained very clean.
It is evident that the quantum of waste
generated in our cities can be both
a challenge and an opportunity – a
challenge that can be converted to an
opportunity by adopting appropriate
waste
management
policies
and
practices. The concept of creating wealth
from waste is an age-old phenomenon.
However, waste management as a
catalyst for accelerated economic growth,
employment generation and sustainable
environmental protection is a relatively
new and untapped idea as it started to
catch on in the early 80s, the peak of the
global industrial era.
There are a few positive stories of the
value of the circular economy in Nigeria.
The University of Nigeria, Nsukka designed
and fabricated a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF)
gasification plant generating 100KVA of
electricity from organic waste. The plant,
the first by any Nigerian university, converts
municipal or agricultural waste to gas that
powers the generators. The project serves
an economic purpose, while providing
a platform for knowledge acquisition
and transfer. In a related development,
a green reformer and United Nations
Honorary Ambassador on Sustainable
Development Goals, Mr. Lawrence
Onwukem, the CEO and Founder of Leo
Lawrence and Company is promoting
interest in the circular economy through
recycling and value addition to waste
at all levels assisting households and
businesses in constructing an integrated
waste management technology using
The Corvus | September 2019