SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MANAGEMENT

The Earth provides all of the necessary sources of materials and nutrients for life forms and living systems. We, as humans are part of those systems and have the awareness and capacity to live abundantly and harmoniously with those living systems. Human civilization has cultivated ways to utilize sources of materials from the planet in ways that can support our health, well-being and quality of life.

Our planet’s natural systems and processes utilize the cycles of materials while always maintaining the full benefit of these materials as nutrients as they change through cycle processes. When viewing all sources of materials on the planet as nutrients for natural systems, they become valuable and useful. The Earth is also highly efficient with use of materials only as nutrients with no concept of waste or pollution, something we as humans can learn from to utilize in our own human created civilization and systems.

We use materials from the Earth in our daily lives and those materials typically become waste, something that has no value, cannot be used again and thus we throw it “away” burn it or bury it. The common model world-wide and in the United States for materials management systems is provided by city and county municipalities as (MSW) municipal solid waste systems. Most currently provide support and management for waste and trash landfill dumping or incineration and partial recycling for plastics, aluminum, paper, glass and composting for yard trimmings (natural organic matter). Only part of our waste materials are recyclable materials and only part of recyclable materials are actually recycled. Many recycled materials (specifically petroleum based plastics) are cycled on average 3 – 4 times before the material degrades in purity and they must eventually become landfill waste or incinerated.

The United States (EPA) Environmental Protection Agency has compiled statistics for nationwide generation of waste materials as well as materials recycling and composting for the year 2015. The figures are gathered from (MSW) municipal solid waste systems from cities and counties nationwide. These are the most current full statistics for the United States.

HOW CAN WE CREATE AND MANAGE MATERIALS SYSTEMS THAT DO NOT PRODUCE POLLUTION AND WASTE?

HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE A STABLE AND HARMONIOUS BALANCE WITH THE PLANET AND THE WAY WE UTILIZE MATERIALS WE USE EVERYDAY?

We can start at a local level with the basic structure in which they are currently managed. This is through (MSW) municipal solid waste systems managed by cities, counties and local populous regions.  Typically municipalities provide waste services support for residential and commercial population functions and out source waste management of services to third party organizations or companies. Managing materials systems at a local level allows for flexibility and scale-able customization for any community of people for any region with viability for environmental safety and sustainably. Developing a localized traditional MSW materials system allows for the possibility of creating a completely sustainable materials management system that creates no pollution and has no waste. This would be a hugely beneficial change in systems design in a multitude of ways.

We would need to create materials cycles systems and facilities at a localized level to sustainably manage materials. At the same time these localized systems need to interact and exchange materials with businesses and organizations connected regionally and globally. Materials systems are both local and global at the same time. Currently there is a lack of scale-able local and regional facilities infrastructure for materials cycles processing. The primary categories of materials that we generate as waste must be made fully cycle-able, process-able or re-use-able through facilities locally or regionally. In this new fully sustainable localized materials management system we can look at everything (all materials) as nutrients in systems of cycles of use. This emulates natural systems on the planet; providing, distributing and balancing nutrients for living systems. Circular economy, up-cycling, closed loop and zero waste systems are all terminology of a resonant concept and goals for sustainable materials management systems.

There are current systems and infrastructure for the re-use and distribution of used products and goods through non-profit organizations and businesses such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, thrift and used goods stores. There are also new emerging systems and markets through companies for a cradle to cradle concept for the exchange of old, used or out-dated products for new products from the original manufacturer or within an industry template. The specialty of the localized municipality managed sustainable materials system is that it can handle and catch all the products and materials after they move through the re-use systems infrastructure or have no available cradle to cradle product manufacturer and industry systems in place. This would also help to create more new products and materials industry re-use or cradle to cradle market templates.

How do we change a waste materials system into a valuable materials system? When you study the planet’s natural processes and systems, there are only nutrients moving and changing from one cycle to another. The concept of waste does not exist. If we design our materials systems to mimic this process we view waste materials as valuable nutrients for the next cycle of use.

There are many types of materials that are thrown away as waste or trash in typical municipal solid waste systems. These materials all have value as nutrients if they sorted and processed correctly to become new raw materials for use. The materials categories listed below encompass all the common material types utilized or consumed by residential and commercial populations then becoming waste and managed in localized municipal solid waste systems. The typical method for managing these material types is from pickup and transport from residential homes and commercial business locations or drop-off locations at incoming sorting and processing facilities locally.

Now that we have outlined materials as nutrients that can be organized into specific cycles where they hold value, we will now look at the facilities that are needed at a local and regional level. They will provide sorting, cleaning and processing for these materials to maintain there highest level of purity to become new raw materials for use locally and to be exported regionally or globally. Facilities can be grouped in a central location or spread out in individual locations.

Single use materials can be utilized in a reusable or cycled system managed at local and regional areas scales for population densities. The primary types of single use materials are related to food and food packaging as well as product packaging.

Food waste and food and product packaging is estimated to make up about 45% of waste that goes to landfills in the United States.

In this system all materials will be safe for life forms (no toxins or pollutants) and must be fully digestible as nutrients for life forms and break down quickly in natural conditions if they are not put directly back into the materials cycling system.

Any combination of these options can be used together to facilitate the needs of single waste types of materials. These materials can be cycled locally to sustain the needs of the local population and visitors for Hawaii. Proper sorting bins and labeling are key to the success of these materials in their specific cycle processes.

Once the biomaterials have been sourced after each single use, the materials must be processed in different methods listed below into a raw usable form of biomatter such as (cellulose, lactic acids, etc.) PLA, PHA to be formed into new biomaterial packaging and containers either on-site with one of the facilities listed below or at a separate production facility site.

The Geo-location map below outlines the spacial movement of materials within a local municipal solid waste management system and within a larger surrounding region all functioning together as a sustainable materials management system. The map shows how materials nutrients within the city of Asheville are moved throughout a network of facilities within Buncombe County and surrounding areas within a larger region. The facilities in the larger region can also be shared with the many other nearby cities and counties municipal solid waste management systems. These shared facilities networks could support individual MSW management systems within a few hundred miles per network. The map shows multiple different locations for each facility though the facilities can alternately be grouped in one primary location within a network region. The map also shows one main sorting and processing facility for incoming materials though there can be multiple facilities to accommodate the spatial distance and size for the local area. This close proximity network setup allows for low cost of transport of materials. This would also create an infrastructure of many local and regional jobs as well as support direct input and feedback by local communities for the quality of how the materials are processed and governance of the local ecological impact.

This template offsets the current scenario issue of waste systems sending local materials “far away” where we do not know how or if the materials will be processed or how they will end up negatively impacting ecosystems where they are shipped to. Currently the US ships these materials to poor countries in the far East where they may sit without process and statistics show that much of the plastics in the oceans come from these locations.

The flow chart below shows the movement of incoming materials from around the world and locally produced materials coming into a local municipal solid waste management system and how this system can operate as a sustainable materials management system. The flow chart shows how these materials can be regulated by local governance policy and managed as nutrients that have local sustainability and economic value. Once these materials move through the facilities and are processed they become new raw materials for local use at a low cost for the local community or they can be shipped world wide as valuable nutrients to companies and businesses and other communities that can utilize them.

The information diagram below shows how a sustainable materials nutrients cycles and management system can be established within the current structure of a local municipal solid waste management system. The diagram outlines all the necessary creative technologies and societal support that is needed to establish and create this new system infrastructure.

What are the values and benefits of utilizing a sustainable materials nutrients cycles and management system as the basis for local municipal solid waste management system? What are the social and environmental benefits at a local, regional and global scale?