Abstract
Current societal patterns of production and consumption drive a twin environmental crisis of resource scarcity and waste overload. Positioning waste and resource management in the context of ecosystem stewardship, this article relates increasing resource demand and waste production to the violation of planetary boundaries and human rights. We argue that a transition towards a circular economy (CE) that contributes to a resilient environment and human well-being is necessary to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The transition requires scientific and technological progress, including the development of low-energy biogeochemical technologies for resource recovery, and multi-dimensional value assessment tools integrating environmental, social, and economic factors. While the urgency to adopt a CE is well-recognised, progress has been slow. Coordinated change is required from multiple actors across society. Academia can contribute through participatory action research. This article concludes with the participation strategy of the Resource Recovery from Waste programme, aiming for changes in mentality, industry practices, and policies and regulations in the waste and resource management landscape in the UK.
Highlights
If our society continues in its current patterns of production and consumption, we will soon face a twin environmental crisis of resource scarcity and waste overload [1,2,3,4]
We argue that waste and resource management plays a key role in our current unsustainable society and transforming management practices is crucial in addressing global sustainability issues
This will make recycling easier, quicker, and more profitable for the waste processor, and provide the producer with a cheaper, cleaner, and more available stream of recycled feedstock; both actors in the system win, and the environmental impact is reduced. Another large potential environmental threat comes from materials that have been relatively recently introduced in large quantities to the technosphere, such as the cocktail of elements used in IT and communications technologies, the rare earth metals used in high-performance electrical motors and generators, the lithium and cobalt compounds used in electrical storage systems, or the various high-performance composite materials introduced into the transport and power generation sectors [41,42]
Summary
If our society continues in its current patterns of production and consumption, we will soon face a twin environmental crisis of resource scarcity and waste overload [1,2,3,4]. We argue that waste and resource management plays a key role in our current unsustainable society and transforming management practices is crucial in addressing global sustainability issues. Radical changes in the way that waste and resource flows are organised are necessary; not least to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) [5]. EEccoossyysstteemm sstteewwaarrddsshhiipp rreeccooggnniisseess ppeeooppllee,, aanndd tthhee wwaayy tthheeyy oorrggaanniissee ssoocciieettyy aanndd rreessoouurrccee flfloowwss,, aass aann iinntteeggrraall ppaarrtt ooff tthhee bbiioopphhyyssiiccaall eennvviirroonnmmeenntt. TThhee nneexxtt sseeccttiioonnss wwiillll ddeettaaiill tthhee iinntteerrrreellaattiioonnss bbeettwweeeenn wwaassttee aanndd rreessoouurrccee mmaannaaggeemmeenntt aanndd sstteewwaarrddsshhiipp ooff oouurr eennvviirroonnmmeenntt aanndd ssoocciieettaall pprrooggrreessss,, eemmpphhaassiissiinngg tthhee ssccaallee ooff tthhee nneewwllyy aaccqquuiirreedd rreessppoonnssiibbiilliittiieess ccoonnnneecctteeddttoowwaasstteemmaannaaggeemmeennttiinniittssbbrrooaaddeessttsseennssee
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