The human engagement in production usually generates waste. Waste can also be generated in the natural ecosystem like Oxygen by Plants which is taken up by Animals, and Carbon dioxide by Animals taken up by Plants. The ecosystem also generates dead organic matter. These dynamics in the natural ecosystem circulate to sustain lives. Waste materials resulting from human activities, unlike waste from the natural ecosystem, are usually resilient [persist] and take a longer time to decompose. According to Global Footprint Network, it now takes the earth almost 2 years to regenerate what we use in a year, resulting in an eco-debt.
In an earlier Article we saw the difference between a circular and a linear economy. In a circular economy waste is viewed as a resource input to productive processes. On the other hand, in a linear economy waste is viewed as an end-of-life material to be disposed. Accordingly, waste can viewed from two points; a resource input with value or a menace to be discarded.
The understanding of waste resulting from human activities can be quite broad. Generally, waste refers to materials or substances that has been eliminated or discarded as no longer useful at the end of a production process, after consumption or service life. In production economics, we have a ratio of output to input. If more output is generated with the same unit of inputs as compared to the previous period, then we say productivity has improved. If productivity reduces by having less output for the same quantity of inputs then the process is generating waste.
Waste can be expressed as a ratio of waste to input referred to as Wastivity. Where inputs are generating more waste in the process compared to the amount of waste generated in the previous period, then wastivity is said to have increased. Wastivity and productivity are linked in an inverse relationship. An improvement in productivity leads to a reduction in wastivity and vise verse. Improved productivity implies enhanced efficiency in used of resources.
An understanding of the above concepts of productivity and wastivity is important as it helps in the measurement of waste management. In a manufacturing setting the measurement can be in terms of idle capacity of materials, man-power downtime [redundancy], equipment downtime [for instance resulting from power outages], defective tools, or defective products and services.
Is “A By-product” waste? “A By-product” is an off-shot product from a process, which is a joint product holding a relatively minor economic value compared to the main product from the same process. At the point of output “A By-product” holds some value though minor compare to the value of the main Product. Because the ”By-Product” has some utility it, constitutes an output and not waste. A good example is the Sugar Industry. Here the main products are Brown or White Sugar. Some “By-Products” include Bagasse residue for fuel; and Molasses used in food and beverages manufacture.
The eco-debt is developing mostly from harnessing of finite [exhaustible] resources like mineral ores or expansion of natural habitats for agriculture. The wastage of finite resources has the most impact on the ecosystem. Because of this concern, UNEP has coined the concept of Sustainable Consumption and Production focusing on doing more and better with less and harnessing resources without degradation of the environment.
The management of waste is one potent way of reducing the eco-debt and taming climate change by focusing on reviving value in waste instead of discarding waste. The revival requires application of efficiency techniques like recycling, reusing, re-modeling, repairing, re-manufacturing and proper disposal of hazardous waste.
