GEOG 300 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Habitat For Humanity, William Mcdonough, Nonprofit Organization

• School: Oregon State University
• Department: Geography
• Course: GEOG 300
• Professor: J. Tilt

Document Summary

We can"t recycle our way to zero waste". Civic and corporate zero waste commitments, they are actually zero waste to landfill campaigns. They are not aiming to zero waste, they just want to recycle it. High-quality, well sorted waste ca be used for recycling and converting into fuel. Australian recycling industry using it to develop a circular economy. Waste" is actually a classification of a resource or product at a certain point in its value chain. The waste hierarchy prioritises actions based on how much they benefit the environment. Recycling aluminium is 95% more efficient than using virgin aluminium, recycling plastic is 85% more efficient, paper 50%, and glass 40%. For many materials, particularly plastic and to some extent paper, recycling is also a downgrading process. Materials can only be recycled so many times beyond all use -> landfill -> can"t be recovered from waste to energy.