The market
The solid waste generated annually in urban areas around the world reach more than 10 billion tonnes, less than half of which is collected and eliminated. Municipal solid waste management (DSM) is currently assessed worldwide at more than $ 300 billion in income and has rapid growth. The European Union (EU) produced in 2010 in 2010 a total of 3 billion tonnes of solid urban waste, or 6 tonnes per person per year. Despite all the reduction, reuse and recycling campaigns (3R), the total volume should further increase by 45% to 4.4 billion tonnes by 2020. The global waste distribution indicates that North America , with barely 5 % of the population, produces 30 % of waste; At the other extreme, Africa, with 13 % of the population, is only responsible for 3 % of DSM. However, even a few percent are a major threat to the health of millions of people and the environment.
In 2010, the German market for handling municipal solid waste was dynamic, achieving a total turnover of 35 billion euros. Remondis, national market leader with 20,000 employees and 5.4 billion euros in turnover over the same period, has acquired over the years 400 local waste management companies. Apart from 10 major players, there are 5,000 small operators in Germany. Waste Management Inc. is the largest waste management company in the world with a turnover of $ 13.1 billion and +50,000 employees. The option of transport and burial of waste is clearly decreasing worldwide. The number of landfill sites in the United States increased from 8,000 in 1988 to around 1,500 today. The incineration trend was initiated by Japan, which operates 1,800 of 2,500 installations worldwide, with 290 new stations planned outside Japan. The Energy Energy Valorization Sector (WTE) increased from 3.7 billion euros in 2010 to 13.6 billion euros in 2016. There are more WTE installations under construction in China than anywhere else in The world.
WTE seems to be the only option for recycling, applied in 93.2 % of cases. Biological treatment (as described in scenario 51) represents barely 6.8 %. Composting, very popular on a small scale and practiced by millions of urban households, does not succeed in making a breach in the market even if it is the cheapest option to treat a ton of organic solid urban waste. Incineration is the most expensive choice with an average price of $ 125/ton and leaves the operators with toxic ashes which still have to be buried. Even if the content of municipal solid urban waste differs from one city to another, concrete examples from around the world have shown that 95 % of them could be recycled in one or the other format, generating more jobs and income that what could have ever been produced by burning waste.
Innovation
One of the main challenges of the sector is that each supplier offers unique solutions. The market has evolved in the field of specialized engineering services and few stakeholders offer a full range of services including composting, recycling, incineration, biological treatment and/or gasification. Consequently, this vast portfolio of options is in competition for each contract, each defending their solution, when they should be considered complementary and the emphasis should be mainly placed on the recovery of resources. However, the biggest challenge is that the solid municipal waste cost money. Although urban mining has been widely debated as a commercial activity in the future, it is not profitable today. The dominant business model is based on being paid for waste treatment. Long-term public contracts represent the most common standard, which is funded by tax revenue. Since the barriers to the entrance are enormous and that the capital requirements are out of reach, there is little room for entrepreneurship.
Tom Szaky discovered when he was in the first year at Princeton University that molded earthworms are the best fertilizer. He could not believe that food waste from the cafeteria could be found in a landfill site. He therefore decided to give it to worms by stammering production in used plastic containers. He thought he had produced the most ecological fertilizer there is. Better still, it could sell it with a profit at a price lower than that of any competitor. Tom then created a national packaging and used container collection program. He imagined a business model that made it possible to pay schools and non -profit organizations to collect all types of used objects. He invited people to imagine, design and produce high quality products such as backpacks and kite using waste collected and sorted as raw material. Instead of recycling, he called this “recycling more” as well as the title of the book published by the founder of the Blue Economy in 1999 in Germany. Tom then created Terracycle. Located in New Jersey, in the United States, this booming company operates a new business model for waste. In its model, waste is no longer even thrown into the trash.
The TOM model goes beyond the simple recycling and the creation of value products from waste: it puts a brand on waste. So far, companies wanted to hide their names in waste, mix it with other waste or burn it because the ashes do not have a logo. Tom has developed products that indicate to the consumer who is at the origin of the raw materials from which a final product is manufactured. The sachets of Capri Sun juice are transformed into tote bags; The bags of used chips of Froto Lay are recycled into garbage cans and coolers. Koolaid in Canada and Tang in Mexico and Brazil follow the same concept. Twenty percent of the Terracycle waste conversion program are labeled. This is one of the innovations that characterizes the blue economy since it allows you to generate added value and jobs, while sharing social capital.
The first cash flow
Today, Terracycle works in more than 45,000 schools in America, as well as with companies, civic groups and gymnasiums, which register on the Terracycle website to collect various flows of waste such as the juice of juice And candy packaging, toothbrushes and pens. It makes payments to schools and charities for sending waste and also covers the expedition costs for shipping. While avoiding the burial of waste, Terracycle creates products and materials which replace other products made from virgin materials. Walmart (United States) presented recycled Terracycle products made under license. During the celebrations of the 2010 Earth month, 4,300 Walmart stores sold Terracle products at the same time as the original product. The tote bags made of froto lay packaging were therefore sold with Froto Lay poutilles. Backpacks made from Capri Sun drinks were sold next to the juice. Handbags and shoulder bags made from M&M and Skittles packaging were on sale next to candy and chocolate bars, from the Mars company.
None of the companies are opposed to their waste transforming in brand sales items; On the contrary, these products promote consumer loyalty and repeated sales. Only ten years after having proposed for the first time this business model at Princeton University, Terracycle generated in 2010 an annual turnover estimated at $ 13.5 million with barely 50 employees and should go to $ 18 million this year. Demonstrate that engineering lies in the design of the business model and not in technology. Indeed, all the technologies necessary for the exploitation of the company are ready to use and easily accessible. The environmental advantages of Terracycle have been confirmed by life cycle analyzes carried out by third parties.
The opportunity
Tom Szaky has a simple goal: to recycle “non -recyclable” waste. Its global scope now extends to twelve countries. This business model could apply wherever brands are ready to help cover the cost of collecting non -recyclable waste. Not only has waste has value, but there is enormous employment possibilities. While many have already practiced recycling of waste such as fashion in Brazil, selective recovery of waste in Curitiba (also in Brazil) in return for access to public transport, and waste towards art in Africa, the model From Szaky mobilizes young people locally. This makes it possible to finance school projects and to empower citizens who can pay $ 0.02 per unit of waste to school or to the charity of their choice. It is this network of institutions and people that mobilized waste while unlocking its value with a sense of commitment and responsibility, a high dose of enthusiasm, making each conscious and happy in this process.
