The market
The global waste and recycling market was worth 450 billion dollars in 2010. By extrapolating the data from a vast study from Paris-Dauphine University in France, it has been established that unwanted objects weigh some 4 billion of 4 billion tons, of which only 2.7 billion are collected. The rest polluted and represents a danger to health. The total recycled volume is around 1 billion tonnes. The richest billion in the world generates 1.4 kg per person per day, while the poorest 2.4 billion produce 0.6 kg of waste per day. The United States and Australia are at the top of the list of waste producers worldwide. Turkey sends 97 % of its waste to landfills, while Switzerland only eliminates 0.5 % in the soil or underground. Japan is the world leader in incineration, burning 74 % of all waste, followed by Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland with around 50 % that go up in smoke. The largest recycling program is the recovery of energy which, unfortunately, leaves behind toxic waste. In Europe, this waste treatment is good for 200 million tonnes per year. This includes 7.3 million tonnes of plastics, in addition to the 5 million tonnes that are recycled. With 49 %, Korea has the best rate of recycling of municipal waste. Italy and Spain reach around 30 %, while countries like Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Denmark recover only between 15 and 17 %. Hungary recycles only 1.1 % according to the latest figures available, while the Netherlands obtained a surprisingly low score of 2.3 %. After energy recovery, composting is the second most widespread recycling practice, representing 100 million tonnes per year in the world. If we include human waste, they could easily increase tenfold, while generating methane and restoring the surface soil. Metal waste and paper have better market value and therefore recycle 400 and 250 million tonnes respectively. These figures are official and are part of the formal economy. Developing countries recycle informally and practice large -scale reuse. Recycling is an economic necessity, with the additional advantage of reducing the contents of discharges by 75 to 95 % and providing some form of subsistence. Cairo, the capital of Egypt, has around 40,000 people involved in informal recycling. From 2002, the majority of raw materials markets were faced with shortages and price increases. Global economic growth and takeoff of the Chinese economy were the source of this challenge to meet demand that ended two decades of abundance. At the same time, the secondary markets of recycling and recycling of waste have seen prices multiply under the appetite of China. In 2010, the share of secondary materials of materials such as paper and non -ferrous metals was already greater than that of the primary market based on forest and mining exploitation.
Innovation
From the point of view of economic theory, waste is a negative externality outside the market. The regulations are trying to correct this situation by internalizing the costs of post-production and post-consumption. However, pricing remains a political decision by the introduction of taxes that influence the price, or emission standards that have an impact on quantity. In this way, waste receives a value and the externality now has a price. It is widely recognized by political decision -makers and economists that the emergence of truly global markets for scrap and paper reflects the development of strong demand for steel and paper pulp, especially in countries that are missing suppliers like China and Turkey. The challenge remains to know how to generate more value without needing a heavy taxation which is passed on without discrimination on the consumer while offering better quality at a competitive price. Antonia Edwards graduated from the University of Brighton with a master's degree in interior design, after studying art history at the University College of London. She began her career as an editor of interiors and fashion. When one of her creative friends began painting illustrations on old chairs and tables thrown away, she was amazed by the unique result. With a little research, Antonia realized that the concept of converting something old and unwanted into something beautiful is a problem that creatives like to solve. She believes that when working in the parameters of the prescribed materials can be worked, this can stimulate the imagination and creativity that would not necessarily be born when a project starts from zero with materials from anywhere anywhere as we wish. Using what you have is one of the fundamental principles of the blue economy.
The first cash flow
Antonia launched an online magazine and adopted the name "The Upcyclist". Since she has acquired a vast experience in the field of online publication, she has started to report on the Internet on everything that is fashionable and elegant. The website quickly converted into a resource for creatives and consumers, inspiring people to do something from recycled materials, to add functionality and beauty, and also to buy and sell the product. Antonia differentiates itself from many other initiatives that point out and support innovative reuse. It carefully selects products with quality and style that could make the difference on the market. She positions her blog as the resource platform for the beautiful and innovative reuse of unwanted and unloved materials and objects from around the world. Instead of bulk reprocessing of standardized goods, it reports on restoration, recovery, revitalization, overhaul, reuse and redevelopment. Antonia embarked on "Upcyclated" creation with materials offered and sought after, especially for artistic projects. In less than 2 years, she presented 12 cases of architecture, 54 fashion designers, 27 furniture manufacturers, 24 jewelry manufacturers, 10 lighting manufacturers, 8 glass recyclers and 15 small businesses working wood. Antonia has created a platform for entrepreneurs in a few years that meet its high requirements in 38 countries. For the year 2011 alone, Antonia reported 178 entrepreneurial companies.
The opportunity
Antonia has extended to textiles, metals, sculptures, installations, plastics and paper products, identifying people and young companies who master the waste transformation process into quality products with greater environmental value . Antonia makes an effort so that people become aware of the history of each object and move away from brilliant consumables and serial products. This gives birth to a new breed of creativity, while offering a new way of perceiving the objects that we already have. Individual, Antonia takes a remarkable second step, which consists in networking and compiling specific opportunities in a unique report such as "The Shirt off His Back" by Juliet Bawden, covering 30 projects to transform shirts of end -of -life into one Range of house accessories such as duvet and chair covers or light variators. The examples that Antonia presents inspire many people to register in the upward trend like Freddie Saul, whose father is the founder of the famous British fashion brand Mulberry. He worked on the documentation of the “Upcycled Furniture Collection” which is now stored in prestigious London stores. All furniture is handcrafted from recycled materials, including the wood recovered from the floors of the ballrooms. Freddie designs and is now making with a team in Somerset (United Kingdom). South Africa, and Cape Town in particular, has developed an entire recycling industry that has generated thousands of jobs, but there is a designer who has now reached the summits of interior architecture. Katie Thompson transforms the ordinary into extraordinary by transforming broken and unwanted furniture. She created the Recreate company with a range of furnishings with tapest printing, accessories like a suitcase chair, a bottle of milk or typewriting machine lamps. Antonia works like the blue economy community, creating a platform that inspires others to do more and better. It applies the principles of open source and has the ingenuity to add beauty and style to its presentations, which is likely to change the perception of everything that is not desired forever, while giving A meaning and a goal not only to our material world, but also to our professions and lifestyles.
