How countries make money on garbage

The reverse side of scientific and technical progress is the irrational use of natural resources, pollution of the environment and the deterioration of the ecological situation. Our health and the health of our children directly depend on the quality of the surrounding environment.

The Head of State in his message to the people of Kazakhstan on January 10th, 2018 stressed the necessity of rethinking the structure and organisation of raw material industries and the approach to the management of natural resources. It is essential to increase the requirements for implementing sustainability and energy efficiency of enterprises, as well as the environmental policies and effectiveness of the energy producers. The current critical task is to increase alternative energy production in Kazakhstan up to 10% by 2030.

Potentially we have cheap untapped alternative energy sources, to which we should start paying closer attention. One of the most lucrative and abundant resources for energy generation is garbage (waste to energy – WtE). In addition to solving acute environmental problems, the introduction of a WtE system in Kazakhstan will help to bolster alternative energy sources portfolio as well as drastically reduce damage to the environment caused by landfills.

Let’s see how other countries address this possibility.

Benefits of recycling

For residents:

• the monetary reward system for plastic packaging recovery;
• vast improvement in overall cleanliness;
• clean water;
• healthy environment.

For the country:

• creation of jobs at processing and WtE plants;
• generation of clean thermal and electrical power;
• in 2000, about 40% of industrial and domestic waste was used either as recyclables or as resources for WtE;
• in 2013, a 20mW oil powered boiler was replaced by the first Norwegian boiler operating on wood flour produced by grinding pellets (wood capsules) with the impressive productivity of 56mW. Thanks to this innovation, the capacity of the central heating system in Oslo has increased and now reaches up to 150-200GW per year, which can provide heat to 20,000 Norwegian apartments;
• 4 tons of waste have the same energy value as one ton of oil.

For business:

• profits from the sale of recyclable resources, such as paper, plastic, metal, to companies in Scandinavia along with fuel;

Infographics “Garbage and money”. Norway

Benefits of recycling

For residents:

• differential payment for garbage disposal;
• clean streets and yards.

For the Country:

• profit from the production of goods from recycled materials;
• creation of jobs at waste related organisations;
• clean electric and thermal energy generation;

• punishment in the form of a fine for the discharge of garbage in the wrong container or trash thrown on the street depending on the state can vary from 100 to 300 dollars.

For business:

• today in America there are about 550 waste-processing plants;
• in some parts of the United States, landfill produced gas that is generated as a result of waste rot is collected and used as fuel.

Infographics “Garbage and money”. USA

Benefits of recycling

For residents:

• The monetary reward system for packaging recovery;
• Clean yards and streets.

For the country:

• profit from the production of goods from recycled waste (compost);
• creation of jobs at waste related organisations;
• More than 60,000 tons of glass waste is collected annually in Finland. Almost 100% of glass bottles are collected at unique automatic reception points at stores. The rest of the glass is gathered into individual containers (transparent and coloured glass separately). Thanks to the organised glass bottle collection system, according to statistics, the bottle can be recycled and used up to 33 times before being completely disintegrated;

The cost includes transportation and processing of waste, as well as burial of non-recyclable garbage in landfills. Due to these payments, free or non-profitable services such as collection and processing of recyclables, hazardous waste, as well as salaries of employees of processing stations, information and help services are covered. Creation of eco-points and garbage collection stations is also partially covered from these fees.

For business:

• 140,000 tons of compost are produced every year. It is supplied to the Finnish market, as well as to the closest neighbours: Russia, Sweden, Estonia and Norway.

Infographics “Garbage and money”. Finland

Benefits of recycling

For residents:

• the monetary reward system for plastic and glass recovery;
• clean and safe waste collection points and streets;
• a single dual stream waste processing plant in Berlin provides 8000 jobs

For the country:

• processing of particularly valuable varieties of plastic can bring up to 1000 euros per ton of the material;
• about half of all plastic bottles produced in Germany end up in China, who buys them at 400 euros per ton. 240,000 people a day produce about 60 tons of plastic waste;
• the factory in Ruhleben, through the incineration of garbage, receives so much energy that it can easily supply 61,000 apartments throughout the year with clean electricity;
• the plant’s maintenance equipment circulates on the biogas produced at the plant. On average, it is 150 units of transport.

For business:

• after the launch of the waste-processing plants, the companies that service them were opened;
• 12 private companies for sorting and processing of waste;
• dozens of companies dedicated to the production of specialist equipment;
• engineering companies developing equipment for recycling;
• development and modernisation of cleaning filters on the rise;
• companies building infrastructure receive slag, which is used in road construction. German roads are known to be some of the best in the world.

Infographics “Garbage and money”. Germany

Benefits of recycling

For residents:

• clean and safe yards, streets and waste collection points;
• a large number of goods produced from recycled materials;
• new territories for living on artificial islands built out of processed garbage.

For the country:

• substantial penalties for non-compliance with the rules for waste sorting program;
• garbage processing business is highly developed;
• the slag obtained from burning garbage is used for artificial islands construction;
• from food waste, organic fertilisers or even biofuels are obtained. For example, processed biofuel that is made from the processed kitchen oil powers city buses and garbage trucks;
• at the stops, you can find benches made from the recycled bus tickets.

For business:

• utilisation of domestic appliances gives the country more than 1 million tons of iron and 50,000 tons of non-ferrous metals per year;

• sportswear, stationery, office furniture, work clothes, carpets, school uniforms and much more are produced from the recycled plastic bottles.

Infographics “Garbage and money”. Japan

Benefits of recycling

For residents:

• clean and safe waste collection points and streets;
• many jobs at processing companies.

For the country:

• The utilisation of solid waste provides 20% of the heating in Swedish houses. Today, this equates to 900 thousand Swedish households;
• 15% of garbage goes into biogas production (for public transport needs). From the used paper and plastic new plastic and paper are made.

For business:

• in Sweden, 30 power plants operate on waste, burning 5.5 million tons of garbage a year;
• Sweden is so advanced at recycling that it is necessary to import garbage from the UK, Italy, Norway and Ireland to provide fuel for 32 power plants powered by waste incineration. Annually, the country receives over 800 thousand tons of foreign garbage, including from Germany, Belgium, Romania, Bulgaria and Italy.

Infographics “Garbage and money”. Sweden

Benefits of recycling

For residents:

• clean and safe streets and waste collection points;
• many jobs at processing companies;
• bicycle paths made from recycled waste.

For the country:

• in Netherlands, only 7% of the waste is sent to the landfill – all the rest is processed in one way or another;
• 20% of the total electricity production is waste-fuelled. When waste is burned, steam is produced, which is then converted into electricity which is then used in production or for heating houses.

For business:

• more than 1 million tons of waste from major European countries such as Great Britain, Ireland and Italy are burned annually in Dutch furnaces. Oil from deep fat fryers is also recycled and used as fuel for eco-cars.

Infographics “Garbage and money”. Netherlands

Speaking about Kazakhstan, it should be noted that the problem of garbage processing in our country has not been solved yet. According to general statistics, to date, about 103 million tons of garbage is buried in the landfills. About 20% of the overall waste is paper and cardboard, 25% – plastic and 10% is glass. Every year, another 5 million tons are added to this figure and, according to experts’ forecasts, this figure will grow up to 8 million tons by 2020, since the average resident of Kazakhstan produces more than 300 kg of solid household waste per year.

Only one waste processing plant operates today in Kazakhstan. Here, about 100 tons of glass, 20 tons of paper, and 15 tons of plastic are sorted each year. Of course, these capacities do not satisfy the scale of demand of the whole state. In different years attempts were made in our country to build other waste-processing plants, but all of them failed because of the complexities of financing, the lack of state regulation and enforcement, and finally the absence of systematic approach to waste management.

In Kazakhstan, a complex waste management system is desperately needed and might someday accommodate the development of the processing and recycling industry. Legislative and state involvement and support of decisive measures are necessary, a system of punishing fines, flexible tariffs and general promotion of the need to sort rubbish will someday be established. There is a need for the population to be taught how to sort the garbage, but this will take years. However, the result may still be questionable. The world community has long realised the need for systematic and complex approach, and Kazakhstan needs to start to get involved in this process as soon as possible. This is one of the signs of a developed state.

The country needs to learn based on the experience of others.

As we have already seen on the experience of the leading countries of the world, the process of garbage processing can be beneficial for the state and private organisations. Especially if you align the regulatory framework and invest in this industry. From the introduction of waste processing systems, the state gains an additional source of energy, monetary infusion into the budget and improvement environmental situation. The ordinary citizens benefit from the opportunity to live in safe and clean cities and enjoy clean products from processed raw materials (roads, bicycle paths, playgrounds, street furniture and others). The business can create new jobs and take on social responsibilities, which are apparent.

Infographics “Garbage and money”. Kazakhstan

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