Around 900,000 tons of waste is generated annually in Georgia and more than 75% of it is estimated to end up in landfill sites. Landfill disposal is the least desirable way of handling waste, and even less desirable if the landfill is poorly managed and maintained.
This is a significant issue in Georgia, in contrast to European countries, such as Sweden, where only 1% of waste ends up in landfill, reads the story published by EU Neighborhood. Reducing waste is not only connected to environmental issues but also offers a huge economic opportunities, which should be catch up by Georgia.
The circular economy offers a US$4.5 trillion economic opportunity by reducing waste, stimulating business growth, and creating jobs. Making better use of raw materials is not just good for the planet, it’s a financial imperative. The International Resource Panel found that more sustainable use of materials and energy would add an extra US$2 trillion to the global economy by 2050.
And there could be particular advantages for low- and middle-income countries, reads the recent article of WEF. International Resource Panel modelling shows that by 2060, with the right sustainable policies in place, growth in global resource use can slow by 25%. Meanwhile, global GDP could grow by 8%, with a particular benefit for low- and middle-income nations.
Economic opportunities also stem from making better use of waste. For example, in Chile, construction waste from authorized buildings alone exceeds 7.1 million tons per year, equal to all municipal domestic waste. But it’s often simply dumped in landfills - at best. This highly usable waste has been valued by some experts at about US$315 million per year. In case of finding the ways to reuse and not just dispose of this material, innumerable possibilities emerge for reducing emissions and creating other significant economic savings.
The need to provide good quality jobs that bring social wellbeing is a global challenge in a changing world, one made even more urgent by the mass unemployment and economic hardship caused by COVID.
Countries such as Chile have a large number of people working in the informal recycling sector—there are currently about four million across Latin America and the Caribbean – which often comes with risks to health and safety as well as lack of job security. During the pandemic Chile has launched an online platform connecting people working in informal recycling with those who wanted to continue recycling while stations were closed; informal recyclers could go door to door to collect the waste, and the country could continue with our recycling habits.
But as we move beyond COVID, creating a circular economy offers a way to formalize and improve the living and working conditions of thousands of people working in the informal recycling sector, especially women. Research shows that a circular economy could generate up to 4.8 million jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean. In Chile, a goal was set to create more than 180,000 formal jobs from the circular economy by 2040, for example through the repair industry, a key part of the circular economy. This will help Chileans to reach their target of increasing recycling rates from 4% to 65%, vital to their economic wellbeing and key to building a future where decent work is a priority.
Like so many other countries, Chile is extremely vulnerable to climate change. This country meets seven of the nine critical vulnerability variables recognized by the United Nations. To prevent serious challenges such as increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, water shortages, and rising sea levels, it is crucial for the Chile’s future, and for the future of other middle-income and developing countries, that Chileans mitigate the climate crisis and build a stronger economic system that will be resilient against its effects.
How can a circular economy help? While switching to renewable energy could reduce emissions by 55%, the remaining 45% can only be tackled by changing the way we make and use products and food. If the world created a circular economy for just five key sectors — cement, aluminum, steel, plastics and food — we could cut CO2 emissions by 3.7 billion tons by 2050, equivalent to eliminating current emissions from all forms of transport.
The circular economy will also help build a strong system resilient to the effects of climate change. The World Bank has calculated that reaching carbon neutrality will allow Chile to increase GDP by more than 4.4% by 2050. This figure is multiplied by five if we value the indirect benefits, such as a decrease in deadly black carbon, and the enormous social benefits for people’s health and welfare. There are other more direct impacts, too; for example, as we reincorporate food waste into our soils, they are better prepared to cope with the water stress that we have witnessed over the past decade.
To drive these policies forward, as well as demonstrate their commitment internationally, countries can get started by introducing the circular economy as part of their Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, as Chile did in April 2020.
A transition to a circular economy requires addressing issues along the full value chain of materials and production, redesigning not only products but also resource flows. In a globalized economic system, this requires collaboration. Over the next few years it is crucial that countries come together to promote commitments at a multilateral level.
Moving to a circular economy will take several decades. The work will be tough. However, there are huge benefits and opportunities within our reach. We must lead this transformation, to protect well-being as well as the climate.
