What is recycling?
Recycling is a form of material recovery, which consists of transforming solid waste into products, materials, or substances that retain their original purpose or any other purpose (Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Law, DL N° 1278).
What are the benefits of recycling?
The extraction of natural resources has tripled since 1970 and has almost doubled since 2000, reaching 100 billion tons. This growth is not only due to the world population, which has doubled since 1970, but also to the fact that the resources a person needs have increased by a factor of 1.7. For example, while the demand for virgin material per person was approximately 7.4 tons in 1970, today it can reach up to 12 tons. In this sense, it is expected that by 2050, the extraction and use of materials will double the amount of 2015, threatening a total collapse of the Earth’s life support systems. (Circularity Gap Report 2023).
Is our current economy related to climate change?
The current linear economic model is based on “take-make-dispose”; therefore, it is largely responsible for climate change and resource depletion. In that sense, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the greenhouse gas emission commitments under the Paris Agreement, a new economic model must be adopted. (UN, 2021).
What are the impacts of a linear economy?
Pérdida de biodiversidad: Actualmente, más del 90% de la pérdida de la biodiversidad se debe a la extracción y procesamiento de los recursos naturales (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2021). Según la Plataforma Intergubernamental sobre Biodiversidad y Servicios de los Ecosistemas (IPBES), para enfrentar la pérdida de biodiversidad no solo se requiere de esfuerzos de conservación y restauración, sino de transformaciones económicas, entre otros.
Incrementa el cambio climático: La economía líneal se caracteriza por el consumo excesivo de recursos, el cual está asociado con la generación de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI). Por ejemplo, el 70% de las emisiones de GEI están asociadas al manejo y uso de recursos (Circularity Gap Report, 2021).
Contamina el ambiente: La economía lineal se caracteriza por la generación excesiva de residuos. Por ejemplo, con respecto a los residuos de envase de plástico, el 86% no se recicla; por el contrario, termina en botaderos (40%), son incinerados (14%) o se infiltran en el ambiente (32%) (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2021).
¿Por qué debemos reciclar?
Reduce la generación de gases de efecto invernadero: El procesamiento de materiales reciclados puede generar entre 40% y 70% menos emisiones de CO2 en comparación con los materiales vírgenes (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2016).
Ahorra energía: Por ejemplo, el reciclaje de acero utiliza entre 10% y 15% de la energía necesaria en la producción de acero primario (Material Economics, 2019).
Generates employment: For example, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Recycling Center in Kenya generates 40 jobs and involves more than 1000 employees for collection (The Circularity Gap Report, 2023).
What is the situation in Peru?
According to MINAM, in 2022 Peru generated more than 22 thousand tons of municipal waste daily, which is equivalent to more than four (04) national stadiums full of garbage. Of that total, it is estimated that 75% could have been reused. Despite having this large percentage of potentially recyclable resources, in Peru only 1.8% of the total waste generated is recycled.
Considering the current global context, the benefits of recycling and the potential of our waste, it is time to reflect and take action. While changes in our policy are necessary, we can start with individual actions, reducing, reusing and recycling our domestic waste.