This past November, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend the 2017 Metro Vancouver Zero Waste Conference. The theme for this year’s event was a Circular Economy Within Reach, and throughout the day, experts on several aspects of the topic discussed solutions to reach a circular economy.
The Circular Economy on the International Space Station
The day started with an incredible keynote from scientist and retired NASA astronaut Cady Coleman who shared her unique perspective on zero waste when she lived aboard the International Space Station for six months. Despite the high bar set by Dr. Coleman, the following discussions continued to deliver fascinating discussions throughout the day.
Plastics: Reimagining a Global Material
Although the conference had several interesting sessions, I found one debate on plastics particularly interesting. The panel consisted of three experts on the issue of plastic waste: Professor Richard Thompson, who is studying the impacts of plastic in our oceans, Mats Linder from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and Andrew Falcon, CEO of Full Cycle Bioplastics. All of them agree that plastic is an indispensable material to modern life, and believe that because of its durability and versatility, it has to the potential to reduce our waste and even reduce our environmental footprint. Unfortunately, the design for limited material recovery and reuse has been catastrophic for our oceans and marine life.
References
Metro Vancouver. (2017, November 20). Why Metro Vancouver’s 2017 Zero Waste Conference Is Being Called ‘The Best Yet’. Retrieved from Metro Vancouver Zero Waste Conference Blog: https://zwcblog.org/2017/11/20/why-metro-vancouvers-2017-zero-waste-conference-is-being-called-the-best-yet/#more-2516
Orloff, A. (2016). The Built Environment. Metro Vancouver Zero Waste Conference. Vancouver: Metro Vancouver. Retrieved 12 10, 2017, from http://www.zwc.ca/archive/2016/sessions/Pages/built-environment.aspx
World Economic Forum, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and McKinsey & Company. (2016). The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation. World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/news/the-new-plastics-economy-rethinking-the-future-of-plastics-infographics