We recently had the opportunity to probe the mind of world-class waste management scientist, Antonis Mavropoulos. He is the CEO and founder of D-Waste, a global team of experts with more than 20 years of experience in waste management. D-Waste provides fully customized, affordable and high-quality waste management services through a global network of experts that are available to support clients worldwide.
Q: Antonis, can you give an example of how consumers can reduce waste, and still maintain their way of life?
A: There are several ways to tackle the problem of waste prevention. There are cases where consumers can reduce their waste up to 60-70%, with advanced reuse and recycling programs, emphasis to organic waste and proper economic instruments. But this is an approach that must be based on the analysis of specific material streams. As for our life-styles, I think we all know that if the average Western type life-style will be mainstreamed on a global level, then we would need 3-4 more planets to provide the resources required. However, I think it is not fair to put the main burden on the consumers’ behavior. Waste, by definition, is a proof of ineffective production and inefficient consumption. So, although anyone can consume generating less waste, the major problem is to have products with longer life cycles, created using eco and modular design, easily reused and recycled. This task is almost 100% on the side of the consumer goods industries. The good news is that the current on-going industrial revolution sets the scene for wasteless supply chains in many industrial sectors.We are still far away from a wasteless future, but the major components are already here and the question is how fast and how successfully we can combine them in functional packages that will be adapted and adopted in different local conditions.
