The Oil Drum: Europe

The waste crisis in Naples has been ongoing for more than a week by now. Today (Jan 7), the Italian newspapers are announcing the intervention of the army to retake some control of the situation.

One recurring theme in nature is that anything which creates a waste product tends to also create an ecological niche for something which uses that product.  This has also occurred in technology.  It is relatively common for waste products which contain energy to find uses, but we may be about to see something a little different and more radical.  For the past century, millions of tons of a particular waste product have been piling up all over the earth.  This waste product contains no useful energy or rare elements, so its potential has taken longer to be widely recognized.  It might just become something far more important to the future:  a cheap and abundant energy-maker.

It seems the city council is close to approving the final waste management plan for NYC. Within the NY Times article, there is an interesting idea of carving out waste reduction and recycling from the Department of Sanitation.

In the past, the sanitation department has been a reluctant steward of the program, arguing so effectively against it that in 2002 the mayor suspended the pickup of glass jars and bottles, and the following year reduced recycling collection to a bimonthly schedule.

The full recycling program was restored in 2004, but sanitation officials still grumbled that it costs far more to have a crew picking up recyclables than to simply haul everything to a landfill.

Just pathetic! I knew the Sanitation Department was narrowmindedly focused on moving trash, but I did not realize that they would actively work against programs that might actually REDUCE the amount they had to collect! This is where a new independent office would exactly help.