Waste as a raw material source
There is a general rule which states that the amount of a country’s waste is proportional to its gross product, implying that a larger amount of rubbish is proof of a higher standard of living. The world wide drive for saving resources calls for new ways to be found of curbing the rate at which the amount of waste increases. At present the average Japanese citi-zen produces about 920 g of waste per day, i. e. more than 330 kg a year. Local recycling programs will be of little significance, if the collected waste materials are not removed. The bulk of waste is therefore burnt and the resultant debris used for infill. But as fewer sites need filling the cost of reprocessing waste increases and the problem becomes more acute. The only solution is to cut the amount of rubbish produced whilst increasing the proportion which can be recycled. This can only be achieved by impli-cating every member of society – a task for government institutions, jobs schools and residents groups. New manufacturing techniques are needed which will permit the waste to be re-used. In some districts it has been possible to cut rents as a reward for collecting waste materials. There have also been experiments to use untreated waste for making organic fertilizers and of incinerating rubbish to power the air-conditioning systems in public buildings.
The individual consumer must have a way of life that is based on an awareness of the need to recycle. The modest efforts of individuals will, on a national scale, produce a massive combined force. And yet it won’t really matter how much less rubbish is produced by the individual because, as long as manufacturers pursue a policy of mass production and bulk sales of consumer goods the role of recycling will be insignificant. For recycling to take root as a social system, individuals, employers and government must recognize the importance of conserving the environment of our planet Earth.
THE PROBLEM OF THE ENVIRONMENT
The last three decades in the world’s development have been charac-terized by the increasingly pressing nature of global problems that are of concern to the whole of mankind. The accelerated growth of the productive forces, the increasing physical and economic internationalization of the modem world combined with the global scale of world political processes have generated a whole set of organically intertwined global factors which are increasingly affecting the shaping of mankind’s future.
A place of prominence among these global problems belongs to preservation of the natural environment on our planet and ensuring the ra-tional use of its resources, which has for the first time in history come to be an objective reality.
Scientific and technological progress has equipped mankind with a previously unheard-of powerful means of harnessing and utilizing the forces of nature. The increasing scale of society’s impact on the environ-ment has, however, created a danger of polluting and destroying it.
The present ecological conflict threatens to deplete the non-renewable resources of nature and to pollute the biosphere. This is why the further development of the productive forces will make it increasingly im-perative to work out special measures to reduce the rapid build-up of the pressure on the environment on the part of economic system.
The global industrialization of economic activity, the growing popu-lation of the globe, the unprecedented concentration of the means of pro-duction and people in the major cities, etc. carry the threat of increasing pressure on the environment and on the totality of the natural resources. The resulting ecological conflict is now becoming a recognized factor in the economic and social development of society. Its consequences are lit-erally being felt in all the links and levels of national economies.
BUSINESS CIRCLES JOIN IN
Nowadays the greatest obstacle to industrial recycling is the excess of expenditure over income. In addition to certain obligatory recycling, an economic system must be provided which would make it financially advantageous to re-use materials. Industries are gradually introducing methods of evaluating «total use» of an article. This involves the manufacturer assessing the overall impact of his product on the environment, taking all factors into account from the selection of raw materials to the moment when all consumer value has been exhausted.
Industry has also manifested an interest in the call made by the University of the United Nations Organization for «zero emission», i.e. total elimination of the discharge of noxious substances during the manufacturing process. A new law came into force in the spring of 1997 requiring manufacturers and retailers to ensure that packaging materials are recyclable. Other measures being examined by the government are a system for resale of the rights to emit noxious substances and the introduction of a tax on the burning of oil, coal, natural gas and other fuels which produce carbon dioxide during combustion.
Looking at basics, it is easy to see that the whole of our eco-system functions on the principle of constant recycling. Sea water evaporates to form clouds which fall to earth in the form of rain. Grass and trees convert carbon dioxides, taken in from air and water, into the oxygen so essential to animal life. Plants are a vital link in the food chain, supporting animal life and contributing to the constant enrichment of the soil. However, the earth’s recycling system is ruined by petroleum hydrocarbons and other pollutants, which harm the environment and which do not revert to soil. In other words it is extremely important that all efforts be directed at restoring the natural balance of the planet’s ecological system.