‘Waste doesn’t come from itself. It is the mirror of our society…it is the mirror of who we are’ Philip Heylen, Antwerp, Belgium. Vice-mayor for Culture and Tourism at Stad Antwerpen
Today marks the end of the official conference talks in Sao Paulo http://iswa2014.org and tomorrow a series of Technical Visits is programmed (http://iswa2014.org/technical-tours-iswa-2014/)
Reviewing the experience at this stage seems like a daunting (and perhaps premature) activity to embark upon yet there are experiences/facts/figures I’d like to share…
– ‘Rising waste caused by rapid economic growth’ (David Newman, ISWA President)
– over 1000 participants have attended the World Congress on Solid Waste Management originating from over 68 countries
– there are over 200,000 informal waste pickers in Dehli (http://globalrec.org/city/dehli/ )
– ‘Society is moving faster than governments’ (Rubens Rizek, Deputy Secretary for Environment, Government of São Paulo)
– the traffic never stops in what represents the third largest metropolis on Earth with over 20 million people living within greater São Paulo.
– There are 600,000 informal waste pickers in Brazil (Carlos Silva Filho, Regional Development Network Representative of ISWA and Coordinator of the South America sub-regional secretariat for IPLA.)
– motorcyclists repeatedly beep their horns at a regularity unheard of within the UK. They form a staccato rhythm that penetrates the ear and alerts the stationary traffic in its infamously gridlocked state at peak hours
– by 2050 2/3 of the world will live within cities (http://www.192021.org)
– ‘There is a global waste emergency out there at the moment and we have to consider the cost of doing nothing’ (Philip Heylen, Antwerp, Belgium. Vice-mayor for Culture and Tourism at Stad Antwerpen)
– 20,000 tonnes of solid waste is created daily within São Paulo
– waste pickers _ legislation to force corporate multi-nationals to maintain Best Practice across every global site they operate from _ informal workers _ detritus _ invisibility _ E-waste _ transparency _ from linear to circular economies _ zero waste _ waste management to resource management
– ‘Thinking mathematically we have a lot of exponential curves including population, manufacturing, climate change…zero waste is therefore mandatory’ (Rodrigo Sabatini, Brazil. Renewable Resources and the Environment)
– ‘Climate change will force us to develop adaptive measures’ (Ney Maranhão, Secretary-General of the Institute of Research and Advanced Studies of the Judiciary and the Ministry of Labor, São Paulo)
– São Paulo has the largest fleet of helicopters in the world, with around 500 registered helicopters and 700 flights per day in the city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_São_Paulo)
