Posts Tagged ‘recycling’
Using Price to Improve Recycling Rates
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on March 30th, 2011
Source: guardian.co.uk via Awake
What’s “rubbish”? Image: haemengine via flickr CC
From “A small town in Germany where recycling pays” by Leo Hickman:
A car towing a trailer full of construction waste pulls up at the weigh-station by the entrance gate. Weiss wanders over to inspect the contents. “This weighs about half of tonne. If will cost €270 to dump it as it is. Or if the car owner sorts it into separate types of waste — timber, paper, plasterboard etc — it will cost him just €17. That, in summary, is our system. We provide a major incentive to recycle.”
The citizens of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse take their recycling very seriously. So much so that there is even a collection point at the recycling depot for dead animals. “People bring their dead dogs here,” says Stefan Weiss, one of the town’s waste managers, as he steps into a refrigerated shed and opens the lid on a wheelie bin containing a deer’s head recently deposited by a local hunter. “All these animals get rendered down at a nearby facility for their fat. It then gets used to produce things like this.” Weiss pulls a tube of lip balm from his pocket.
Located in the south-western state of Rheinland-Pfalz and set in the heart of Palatinate wine-growing region, the predominantly middle-class, medieval town of Neustadt boasts the best recycling rates in Germany. Over the past 30 years, the town has nurtured and refined a system that means it now recycles about 70% of its waste – 16% higher than the state target. By comparison, UK recycling rates average about 40% – up from just 5% in the mid-1990s.
The reason for Neustadt’s success is simple, says Weiss. “It’s all about providing financial incentives and education. We don’t charge citizens anything for the recycled waste they leave out. And the less waste you put out for incineration – we’ve had no landfill in Germany since 2005 – the less you pay. Having no incentive to reduce waste is poisonous to your aims. We have a separate, visible fee that is intentionally not embedded within a local tax.”
For example, the majority of Neustadt’s 28,000 households opt for a 60-litre bin for their non-recycled waste. This is collected once a fortnight and costs the household €6.60 in collection fees. If a household opts for a 40l bin, the fee falls to €5.30. Conversely, if they opt for a 240l bin (the standard wheelie bin volume in the UK), the fee rises to €24, or €48 if they want it collected weekly. If they produce higher than expected waste due to, say, having a party, they can buy special 60l plastic sacks for €3 and leave them out by their bins for collection.
Recycled & Reclaimed: Jellyfish Theatre
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on September 20th, 2010
Source: guardian.co.uk
From “Junkitecture and the Jellyfish theatre” by Jonathan Glancey:
‘One man’s trash is another’s man treasure,” says Martin Kaltwasser, screwdriver and saw in hand. The German architect and conceptual artist is rushing to complete the Jellyfish theatre, which stands in a south London playground, 10 minutes’ walk from the Globe theatre on the banks of the Thames. To say that this building is junk would be disparaging. And yet junk, of a sort, it is. The Jellyfish theatre, which opens next week, is being built from the detritus of markets, timberyards and building sites; from redundant school furniture, hand-me-down front doors, recycled nails and pretty much anything that local residents and businesses have contributed – prompted by a public appeal by the Red Room film and theatre company. As work progresses, ever more planks of wood and stuff that would otherwise be “landfill” have been piled up in this playground in Southwark.
Dreamed up two years ago by Red Room’s artistic director, Topher Campbell, and its producer, Bryan Savery, the Jellyfish theatre looks, most of all, like a shrine to the humble timber pallet. Until a few weeks ago, these hundreds of pallets were being used to stack fruit and vegetables in Covent Garden market. Cheap, strong and hugely adaptable, they also happen to have a distinctly architectural look, especially when flipped on their sides and turned into walls. Some will be left as they are, others clad with sheets of plywood to keep the rain out and to usher in the darkness needed inside an auditorium.
Kaltwasser and his wife and business partner Folke Köbberling are, in fact, building Britain’s first fully functioning theatre made entirely from recycled and reclaimed materials. There are no fixed plans, few drawings; Kaltwasser orchestrates his fellow builders as Mike Leigh does his actors. The building has a strong, if very basic steel frame to keep its structure in check, and yet beyond this basic architectural necessity, all else is improvised: a pallet positioned here, a sheet of plywood there, some MDF on top. This 120-seat theatre, which fully complies with local building, fire and safety regulations, will enjoy no more than a fleeting life, however. Campbell is busy rehearsing a pair of eco-themed plays that will run from 26 August to 9 October: Oikos (pronounced “ee-kos”, the Greek root for economy and ecology) by Simon Wu, and Protozoa by Kay Adshead. After that, the Jellyfish will be dismantled, and its recycled components recycled yet again.
Read the full article by Jonathan Glancey on the Guardian.
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Announcing the Sustainable Cities Round Table – Waste Not Want Not, Melbourne, Australia
Posted in Events by fedwards on September 8th, 2008
This Sustainable Cities Round Table will examine the concept of waste – wasted resources, the reuse of waste, the revaluing of waste, waste campaigns and how redesign and absorption within a closed system can transform waste into a resource to create more sustainable cities. The evening will feature a series of short presentations, musical interludes, networking opportunities and more!
When: 6:30 – 8:30pm, Wednesday 24 September
Where: Carrillo Gantner theatre, Sidney Myer Asia Centre, the University of Melbourne, Swanston St
Contact: RSVP ESSENTIAL to rsvp@sustainablemelbourne.com by 19 September
Confirmed speakers so far include:
Richard Thomas, Wormlovers – An Australian Vermiculture enterprise
Edward Meysztowicz, Branin – From bakery waste into resource
Amelia de Bie, I op therefore I am – Shopping your way to sustainability
Penny Algar, Artist – Artists working with recycled or found materials
Darlene Gaylor, Envirogrind Recycling – Bringing waste to a grinding halt
Jeff Moon, Phoenix Fridge project – A community approach to recycling
Wendy Jones, Keep Australia Beautiful – Tidying our towns and championing waste heroes!
The Sustainable Cities Round Tables are a regular series of events that showcase local environmental initiatives and encourage networking for people working in urban sustainability issues across the government, academic, industry and community sectors. To view footage of previous events visit www.sustainablemelbourne.com and click on “Sustainable Cities Round Tables†at the top of the screen.
Please forward this invitation to others who may be interested in attending.
Best,
Ferne
Ferne Edwards
Sustainable Cities Research Officer, Victorian Eco-Innovation Laboratory (VEIL)
Email: fedwards@unimelb.edu.au Phone: (03) 8344 9268