Shawn Otto
@bewastewise Reduce, reuse, recycle, and then what? Right now we landfill 69%. That's not a responsible solution.
— Shawn Lawrence Otto (@ShawnOtto) June 21, 2013
@bewastewise If you care about the environment it's time to get real about both recycling & WTE and quit landfilling 69% while we argue.
— Shawn Lawrence Otto (@ShawnOtto) June 21, 2013
Shawn Lawrence Otto is the Co-founder and Producer of the U.S. Presidential Science Debates and the Author of Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. His book where he writes about opposition to waste treatment technologies like waste-to-energy in the U.S., won 2012 Minnesota Book Award. It has also been referred to as one of the most important books published in America in the last decade. He is also an award winning filmmaker and speaker. His article Why Burning Waste Fights Climate Change was recently published on Ensia.com, Huffington Post and other media organizations.
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Compatibility Between Recycling and Waste-to-Energy December 7, 2013 from our Articles, The 2013 Global Dialogue on Waste This panel addressed the role of waste-to-energy (if any) in the waste management hierarchy of North America and Europe, provided international experience on the degree of compatibility between recycling and waste-to-energy, analyses the arguments for the juxtaposition of waste-to-energy and recycling, and discusses the policies adopted in some communities to build successful sustainable waste management systems, with the general aim of moving away from landfills.Read More |
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Why are Recycling Rates Higher in Communities with Waste-to-Energy? November 19, 2013 from our The 2013 Global Dialogue on Waste, Video Excerpts The major reason why you see higher recycling rates in areas with waste-to-energy compared to those that don't is basically the state and local policy environment. To just make the decision to move to waste-to-energy facility there has to be a lot of studies of feasibility, including understanding the waste stream, thinking through what the different streams of waste you have. How can you best maximize those streams? The kind of planning that goes into this type of a facility really engages the whole gamut of the waste management stream. So, those localities, and solid waste districts that have sited or are looking at moving to waste-to-energy as one part of their waste disposal strategy are also engaged in an integrated waste policy initiative.Read More |
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Plastics and Green House Gas Emissions from Waste-to-Energy November 19, 2013 from our The 2013 Global Dialogue on Waste, Video Excerpts "After doing the material and energy balances for waste-to-energy in the city of Vienna, we found that by providing both district heating and electricity, waste-to-energy in Vienna reduces the equivalent of 1.4 tonnes of CO2 emissions compared to landfilling with recovery of some landfill gas for electricity generation. So, 1.4 tonnes of CO2 can be saved by 1 tonne of municipal residual waste going into the waste-to-energy facility in Vienna."Read More |
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Program Barriers to Waste-to-Energy Adoption November 19, 2013 from our The 2013 Global Dialogue on Waste, Video Excerpts "Some U.S. liberal groups like the Center for American Progress are beginning to realize that times have changed, the science has changed, and that we're contributing to climate change by landfilling so much of our waste, and that waste-to-energy is actually a way of reducing climate change. So, if more environmental groups that provide information and messaging to liberals take a closer look at the science, I think that we can begin to move the conversation in a little more productive way."Read More |
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Environmentalists’ Opposition to Waste-to-Energy November 19, 2013 from our The 2013 Global Dialogue on Waste, Video Excerpts A lot of it has to do with U.S. history around science and the birth of environmental science in the 1970's with Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring and the revelation that chemicals in the environment maybe poisoning us without our knowledge. That caused a political split in our conversation between environmentalists on the political left and the chemical and petroleum industries which moved to the political right. And, we see that alignment existing even to this day.Read More |
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Correlation Between Recycling Rates and Waste-to-Energy November 19, 2013 from our The 2013 Global Dialogue on Waste, Video Excerpts In the last 15 years, waste-to-energy as the percentage of waste generated has come down. Starting from 19% in 1995 down to about 12% of the waste now. So, we've actually gone backwards in terms of waste-to-energy. Recycling has gone up, from about 25% to about 34% from 1995. But that's not a huge increase either in 15 years! If you add these two rates, the waste that's converted to energy and waste that's recovered by recycling hasn't changed in the last 15 years. We're still landfilling about 54-55% of waste.Read More |
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Waste-to-Energy in the Waste Management Hierarchy November 9, 2013 from our The 2013 Global Dialogue on Waste, Video Excerpts Waste-to-Energy is a strategy that many cities with dense population, have issues with landfilling, and want to decrease waste transportation distances are using and continue to look at. Waste-to-energy is also a technology that has been evolving over the years and there are many new developments in this technology, moving in mainly one direction - to be able to applied to smaller size waste streams. Not only is it a strategy that has real importance for the current public policy, it is a strategy that will definitely present itself to additional areas.Read More |
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Compatibility Between Recycling and Waste-to-Energy June 5, 2013 from our The 2013 Global Dialogue on Waste, Video Panels
Click here to read the full length article based on this panel Recycling and/or Waste-to-Energy is probably one of the most controversial topics in ... Read More |
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