For a sustainable future, in the field of waste/resources management, we need to embrace the vision of a circular economy. In order to close the loop, it is essential to reuse products and to recycle materials.

Energy recovery from residual waste, which cannot be reused or recycled, also plays an important role. After all, waste/resources disposal should be phased out and, where unavoidable, it must be adequately controlled to be safe for humans and the environment.

In my opinion, the effective enforcement of environmental laws and regulations, including primarily the prohibition of incineration or landfilling for waste streams with recycle potential, is the key for the development of the waste/resources management sector. This implies the correct combination of technology solutions, based on the right priorities, directly linked with the quantities to be treated in each required process to guarantee the prevalence of a circular economy.

Generally speaking, when it comes to the topic of waste management and circular economy, most of us tend to think about the recycling of household waste, e.g. plastic, cardboard or products packaging. But what about industrial hazardous wastes? Are we doing enough to get these resources closer to a circular economy? The answers to these questions differ from country to country, nevertheless, in fact not always the most developed countries set the right standards for a sustainable management. What can be considered a general norm is that in developing countries there is often a poorer or barely developed infrastructure for the treatment or safe disposal of industrial hazardous waste, so that this is usually exported, stored untreated or disposed of illegally.

An unfortunate example of this is what happened in Beirut, Lebanon in early August 2020, where a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the city port exploded, causing more than 200 fatalities, 6.500 injuries, billions in property damage costs, and leaving an estimated 300.000 people homeless. Therefore, solutions are in growing demand, which are aimed at tackling the problems directly and locally, not only in a more economical way but also safely and sustainably. This stands in clear contrast to leaving industrial hazardous waste and contaminated sites to later generations, whose long-term effects on the environment cannot be fully predicted today. The latter should not be an option.