World Recycling Week: Let’s Get Real
With less than a month to go before COP27 kicks off in Egypt, this week environmental attention is turning to recycling for World Recycling Week. This year’s theme is ‘Let’s get real’, a fitting theme for everyone to look at the state of climate change and be honest about the lack of recycling.
Let’s get real
Recycling may not appear to be a very exciting topic. But the most straightforward way to help the environment will always be to recycle resources that we use. Many of our vital resources can be recycled naturally, through the Earth’s delicate regenerative cycles. However, mankind’s exploitation of resources via over-use and pollution can damage and even halt these processes. This is true of water. People have left dirty water across the world, to a degree where 21 million people live within 5 km of lakes with high turbidity, a water pollution indicator. Moreover, severe pathogen pollution in water has worsened to a degree where one-third of all river stretches in Latin America, Africa, and Asia are affected by it. At the same time, the number of lakes where harmful algae bloom is estimated to increase by 20% until 2050.
All of this can be traced back to human activity. Currently, 80% of the world’s wastewater flows back into the environment without anything being done to recycle it, so the 1% of freshwater accessible to us on Earth is shrinking. In addition, 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking services. While this issue is most pronounced in the developing world, water pollution is a global problem. In the US, some lakes are so polluted that aquatic life has disappeared and swimming is dangerous. Some sources estimate that as much as 4.5 trillion litres of wastewater are dumped in US water each year. Recycling water that we use, rather than dumping it into rivers is the only way to ensure that we all have access to clean water.
Water scarcity is dangerous
Water pollution limits the amount of water accessible to people, placing more pressure on alternative clean water sources. In extreme examples, scarcity can be weaponised in local, national, or international conflicts. An example of this is Jordan and Israel’s conflict over water resources. The two countries were both trying to seize control over water the other relied on, leading to conflict. This water conflict was the cause of the 6-day war. With conflicts already taking place over water and political tension dependent on access to water, what will happen if people’s access to it declines further? Conserving water is a global security issue.
Fashion’s contribution to the problem
The use of water in industries is also adding to water scarcity. The fashion industry is known for its pollution, especially during the dyeing process. Here, fabrics are bathed in water containing different chemicals, salts, heavy metals, and dyes. Afterward, the water is sometimes released straight into nature. All these added elements in the water cannot be recycled in nature’s ecosystem[x]. Rather, the chemicals stay in the water and spread to other places to remind people that somewhere, a factory did not recycle its water. Some studies have even found that crops and vegetables show signs of said polluted water now. Polluted water that is dumped will continue to cause havoc for human health and the environment if large-scale recycling is not initiated soon.
Let’s get to work
With funding from the EU, Waste2Fresh has created a solution to fight pollution and water scarcity. Waste2Fresh has developed a closed-loop system that can ensure that the fashion industry uses much less water every year. By recycling the wastewater from factories, the same water can be used over and over, without polluting other water sources. This will ensure that excessive water-use stops, relieving pressure on other water sources and in turn, limiting the risk of conflicts. So, let’s get to work. Technologies like Waste2Fresh offer a solution for the fashion industry to reduce their water use and pollution. It is time for other industries and governments to step up and address this pressing issue