Thanks to your support in 2020!

Necessity is the Mother of All Invention

by Susan Murphy

shutterstock_139068824Humans are an adaptable species, facilitated by wondrous minds that are able to invent or discover ways of making life easier. From historical discoveries like how to create fire, to modern inventions like vaccines, we are hardwired to overcome threats to survival. Technology might be considered by some to be the defining difference between human and animal.

In modern society, ‘the market’ is credited for advancements, inspired by the basic tenants of need and supply.  If humanity has a need for it, the market will endeavour to provide a marketable solution thanks to research and development investments around the world.

A crisis that has affected almost every country on the planet is the overabundance of waste. Landfills are dangerously close to capacity, and we are running out of options.

Although textile waste only accounts for approximately 12% of global waste volume, many countries, especially in Europe have made banning textiles from landfills an absolute priority, and for good reason.

Organic textile waste in a landfill is prone to mould that is highly flammable and can self ignite. Textiles can take a century to decompose, and synthetic fibres don’t decompose at all. It’s cumulative volume. Chemicals and dyes in the fibres leach toxins in the ground and air, contaminating ground water. It also releases those awful carbon emissions you hear so much about lately. It’s a shame to have textiles in landfills knowing all this, especially because textile waste is a very valuable resource (as is all waste) that can be used to create a multitude of things the market is happy to support.

98% of all textile waste is recyclable, yet Canadians only recycle 25% of their textile waste. Sadly, Canada lags far far behind many other nations, especially in Europe when it comes to textile waste management.

Many countries, including almost the entire European Union have implemented landfill textile bans, which has forced the market to use green technology to come up with ways to sustainably manage textile waste. They create jobs by using this technology to transform textile waste locally into sustainable raw materials that have endless uses in commercial, industrial and agricultural applications

San Francisco has just launched an assertive plan to have textiles banned from landfills by 2020, and they aren’t the only city launching such an initiative. We applaud them for furthering this trend in North America! We should all be so wise!

TWD is committed to investing in the implementation of a local textile waste management system that will maximize the fundraising potential for our charity clients, and also help contribute to a local green tech solution that will enable Ontario to send no textile waste to landfill.

TWD’s new Product Development division is looking forward to making an announcement later this year.

20200

Packaging and trash

Out of every $10 spent buying things, $1 (10%) goes for packaging that is thrown away. Packaging represents about 65% of household trash.

 

Save the trees

If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25,000,000 trees a year.

 

In the bin!

Used aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled item in the U.S., but other types of aluminum, such as siding, gutters, car components, storm window frames, and lawn furniture can also be recycled.

 

Kiss this!

An estimated 80,000,000 Hershey's Kisses are wrapped each day, using enough aluminum foil to cover over 50 acres of space -- that's almost 40 football fields. All that foil is recyclable, but not many people realize it.

Packaging at the dump

About one-third of an average garbage dump is made up of packaging material!

Glass skyscrapers?

Every month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. All of these jars are recyclable!

Plastic bottles by the hour

Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour! Most of them are thrown away!

The Sunday paper

To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.

The aluminum recycling loop

A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf as a new can in as little as 60 days. That's closed loop recycling at its finest!

 

What gets recycled in Canada?

By weight, organics comprise the largest portion, accounting for 22% of recycled materials from all sources, followed by newsprint (17%) and cardboard and boxboard (17%).

Recycling by the Province

While on the rise overall, recycling varies quite widely from province to province. Ontario and Quebec recycle the largest quantities of materials, but the amounts of material recycled per person and the recycling rate are higher in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

Canadian vs. American residential waste

Canadians produced 366 kg per person of residential waste in 2020; by 2020, this figure had increased to 418 kg per person. By way of comparison, residential waste production by our neighbours in the United States was 440 kg per person in 2020.

   

Canadian waste

In 2020, Canadian households produced 13.4 million tonnes of waste. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of this waste was sent for disposal, according to Statistics Canada’s 2020 Waste Management Survey, while the rest was recycled.

A great reason to recycle!

Landfills produce approximately 25% of Canada’s methane emissions (methane is a powerful greenhouse gas). Recycling, including textile recycling, can help reduce the amount of waste entering landfills and help conserve natural resources.

How much water do ice caps and glaciers hold?

The amount of water locked up in ice and snow is only about 1.7 percent of all water on Earth, but the majority of total freshwater on Earth, about 68.7%, is held in ice caps and glaciers.

How much recyclable material gets thrown away?

Paper is the number one recyclable material that we throw away. For every 100 pounds of trash we throw away, 35 pounds is paper. Americans throw away 25 billion Styrofoam coffee cups every year, 40 billion soft drink cans and bottles every year, and 38 billion plastic bags. Placed end to end, they would reach to the moon and back hundreds of times.

 

How much household waste can be recycled?

Over 80% of typical household waste - including food scraps, yard waste, paper, cardboard, cans, and bottles - can be recycled, reused, or composted.

How much carbon dioxide can a car emit?

On average, a car produces about 170g CO2 per kilometer. If your car travels 2020 kilometers per month, it produces about 340 kilograms CO2 - that's a lot of carbon dioxide!

How much harm can one styrofoam cup do?

A styrofoam cup contains one billion billion CFC molecules - a class of chemical compounds that deplete ozone. Once a CFC molecule reaches the ozone layer, it can take over 100 years before it breaks up and becomes harmless!

How many trees are cut down each year?

In 2020 statistics, primary forest area was reduced globally by 60,000 square km per year (about the size of Ireland). While it's impossible to get an exact count, at a rate of 50K to 100K trees per square km, this equates to 3 to 6 billion trees per year.

Worldwide Metals Production

Between 2020 and 2020, worldwide metals production grew sixfold, oil consumption eightfold, and natural gas consumption 14-fold. In total, 60 billion tons of resources are now extracted annually—about 50% more than just 30 years ago. Today the average European uses 43 kilograms of resources daily, and the average American uses 88 kilograms.