Doing More with Less: Sustainably and Resiliently -
Together, we assist our clients in evolving and expanding their delivery of resource and economically-smart water, solid waste and energy services
The 20th century was a period of rapid growth in population, reductions in mortality, urbanization and per-capita wealth throughout the planet. It was also the period in which people began to come to terms with limits on the availability of key resources, and limits on the carrying capacity of the planet to absorb pollutants in waterways, lakes and oceans, and the ability to absorb solid waste and its biproducts in landfills and other disposal regimes.
In this broader context and in the aftermath of the OPEC-related shortages in energy, the 1970’s marked the beginning of a transformational change in how cities around the world viewed the impacts of their energy, wastes and water streams and the possibility of managing their energy, waste and water enterprises in a very different ways.
What’s Been Accomplished to Date is Impressive
Energy conservation related to municipal electricity needs demonstrated that investments in energy efficiency measure called demand-side management or “DSM”, were proven to be as reliable and more cost-effective than traditional baseload supply sources like coal or nuclear plants.
The introduction of systematic reduction in waste production and the recycling of significant portions municipal solid wastes followed on the heels of the energy conservation movement. Solid waste recycling in countries like Germany and cities like Seattle have shown that it is possible to cost-effectively recycle 2/3 to 3/4 of municipal wastes, resulting in reductions in natural resource depletions, reduction in the energy needed to produce virgin material into finished products, and reduction in the green-house gasses associated with the whole supply chain.
“Utilities like Seattle City Light, invested in the DSM equivalent of a new power plant beginning in 1980 that has served its load growth for 30 years. I am proud to have been part of the team that turned the concept of conservation into a reliable and cost-effective energy source – one with zero emissions.”
– Paul Reiter
Systematic water conservation, including water-loss prevention, again served in many cities throughout the world to reduce needs, lengthening the capacity of ground and surface water systems and at the same time, reducing the production of costly and energy-intensive wastewater treatment.
With about a 20 year lag in time and breakthroughs in membrane filtration, water reuse is now slowly coming of age. Advanced cities, notably Singapore, have unambiguously demonstrated that it is possible and cost-effective to reuse nearly all of its wastewater, renaming the influent to the reuse process “used water” and the output of the reuse process “new water”.
To be sure, there is a today a wide spread between the leaders, the middle of the pack and the distant followers in this transformational process. Nonetheless, these changes are now widely accepted practice, with demonstrated net-benefits for utility customers and for the environment. Climate change adaptation will further compel significant expansion to all efforts related to each of the aforementioned resource streams.
Extending the Arc of Conservation, Recycling and Reuse to New Opportunities in Resource Recovery and Resource Transformation
What Lies Ahead in Terms of Challenge and Opportunities
What is exciting to see today, is that this arc of progress and change is far from its point of maturity. Conservation, recycling, and reuse are now being augmented by new technologies and perspectives enabling sophisticated resource recovery and resource transformation. Taken together, it is now possible to see an emerging pathway to a truly circular economy.
Examples include the revolution in anaerobic and thermophilic digestions that permits vegetive and animal waste to be transformed from sources of methane emissions and water pollution into organic-grade fertilizers, feed for animals and biogas available for transportation or industrial fuels. Co-digestion of food wastes and the organic materials in wastewater has permitted the ready development of biogas that is used in cities throughout Scandinavia to power their municipal bus systems.
Leading global technology thought leaders like David Garman, responsible for developing both the Waste Management and Pollution Control CRC and the Environmental Biotechnology CRC in Australia, have been lighting the pathway to even more revolutionary technologies to come.
“I have been at the center of the development of recycling programs throughout the US mainland and Pacific Islands. Working inside the paper industry showed me the significance and durability of recovered paper in meeting national and international needs for the future. I have recently been working with a company that will produce entirely new fabrics from used clothing that would otherwise be landfilled. The reality of expanding the already successful arc of recycling to include material recovery and transformation is truly inspiring”.
– Pete Grogan
Resource transformation made possible by additional and novel new technologies in the biological and nano-technology domains will bring manifold benefits to both mankind and the environment.
Such quadruple wins are chronicled by another global thought leader, Vladamir Novotny, who was a significant contributor to IWA’s Cities of the Future Program. His case and writings are on the imperative to practically integrate our thinking across solutions to water, energy, and waste challenges of today, and towards a likely eventual future of a hydrogen-based economy.
In summary, we at RIWS PARTNERS believe that the future is bright and the opportunities abundant across the whole spectrum of resource conservation, recycling, reuse and in terms of resource recovery and transformation. Making choices about future investments in this space requires expert advice and the development of smart tailored solutions. RIWS PARTNERS can work with your enterprise to get important investments and course-changing decision right in terms of both the near-term and longer-term horizons.