Sustainability and Waste Management

This assignment delves into the crucial topic of sustainability within waste management. It examines various aspects, including comparing landfilling and composting-landfilling methods for municipal solid waste in Iran. The analysis extends to resource management in wireless mesh networks powered by renewable energy sources and explores the role of corporate social responsibility in promoting sustainable practices. Furthermore, it investigates the importance of integrating sustainability drivers into organizational change management within public sector organizations.

Management and
Sustainability analysis of
plastic collective

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
1. Background and importance of the Plastic collective and the Australian & international
business landscape..................................................................................................................1
2. Demonstrate of the Body of Knowledge: Research, analysis & discussion of Sustainability
related strategies & issues......................................................................................................3
3. Analyse of the situation: relate analysis to sustainability practices of the Plastic collective..4
4. Make recommendations and conclusions based on analysis for future strategies which
management should engage....................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
It is no surprise that countries such as US, UK and Australia are considered to be the
most developed & wealthy ones and produces most of the wastes. The average plastic
consumption rate per person per year in these countries is about 50-70 kg. Plastic collective
business was started by Louise Hardman, based on 3 fundamental pillars which will be discussed
further. Prevention of plastic leaking into the environment is considered as their mission.
This report will investigate background & importance of the plastic collective.
Afterwards, it will show strategies & issues. Further, it will relate analysis to sustainability
practices and explain the case & synthesis with the theory.
1. Background and importance of the Plastic collective and the Australian & international
business landscape.
Years ago, there was a Zoologist /Chemistry teacher whose name was Louise Hardman.
Her purpose was to stop plastics that enters the sea after she witnessed a small turtle which has a
painful death from eating plastics hidden in the sea plants. She started by providing simple
machines to islands & remote communities that can reorganise the plastics and convert it into
practical & useful items. Moreover, she started operating workshops related to transforming
plastic waste and know your plastic seminars, as she created the Plastic collective business.
(Baumgartner, 2014).
It has been determined that, the Plastic collective solution is based on three pillars. First
is empowering people with knowledge, second is innovating new designs and materials and third
is developed with practical & authentic tools & machinery. It also established the Plastic Neutral
Certification for businesses or firms, where they can balance the amount of plastic which they
utilise through direct sponsorship of a Shruder program. The program provides communities an
end-to-end solution for recycling in order to create valuable plastic end product in form of
chopped raw materials. Delivering the Shruder program to the 4000 remote communities is the
goal of Plastic Collective as waste collection there is mostly unreal.
Importance of the Plastic collective:
 It cut down the usage of natural resources: Through plastic collective, plastic gets
recycle through which need of making more plastic can be reduced, as more energy is
required to make new plastics, rather than the process of recycling. Furthermore, it
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can help energy companies to stop from drilling and farming for more environmental
resources. (Behrooznia, Sharifi and Mousavi-Avval, 2018).
 Animals can be saved through this: It has been determined that the more plastic that
can be recycled, the less there will be in rivers, seas, rainforests and deserts. In a way,
this depletion can keep harmful plastics from encroaching on habitats, affecting
wildlife & destroying the planet.
 Saves landfill space: It has been determined that breakdown of plastics takes several
decades, whether it is in landfill or cluttered the environment. With the help of Plastic
collective, people can save a specific amount of landfill space meant for other
imperishable materials.
 It also helps in minimising money expenditure in the economy, as creating products
from raw materials cost high rather than making it from recycled items.
 Leads to oil conservation: Four barrels of oil can be saved with the help of recycled
plastics. Due to day by day increase in the oil prices, the value of basic needs of
consumers such as gas, food, & other products is also soaring. Hence, recycling is
preferred as it takes less oil when compared to creating of new plastic.
 It also creates job opportunities for people where there are recycling centres available.
(Cai, Liu and Poor, 2014).
The Plastic Neutral certification by Australian social enterprise Plastic Collective, & the
world's 1st Plastic Offset Program was created in Thailand, which used plastic to assist the efforts
to solve the global plastic pollution problem. For Australian & international business landscape,
the Shruder machine has been made i.e. lightweight, portable. Single-use plastic can be shred
through it into valuable items like bottles & take away containers. Further, the shredded waste
can either be sold on to recyclers, or reprocess into landscaping materials that can be woven into
coverings. This will allow businesses to do positive contribution in sustainability & social
responsibility. Therefore, it helps in increasing confidence of consumers, advancement in
employee's participation, and offers a host of other mutual benefits, said by Louise.
2. Demonstrate of the Body of Knowledge: Research, analysis & discussion of Sustainability
related strategies & issues.
 Plastic Neutral Workshops: Development of plastic neutral is considered as a
philosophy which individuals, businesses, organisations, towns & countries can use.
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It is based on two simple principles i.e. Plastic is a practical & useful material that
should be given value as a resource, and not throw away as waste. Other is, single-use
plastic should be minimised & recycled to cut down the need for new plastics. It has
been determined that plastic neutral training is best appropriate for businesses,
members in community, families & individuals. Further, as the solution to waste
plastic outbreak, these workshops are based on three pillars.
 Empower: The main purpose of this training is to create fresh attitudes towards
plastic from Waste Management to Resource Recovery. Providing training in
efficient collection and sorting of resources is covered in detail through workshops,
which allows an in depth understanding of the value of plastics being recreated &
recovered. (Epstein, 2018).
 Innovate: Potential markets for products are being explored by these workshops and
establishes a recycling market platform. People who participate in training are also
being introduced to essential micro businesses skills & sale network, with the goal to
develop a circular & economically viable model.
 Create: This is the final stage of training that establishes the Shruder machinery &
tools which are considered essential to transform waste plastics into valuable product.
Once, this machinery is installed and start operational, this will enable participants to
develop skills in machinery operations using a number of plastic based materials in
developing the items designed in previous stage.
 Shrudder Program: The Shruder is a machine which was designed by Louise in 2016. It
is a mixture of two machines – a shredder and extruder which inbuilt into one portable
unit. It was manufactured particularly for remote locations. Raw shredded plastic items
can be processed through it, which can be used in building houses as well as extrusion
line. Shruder program is considered as the 4- day training program which is based on 3
principles i.e. empower with knowledge, innovate with ideas, & create with tools. It has
been made to praise community execution of the Shruder. Partnership programs: Their partnership based programs work closely with
organisation and communities who are being committed in assisting practical, economic
& environmental solutions. Therefore, these solutions create healthier, cleaner world by
social responsibility & sustainability goals (Lozano and Haartman, 2018).
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Issues faced by Plastic collective
Plastic recycling faces many problems, ranging from mixed plastics to hard-to-remove
ones. It has been determined that the critical issue for plastic collective is that only 30% of waste
plastic is recovered for the purpose of reuse or recycle. Other challenges faced while
implementing Shruder machinery was high cost of input material, high logistic costs, cost of
labour and limited research & development. Maintenance of machinery was very expensive for
Louise to maintain. Challenges based on social aspect of sustainability includes; lack of
certification to measure quality standards, lack of proper plastic waste management, etc.
Therefore, these challenges have influenced the sustainability recovery of plastic waste.
3. Analyse of the situation: relate analysis to sustainability practices of the Plastic collective
It has been determined that sustainable development has now become a dominant
concept. A way to implement the theory of economic sustainability in a practical sense is to
apply a method that fulfil the needs of public. The environmental Kuznets curve states that
economic growth development initially leads to a worsening of the environment. But after a
certain level of growth, it has been determined that a society starts improving its relationship
with the nature & hence, degradation minimises. Moreover, sustainability practices policy
introduces its aim in nine parts; green building, clean energy, transportation system, prevention
of climate, sustainable action, waste decrease and recycling and so on (Lozano, Ceulemans and
Seatter, 2015).
The 3 R's of sustainability i.e. reduce, reuse and recycle are considered as the waste
hierarchy process, which is used to prevent environment & preserve resources with the help of a
priority approach. The aim is to have the benefits from items & to create the less amount of
waste. It has been determined that this approach also helps in saving resources, pollution
reduction, and improvement of sustainable technologies & creation of jobs.
 Reduce: Reduction in waste & its prevention is all about minimising waste at the
sources. It is considered one of the best option in terms of managing waste. The logic
behind this is that, if there will be less waste, then people will have less to recycle or
reuse. Following are some measures that can reduce the waste:
1. Papers can be printed on both the sides in order to reduce waste.
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2. Electronic mail can be utilised to reach out to people rather than sending paper mails.
3. Cloth napkins can be used instead of paper ones (Luthra, Garg and Haleem, 2015).
4. People can avoid making use of paper spoons, plates, cups etc. as they result in large
amount of waste.
 Reuse: It refers to utilising a product more than once, either for similar purpose or for
different. Products are being repaired and then sold or get donated to charity groups, are
also called reusing. It is desirable to recycling because the products does not required to
be re-processes prior, it can be utilised again which saves both money & cuts down
environmental impact.
 Recycling: This method of controlling plastic involves regenerating of waste material
which have already been created. It has been determined that waste is being prevented
through this from being sent to landfill & convert waste into new goods or products. The
activity involved in this is to turn the old material into fresh product of that similar thing
or into something entirely different. For example, glass bottles which have been already
used can be recycled into new bottles.
1. People can purchase items from market that are created through recycled materials.
2. Develop new ways to recycle different products.
3. Very important is that they must avoid buying harmful items that could cause difficulty in
recycling.
Although these three R's of sustainability are being traditionally discussed in relation to
customer products. Further, this can also be applied to the context of habitat betterment &
environmental education (Martínez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes, 2014).
 Balancing theory of recycling: Proportion of the supply of construction & destruction
wastes & the demand of recycled waste products i.e. balance theory is considered as an
effective means of reducing these wastes. Stepwise establishment of recycling facilities
requires this theory. Basically, it requires construction workers to adopt the thought of
reduction of wastes. They are educated enough in cleaning their workplaces
continuously. The amount of waste that is generated through projects is advocated by this
theory, and then sent for recycling process which needs to be proportional to the amount
of the recycled C&D products imported & utilised as construction materials. Therefore,
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balance improvement model for plastic recycling is evolves to examine the influence of
policy measures that encourage recycling.
a) Role of planning: Planning is considered as a part of an integrated materials management
strategy, in which plastic collective's people make decision regarding how to recycle plastics.
b) Role of organising: After the plans are made that how to recycle plastics, organising of
process is done. Materials are being organised to make it easier for recycling. Waste is being
collected from all over to transform into new product.
c) Role of leading: Later on implementation is done, where plan is taken into action. The old
plastic waste is converted into fresh item which can be sold again in the market.
d) Role of control: The role of controlling is that the whole process is being managed properly
to maintain effectiveness in recycling (Domingues, Lozano and Ramos, 2017).
4. Make recommendations and conclusions based on analysis for future strategies which
management should engage.
Create a comprehensive Zero Waste Action Plan, a Zero Waste approach is considered as
one of the fastest and most effective strategies that can be used to protect the environment. It is
essential for organisations to change their ways of dealing with waste & develop strategies to
reduce the amount of scrap presently going to landfill. Its goal is to increase recycling & reuse
of items and hence, avoid wasting of natural resources. The development of such products which
the potential to repaired, recycle and reused are motivated through this strategy. The Zero Waste
Plan encourages the investment of public finance for waste minimisation & recycling programs.
The main vision is to create “waste” out of the system, by more profound product design &
disposal.
Adopt Source Reduction / waste prevention: In this strategy, material is managed so that
it unable to enter the waste stream. For example, beverages containers which are reusable.
Exchanging plastics for metal in the manufacturing of products so that they can be reuse in the
form of waste prevention (Brunner and Rechberger, 2015).
The third main strategy which was discussed earlier i.e. three R's of sustainability which
is considered very important for waste management. First R refers to reduce the waste products.
This suggests that the lesser people use plastics, the lesser will be there for waste. People should
use few general steps to reduce waste such as; purchase products with less packaging, avoid
disposable goods etc. Second R refers to reuse, which means reusing products which have
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already been used & keeping waste out of landfills for as long as possible. The third R stands for
recycling, which means regenerating those products and transform them into new items.
Recommendations
In order to put into drill the waste management strategies, a highly strong action between
mining, traditional mineral processing & recycling has to be encouraged. They must focus on
three R's of sustainability for this they should, incorporate the informal recycling chain in
municipal recycling efforts. Moreover, it is essential to always make new technologies for
recycling, rather innovation done in it can be regarded as extension. It is also necessary to
establish extended producer responsibility, specifically for complex durable & toxic items (Shah,
2017).
CONCLUSION
The report concluded that, Louise Hardman was an innovator of transforming waste into
resources with the help of Shruder Machine. The machines basically focused on the chemistry of
plastics & its transformation. Apart from this, it states various importance of recycling that will
further help Plastic Collective to keep a foothold in Australia and International landscape.
Moreover, the mobility of Shruder enables the plastic recycling tools to be taken to the waste,
destroying the confined cost of transporting it to remote areas. Lastly, various strategies were
discussed that should be implemented for future waste management.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Baumgartner, R. J., 2014. Managing corporate sustainability and CSR: A conceptual framework
combining values, strategies and instruments contributing to sustainable
development.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 21(5).
pp.258-271.
Behrooznia, L., Sharifi, M. and Mousavi-Avval, S. H., 2018. Sustainability analysis of
landfilling and composting-landfilling for municipal solid waste management in the
north of Iran. Journal of Cleaner Production.
Brunner, P. H. and Rechberger, H., 2015. Waste to energy–key element for sustainable waste
management. Waste Management. 37. pp.3-12.
Cai, L. X., Liu, Y. and Poor, H. V., 2014. Sustainability analysis and resource management for
wireless mesh networks with renewable energy supplies. IEEE Journal on Selected
Areas in Communications. 32(2). pp.345-355.
Domingues, A. R., Lozano, R. and Ramos, T. B., 2017. Sustainability reporting in public sector
organisations: Exploring the relation between the reporting process and organisational
change management for sustainability. Journal of environmental management. 192.
pp.292-301.
Epstein, M. J., 2018.Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring
corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge.
Lozano, R. and von Haartman, R., 2018. Reinforcing the Holistic Perspective of Sustainability:
Analysis of the Importance of Sustainability Drivers in Organizations. Corporate Social
Responsibility and Environmental Management. 25(4). pp.508-522.
Lozano, R., Ceulemans, K. and Seatter, C. S., 2015. Teaching organisational change
management for sustainability: designing and delivering a course at the University of
Leeds to better prepare future sustainability change agents. Journal of Cleaner
Production. 106. pp.205-215.
Luthra, S., Garg, D. and Haleem, A., 2015. An analysis of interactions among critical success
factors to implement green supply chain management towards sustainability: An Indian
perspective. Resources Policy. 46. pp.37-50.
Martínez-Jurado, P. J. and Moyano-Fuentes, J., 2014. Lean management, supply chain
management and sustainability: a literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production. 85.
pp.134-150.
Online
Shah, V., 2017. What's a Shruder and will it help end plastic pollution? [Online/PDF]. Available
on: <https://www.eco-business.com/news/whats-a-shruder-and-will-it-help-end-plastic-
pollution/>
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