Redesigning the food industry into a so-called "circular economy" model would reduce health costs, save land and water and create new business opportunities.
Plastic producers and users including Shell, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Chevron and P&G are investing US$1.5 billion over the next five years to fight plastic waste, with a focus on Southeast Asia. The alliance claims this is the most comprehensive effort yet to end plastic waste.
The launch of The Liveability Challenge throws down the gauntlet for entrepreneurs all over the world to find solutions to the biggest challenge facing our planet—stopping runaway climate change.
In just 12 years, the world is set to blow its carbon budget for keeping global warming in check, a new IPCC report warned last week. How will you respond to what science is telling us?
Stephen Peters –
Converting waste to energy through mechanisms such as ecoparks and digitised waste collection systems can help Asia recover, recycle and reuse as much waste as possible.
Aw Boon Jun –
There are better approaches to managing the environmental impact of plastic in Singapore than to simply ban or charge for plastic bags, argues Umore Consulting's Aw Boon Jun.
Tomoo Ueda –
Big-scale sanitation projects don't necessarily benefit the poor, writes ADB's Tomoo Ueda. How can development banks ensure benefits trickle down to this segment of society?
With increasing urbanisation, Asia faces enormous challenges to ensure environmental sustainability and the liveability of its cities while maintaining economic growth. But the solutions are already within our reach, says Ken Kawai of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Advances in technology is making it possible to make the bioeconomy—defined as the agriculture and forestry industries—more sustainable without sacrificing productivity. Frank Rijsberman of the Global Green Growth Institute highlights examples of green growth.
Singapore is a laggard in how it manages plastic waste. Businesses are not held accountable for the plastics they produce, and incineration is incentivised over recycling. Here's what the city-state should do differently.
Ashley Tan –
Ever wondered what happens to the trash that goes into those blue recycling bins? Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how Singapore's trash is prepped for recycling.
Robin Hicks –
After China banned waste imports, Malaysia has taken up the slack with worrying consequences, a Greenpeace investigation has found. Much of Malaysia's imported trash—most of which comes from the US, UK and Japan—is not recycled, but dumped or burned.
Medilyn Manibo –
China's city of Shenzhen will play host to the world's largest waste-to-energy power plant by 2020, which will be capable of burning 5,000 tonnes of garbage daily. Here's how they're doing it.
Countries will be confronted with an increasingly complex challenge over the next 15 years. Major risks such as poorly managed urbanisation, climate change, and unequal rather than inclusive growth in ...
In 2011, the world generated an estimated 2 billion tons of municipal solid waste (MSW). Over the next decade this number will grow much higher, increasing global demand for solutions ...
Capacity for alternative fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable diesel is at 44.6 billion gallons a year in 2011, but systemic hurdles will constrain their growth to under 5% ...
