Mark Ernst
The near future subsystem (we predict 2025) of inorganic waste management will look quite different from now. The amount of waste will be drastically reduced. Most of the items that are bought in stores, will be reusable.There will be no plastic bags anymore at the supermarket, but people will take their own (recyclable) bags with them to carry their groceries.There are no packages around items any more. People will bring their own (re-used) packages which can be refilled in the store.
The people of Texel will have their own facilities at home to make compost, for all biodegradable waste. The rest of the waste will be separated properly, with only a very small amount of residual waste left. Every house will have its own small incinerator, which can generate electricity by incinerating this residual waste. This will be as normal as having a bin in the garden now.
The people will use a special waste collection system. Recyclables will feature a number value in their barcodes that detects its material type and whether it can or cannot be recycled. When you scan the product you are throwing away on the bin scanner, these bins read that number and the corresponding can (paper, bottles, plastic, bio, etc..) opens for your convenience. This system will also automatically calculate the amount of waste that the people have.
The separated materials will be collected by HVC. They will not only be a waste collecting company, but a supplier of re-usable and recycled materials. Therefore a market will be build where people can get all kind of (raw) materials.
The people of Texel don’t consider waste as it is now, but waste is seen as a valuable source for materials. This will be completely embedded in the culture and behaviour. HVC has a system where the more reusable materials you offer, the more discount you get on buying materials from them. In this way, the reuse and return of valuable, well separated materials is positively stimulated. There will be more strandjutters, trying to gather waste to apply for some discounts. Families can go for a day to the beach to collect waste, to be able to buy materials for a self-built bench for in the garden. By incorporating these changes in their daily lives, Texelaars can establish presence, that is, they can pursue pro-environmental and eudaimonic well-being.
In the far future subsystem of 2065, inorganic waste management might look completely different than it does now. You can actually question if there will still be an inorganic waste system, cause in a perfect future scenario all the inorganic waste: packaging, plastic, glass etc waste will be biodegradable or even edible. But we believe that there will always be some non-degradable inorganicwaste left. This waste will be processed the same way as described above.