5.1 Subsystem conclusion

During the research on the waste management system choices had to be made in order to properly narrow down the design problem. In this research the relations between the inhabitants of Texel, companies operating on Texel and the tourists visiting Texel turned out to be of great importance. The inhabitants can set the example, but both the companies and the tourists product a lot of waste and are therefore important agents in the complete socio-technological system. In the current system the technologies for waste management are mostly positioned outside the island (the waste is brought to Alkmaar). To implement new technologies to be able to create a closed loop system at Texel in 2065 it is important to move gradually to make acceptance possible. The acceptance of change is even a bigger deal than the change itself. The inhabitants are not happy with foreigners trying to interfere in their island life, and even claim to be allergic to the word sustainability (as an inhabitant of Texel stated when asked for an interview). 

In some ways the solution to be able to create a closed loop system seems to be changing most of the inorganic waste into organic waste. Since the organic waste is already researched the decision was made to dive into inorganic waste in total and completely leave out the option of using bio degradable plastics for example. At first the idea was to use tourism as a driver for change at Texel, but again because of the inhabitants of Texel's negativity towards involvement of outsiders the choice was made to take the inhabitants as a starting point and teach the tourists simultaneously about the sustainable way of waste treatment at Texel. 

In the design of the pathways towards a closed loop system at Texel the most important thing is working together. The municipality should share their ambitions with the community to get them headed in the same direction. In chapter 4.4 two pathways are designed, one of them focussing on the regulative way and the other one focussing on the communicative way. Both pathways will gradually move towards a closed loop system, but the incentive for change is different. To be able to establish one pathway a combination of regulative milestones and communicative milestones should be made. The exact configuration of the milestones though will also be something that should be a cooperative aspect already. As stated by Gertjan Werk it is important to have a common understanding about the goal you are striving for. To prevent negative emotions from happening because of not reaching the goal it should be split up into smaller goals, defining the milestones of the pathway. For the waste management system these subgoals are: reduce, separate and reuse. As can be seen in chapter 4.4 it is important to make a distinction between the milestones where companies are involved and the milestones for the community, this is mostly due to the fact that companies are not supported by the municipality at this moment to separate their waste. 

As Texel is striving for a sustainable island in 2065 it is interesting to use Texel as an example for others. One of the advantages of Texel, that it is an island and therefore a nice system, is also a disadvantage. Although Texel does have a lot of resources itself it is still a small island where basic construction materials are not produced. To be able to have a sustainable community in terms of long lasting, construction materials are still needed to build and improve the way of living. This also brings waste onto the island, which is a difficulty that needs to be taken care of. Within the reduce factor it is important to look at the amount of materials brought to the island, is it really needed to bring that many construction materials while you might be using only half of it, or you can share it with your neighbours? Separating the building materials is of great importance. Especially when it comes to metals used, these could be easily recycled if brought to the right place. To be able to make best use of the mainland materials brought to Texel it is important to extend their lifetime as much as possible without shipping them back and forth to the mainland. Reuse is therefore of great value and could also be profitable if it is not needed to bring new materials. 

To conclude; there are a lot of different waste streams where a difference can be made between individual waste and business waste. These waste streams in the end should be connected to be able to make full use of the materials and both be treated in a sustainable way. The milestones for both waste streams should work simultaneously to be able to implement technologies applicable for both, like a waste weighing system and the efficient recycling of materials.