If anyone is giving advice on waste management (or circular economy initiatives at the recycling end of the scale, previously known as “waste management”), it is important they have a grasp of both the science and the social aspects. Both are important. If your expert does not have both sides of this knowledge, be careful of their advice!
Example 1: A waste processing technology provider is asking you to deliver a very homogenous feedstock with almost no contamination. They are only willing to pay for the material value of the feedstock.
What’s missing? The costs of all the community sensitisation and collection workers. Post-consumer municipal waste is far from homogenous. It contains a wide range of different materials and the cost of extracting one single material could be very difficult and expensive. The technology provider needs to be willing to pay (at least in part) for the collection and sorting of this material.
Example 2: Someone with experience in campaigning and behaviour change is giving advice on technology selection. They have read that a technology has promise, and so raise expectations among stakeholders of the validity of the business case.
What’s missing? Scientific understanding of the materials and the technologies. Technical processes usually involve some biology, chemistry, and/or physics (energy transfer). If your expert has no scientific background, please do your own research to make sure their advice is sound. Otherwise it could lead to very expensive mistakes (and you bet the “expert” will not be the one paying for that mistake – it will be you).
Please, please, take care when listening to self-declared experts. Check their CV on LinkedIn and understand where the gaps in their knowledge might be. See who else has hired them and what their specialisms are. Where are the gaps?
Do those organisations have real-world experience and a proven understanding of the science of waste management, or could they be well-meaning and passionate but without successful projects* under their belt? (*Projects that actually get tonnes of waste collected and diverted from disposal, rather than pure lobbying and awareness raising? These are important too, but if a project is handling waste please look for that experience. There is a lot more to waste management than awareness raising, number 1 being the health and safety of workers…)
A good professional will be honest about those gaps and readily admit when they do not know an answer.
Final thought: geography matters.
Culture, customs, economics, politics, transport networks, and lots of other influencing factors vary from place to place. If your expert does not know your place, please take their advice with a pinch of salt.
In the end it comes down to a combination of humility and integrity.
Unfortunately ego (and money) can get in the way, and this can do harm.
Thanks for reading my broadcast.
Take care out there.
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