Recycling

Biography

Biography: Frederik De Pesseroey

Abstract

Did you know that the speed of innovation is linked to the total number of people living on the planet. If you look at history, the world population explosion is a recent phenomenon. Today, we are halfway the S-curve. The pace of innovation still accelerates, either in waste management. In the next 10 or 20 years, 3 billion new middle class consumers will arise. Linearity is dead, if you look at the (price) evolution of our resources. Innovations in resource management are hot. We see a lot of engineers focusing on closing the loops and the technical part of resource efficiency. Also in waste collection systems, we see a lot of innovations. It's not obvious that, in the 21th century, we still collect our waste as in the 19th century. Migration to the cities still continues. We are going to live with more people on the same space. The demand for housing rises. Private living area decreases. We have less space to manage waste at home. A spectrum of innovations in bring-your-waste systems emerge. Ten years ago, the main driver for companies to start with “self-service policy” solutions was efficiency (e.g. cost reduction). Today's consumers see self-service as the perfect solution for their demands. Also in waste collection systems, we see this shift from people service (door-to-door collection) to self-service (bring-your-waste systems). In door-to-door collection, we see less innovation, but they are still inspiring for thinly populated areas. And some of them, we can use in all areas. Consumer’s perspectives in waste management, is a big challenge for the industry.