Today is World Environment Day. This year the goal is 'Beat Plastic Pollution'. How can we apply this in our research project? We follow these steps, based on this publication on 'Solving confusion around new conceptions of circularity by synthesising and re-organising the 3R's concept into a 10R hierarchy'.
The 10R hierarchy: R0 = Refuse R1 = Reduce R2 = Resell, Reuse R3 = Repair R4 = Refurbish R5 = Remanufacture R6 = Re-purpose R7 = Recycle materials R8 = Recover energy R9 = Re-mine
0. Refuse. Avoid using plastics. What you don't use, won't pollute.
1. Reduce. We assess whether we really need to purchase/use plastics in every
material involved, and ask producers to not use additional plastic
packaging before sending products if possible.
2. Resell, reuse. Starting from applying reused or second hand products, the materials used during the project, once they reach their end of life, might be resold.
3. Repair. Nothing is broken yet but the intention is to not by new if a product fails during its lifetime, but to repair it where possible. This extends the life of used plastics.
4. Refurbish. After the project finishes, if someone else can use the materials, sensors, or green infrastructure for another purpose, this should be made possible.
5. Re-manufacture. Similar to above.
6. Re-purpose. Similar to above.
7. Recycle materials. When plastic cannot be safely reused or repurposed, it is recycled in the correct waste stream. University Twente has separate trash cans for smaller plastics for this purpose, all over campus.
8. Recover energy. This is part of the municipality Enschede's waste management scheme.
9. Re-mine. This concerns landfills and is also beyond the scope of this project, but part of waste treatment.
Bonus: Help solve the problems already caused. During the well-being weeks, you can sign up for a lunch walk (free lunch!) and help to pick garbage during the walk. See the link below to sign up.
TUE - Lunchwalk "Care for the environment"
Date: 27 June 2023
Time: Start between 12:00 and 12:30
Location: Start HEAD
During these Well-Being Weeks, every lunch walk has its own theme! The last lunch walk has the theme “Care for the environment”. Since the theme of these well-being weeks is “Together we care” we would like to encourage you to talk about your opinion regarding different topics. In the previous Lunch walks, you were able to reflect on your own well-being and that of others. This time, it is possible to do something about the well-being of the environment. At the start of the lunch walk, you will receive a garbage bag and garbage picker to collect garbage during your walk and clean the environment. At the end of the walk, there will be a lunch waiting for you!
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