"You Ask is a series in which Columbia Climate School experts address readers' questions about science. Today, we talk with Steven Cohen, director of the Earth Institute's Sustainable Policy and Management Research Program, about litter-related issues.
Cohen is an expert in sustainable cities, waste management and environmental policy. He helped us answer the following question from a reader.
Is it good for the environment to use biodegradable disposable plates and cutlery and then throw them in a closed plastic bag with the garbage and possibly into a landfill?
Discard biodegradable materials
Biodegradable plates, cutlery and other materials are designed to decompose through natural processes so they can break down into the soil without leaving any toxins behind.
Cohen said most of the waste of the past used to be biodegradable, but the plastic revolution has changed that - for the worse. Right now, our landfills are full of material that will never decompose. For example, if you throw a computer keyboard in the trash, that stuff isn't going anywhere for a long, long time.
"Therefore, any biodegradable material is better than a non-biodegradable one," he said.
In addition, millions of tons of plastic waste have entered the ocean, threatening the ecosystem and marine life.
So whether your biodegradable fork is sealed in a garbage bag or not, this is a much better solution than adding another piece of plastic to the problem.
A better option would be to use reusable tableware instead of disposable items, but modern life doesn't always give us that option.
The future of garbage
The population of our planet continues to grow, as does the amount of stuff we use (and the amount of trash we throw away), but the size of the planet stays the same. So, our landfills are only going to get more and more crowded with trash. And the price of landfills will only continue to rise unless we have better disposal options for our trash.
It's already a big problem, Cohen said. In places like New York City, there's so little room for trash that a lot of it has to be shipped to places like Virginia and Mississippi.
The future of what we do with waste is to move away from our current model of extracting materials from the earth, producing products and making waste. Instead, Cohen explains, we should move to a model known as the "circular economy," in which we eliminate waste, reuse and recycle resources, and allow more natural regeneration.
If landfills were built to support this model, Cohen said, they would use artificial intelligence and automation to sort garbage waste so the material could be reused and the waste could be mined for natural resources. The task of sorting garbage involves too many toxic substances and too much time-consuming work for humans to complete, but AI technology may provide a good solution to these problems.
The system will sort products such as paper, wood and plastic for reuse, repair, remanufacturing and recycling, and extract reusable or natural materials. For example, nitrogen is extracted from food waste and converted into fertilizer for farms.
We need to end the linear model of extracting, using and discarding resources.
With 8 billion people on the planet, finding better ways to dispose of waste and reuse it will be the key to developing environmentally sustainable cities, he said.
The real value of biodegradable materials
Cohen says the intent to use biodegradable materials is what really matters.
"The thinking process is important," he explains. "It makes you think about recycling, waste and the garbage you produce. All these techniques and ideas teach you about the planet, its limits and your relationship to it."
Using biodegradable materials means you value the earth, and it may get you thinking about other ways you can help protect it.
That's what really matters - no matter what happens to your fork in the trash.
