Presentation given at City College in Santa Barbara, CA on March 26, 2011. The event was sponsored by the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network and SBCC Sustainability Center.

1. Can we really
Recycle
EVERYTHING?
Yes, we can.
Here’s how…

2. Recycling Everything
• See what’s needed to
make it happen
• Jettison current assumptions
that prevent change
• Take a trip into the world
of industry and science
• Explore breakthrough ideas
2

3. Introduction
Janet Unruh
Institute for Material Sustainability
www.rebk.org
Portland, Oregon
3

4. Vita
• Instructional designer 25 years
• Manufacturing industry 10 years
• Masters of Engineering and
Technology Management,
Portland State University 2002
• Author, Recycle Everything—
Why We Must, How We Can
• Passion for the Earth and its
ecosystems
4

5. My Journey
• ETM program
• Designing and optimizing systems
• Re-ignited interest in sustainability
• Searched for sustainable systems
• Didn’t find any
• Decided to design some
• Finally wrote book
5

6. This is one book that
talks about systems for
recycling everything.
Read this book, then
read my book!
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way
We Make Things, by William McDonough
and Michael Braungart
6

7. We’re Going to Pick Up
Where the Story Left Off
Annie Leonard, Story of Stuff 7

8. But first, a
quick review of
the situation.
8

9. End Stage
9

10. Beginning Stage
10

11. Raw Materials Problems
for Industry
11

12. Cost of Raw Materials
Ups and downs over the past five years
12

13. Can Materials Keep On Flowing?
• Impacts on supply
• Price fluctuations and speculation
• Decreasing quality, lower grades
• More technology and fuel needed for extraction
• Resources in conflict areas or unfriendly countries
• Sudden increase in demand from multiple industries
• War—weapons, bombs, vehicles, materiel
• Dependency on oil and petrochemicals
13

14. How much do we have left
of the world’s resources?
14

15. Earth's natural wealth: an audit
• Dr. Armin Reller at the
University of Augsburg in
Germany
• Dr. Thomas Graedel at Yale
University
• Data from the US Geological
Survey's annual reports
• UN statistics on global
population
15

16. Earth's natural wealth: an audit
For a closer look at this graphic, check my website…
http://www.recycle everything book.org/sb.html 16

17. We’re going to
run out of Indium
in 4 to 13
years???
17

18. ‘Short-term shortages have periodically occurred because global
production and usage are so finely balanced.’ (We can hardly
produce it fast enough to keep up with demand.)
‘However, these shortages have historically been corrected by
increasing refining capacity and ultimately supply.’ (We’re taking
care of the problem by expanding our ability to produce it faster
and in greater quantities.)
18

19. Resource Wars
Thesis: as resources
become depleted,
countries will go to
war to obtain them.
19

20. Recycling is an
urgent matter.
For industry, too.
20

21. The burden of
recycling falls on
consumers, local
governments and
concerned non-
profits, all of
whom are at the
end of the
process.
21

22. What Do We Mean by
RECYCLING?
• Upcycling
• Downcycling
• Freecycling
• Blended recycling
• ‘Real’ recycling
22

23. Upcycling
Upcycling is defined as
using every aspect of waste
as value.
23

24. Downcycling
Used products are made into something else of
lesser value, such as filler or fuel. After the
second use, they are discarded.
Examples:
• Plastic milk jugs made
into insulated coat filler
• Used running shoes made into
rubber flooring
• Used tires made into sandals
24

25. Freecycling
Used products are given away or traded at swap-meets.
25

26. Blended Recycling
Materials from used products are processed
with the addition of new, raw materials to
bolster their quality.
Examples
• Recycled steel
• Recycled aluminum
• Recycled paper
26

27. (‘Real’) Recycling
Recycling is defined as extracting the
materials that make a product to make a new
product using those same materials.
This is the one we’ll focus
on in this presentation.
27

28. Goal: recycle materials in cars,
trucks, airplanes, furniture,
vinyl siding, plastic dishware,
electronics, washers and
dryers, microwave ovens,
lawnmowers, toys, buildings—
everything.
28

29. Can we reuse these materials
to make the same or similar products
countless times into the future?
I believe the answer is YES!
29

30. What Would It Take
To Recycle Everything?
Next • Sustainable Systems
• Recyclable Materials
• Design for Disassembly
• New Mindset
• People
30

31. Let’s look at the current linear
production-consumption system…
31

32. Raw Materials Extractors
Raw
Materials
Extractors
Mining,
agriculture,
logging, dairy
and feedlots
32

33. Primary Processors
Raw
Primary
Materials
Processors
Extractors
Ingots of metal,
bags of rice,
tanks of
chemicals
33

34. Parts Suppliers
Raw
Primary Parts
Materials
Processors Suppliers
Extractors
New parts
and assemblies
for a variety
of products
34

35. Producers
Raw
Primary Parts
Materials Producers
Processors Suppliers
Extractors
Finished goods
of all types
35

36. Distributors, Retail Outlets
Raw Distributors,
Primary Parts
Materials Producers Retail
Processors Suppliers
Extractors Outlets
Distributors
and retail
outlets
36

37. Consumers
Raw Distributors,
Primary Parts
Materials Producers Retail Consumers
Processors Suppliers
Extractors Outlets
Individuals,
families,
governments
and
businesses
37

38. Landfill Operators
Raw Distributors,
Primary Parts Landfill
Materials Producers Retail Consumers
Processors Suppliers Operators
Extractors Outlets
Landfills,
incineration,
pollution and
waste dumps
38

39. Remanufacturing
Raw Distributors,
Primary Parts Landfill
Materials Producers Retail Consumers
Processors Suppliers Operators
Extractors Outlets
Distributors,
Producers Retail Consumers
Outlets
39

40. Take-back Laws
Raw Distributors,
Primary Parts Landfill
Materials Producers Retail Consumers
Processors Suppliers Operators
Extractors Outlets
Producers don’t know what to do
with the stuff, either.
40

41. Once a thing can be imagined,
it can be engineered.

42. Reforming the System
Efforts to reform the current production-
consumption system focus on reducing the flow
of materials through the system by:
• Slowing it down
• Decreasing the amount How about
redesigning
the system?
42

43. How to Redesign this System?
• Eliminate the beginning and the end stages.
• Modify some of the roles.
x Raw
Materials
Extractors
Primary
Processors
Parts
Suppliers
Producers
Distributors,
Retail
Outlets
Consumers
x
Landfill
Operators
Materials Distributors,
Reprocessors Collectors
• Add a couple of other roles and form a circle…
43

44. Materials
Processor
Used Parts New Parts
Broker Supplier
System for
Material
Sustainability
Disassembler Producer
Distributor
Consumer
/ Collector
44

45. This Is It — the Cyclical System
That Others Have Talked About
45

46. Materials
Processor
Used Parts New Parts
Broker Supplier
How
does it
Disassembler Producer
work?
Distributor
Consumer
/ Collector
46

47. Materials
Processor
Used Parts New Parts
Broker Supplier
The Materials Processor:
• No longer processes raw materials
• Re-processes recyclable materials
Disassembler Producer
Distributor
Consumer
/ Collector
47

48. Materials
Processor
These roles don’t
Used Parts New Parts
change much,
Broker Supplier
except the
producer re-uses
parts from used
products.
Disassembler Producer
Distributor
Consumer
/ Collector
48

49. Materials
The Distributor:
Processor
• Takes on the additional role of
Usedthe collector
Parts New Parts
Broker products to consumers
• Leases Supplier
• Tests used products and leases
them to secondary markets
Disassembler Producer
Distributor
Consumer
/ Collector
49

50. Materials
Processor
Used Parts New Parts
Broker Supplier
Consumers lease
products instead
of buying them.
Disassembler Producer
Distributor
Consumer
/ Collector
50

51. Materials
Processor
The Disassembler:
Used Parts • Disassembles used products
New Parts
Broker Supplier
• Sends reusable parts to
producer
• Sends parts that can’t be re-
Disassembler used to: Producer
• Used Parts Broker
• Materials Processor
Distributor
Consumer
/ Collector
51

52. Materials
Processor
Used Parts New Parts
Broker Supplier
The Used Parts Broker:
• Sells used parts to new
Disassembler Producer
parts suppliers and
producers
• Sells non-usable parts to
materials processor
Distributor
Consumer
/ Collector
52

53. Materials
Processor
Used Parts New Parts
Broker Supplier
System for
Material
Disassembler Sustainability Producer
Distributor
Consumer
/ Collector
53

54. Big • Extraction phases out
Changes • Landfills stop growing
• Consumers don’t own
products; they lease them
• Producers own materials and
track them throughout the
cycle
• New jobs in collection,
disassembly and re-sale of
used products
• The production-consumption
system becomes sustainable
54

55. The Interface Story
• Ray Anderson, CEO
• Experienced an
epiphany when he
read Paul Hawken's,
"The Ecology of
Commerce"
• Mission Zero
• Recycling carpet
• http://www.interfaceflooring.com/
55

56. Inorganic versus
Organic Systems
56

57. Organic Systems
• Lumber, crops, orchards, livestock, fishing
• Rate of harvest limited by rate of regrowth
• Used products routed through compost
• Organic and inorganic materials
kept separate in products
57

58. What Would It Take
To Recycle Everything?
• Sustainable Systems
Next • Recyclable Materials
• Design for Disassembly
• New Mindset
• People
58

59. Recyclable materials are
critical to recycling everything.
We have to back up all the way
to the molecules.
59

60. Innovations in Material Science
• NOVA’s series, Making Materials on PBS
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/making-
stuff.html
• MIT’s Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/
• Discover magazine http://discovermagazine.com/
• New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/
These links are on my website at…
http://www.recycle everything book.org/sb.html
60

61. A Few Examples
• Polymers that mend
themselves
• Two-dimensional graphene
• Artificial diamonds, rubies
Japanese scientists
create world’s hardest • Morphing materials
artificial diamond
http://www.topnews.in/
Even more amazing…
61

62. Quantum Dots • Artificial atoms
• Up to 50 times larger
than a natural atom
• Can simulate the
properties of any element
on the periodic table—
Lin-Wang Wang
by attracting / releasing
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory additional electrons
• Hacking Matter, by
Wil McCarthy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_dots
62

63. Programmable Matter
Wikipedia or other reference
63

64. If science can create
materials like these,
why can’t they create
recyclable materials?
They probably can.
64

65. What Is a ‘Recyclable’ Material?
SOLID
NON-
SOLID
• No waste
• No need for additives
• Perpetually recyclable
• Usable for same or similar purpose
65

66. Requirements Are the Key
Need: a hard plastic to serve as a housing for
laptops, TVs, stereos, Netbooks, iPads, Kindles, etc.
Requirements:
• Durable
• Washable
• Wear-resistant
• Black
• 100% recyclable
66

67. How It Works in Industry
Reprocessing
Material Facilities and
plan
engineering equipment
(requirements)
Product
design Examples of reprocessing
methods…
67

68. Reprocessing
Methods:
• Programmable matter
• Temperature change
• Melting
• Freezing
• Electro-magnetism
• Microwaves
• Mechanical
• Shredding
68

69. Result Technology reprocesses:
• Circuit boards
Shreds, spins
• Electric cables
• Aluminum alloys
• Electronic scrap
• Compound foils ? 69

70. What Would It Take
To Recycle Everything?
• Sustainable Systems
• Recyclable Materials
Next • Design for Disassembly
• New Mindset
• People
70

71. Design for Disassembly
Material
engineering
Disassembly
Product Facilities and
plan
design equipment
(requirements)
71

72. Disassembly Requirements
• Disassembly process must be easy and fast
• All joins between parts must be reversible
• Parts must be designed to be recoverable and
reusable
• Parts must be designed to have separable materials
(for material reprocessing)
• Disassembly and reuse must be cost-effective
72

73. GTI
http://demonty.mf.tu-berlin.de/index.php/
Disassembly_Knowledge_Platform
73

74. 74

75. What Would It Take
To Recycle Everything?
• Sustainable Systems
• Recyclable Materials
• Design for Disassembly
Next • New Mindset
• People
75

76. Mindset
• Resources are finite and
must be managed
• Everyone adapts to a
closed system for
handling materials
• Consumers do not own
products
• Producers own materials
and track them
76

77. What Would It Take
To Recycle Everything?
• Sustainable Systems
• Recyclable Materials
• Design for Disassembly
• New Mindset
Next • People
77

78. People &
Institute for
Material
Sustainability
Who or what is the Institute?
78

79. Institute for Material
Sustainability
• Non-profit organization
• Early stages
• Goal is to work with industry
• Get systems for material sustainability
up and running ASAP
79

80. Mission The mission
of the Institute for
Material Sustainability
is to help industries
make the transition
to systems for material
sustainability.
80
of 34

81. Collaborative effort to:
• Develop 100% recyclable
Vision materials for industry
• Design products using these new
materials and new processes for
material recovery
• Construct working models of
systems for material sustainability
• Establish a consulting agency to
work with industry to co-develop
and implement these systems
81

82. First Major Goal
Set up and run a full system test
• Recyclable materials
• Product designs
• Assembly and disassembly plans
• Product test plans
• Facilities and equipment
• Expertise
• Funding
82
of 34

83. An Appeal
We are looking for people who can help with…
• Materials engineering • Assembly and disassembly
• Computer simulations • Equipment and facilities design
• Systems optimization • Finance
• Requirements engineering • Business consulting
• Lean manufacturing • Website design
• Product design • Funding, fiscal sponsorship
• Process design
83

84. A few final thoughts…
84

85. Jobs for Now and the Future
• Materials engineering
• Product design and engineering
– Disassembly for product design
– Disassembly equipment, facilities, systems
• Logistics system design and optimization
• Computer simulations
• Financial analysis
• Policy-making
• Production
• Many more
85

86. Reasons for Optimism
• Climate change and rapid evolution
• Accelerated innovation
• Crisis and opportunity
• Attitude
86

87. Help Make Some Noise
• Write emails to 5 news
outlets, blogs, listservs
• Text on website
• Free PDF of my book*
• PDF, $6 donation*
• Printed, $10 at book table,
normally $12.95.
*http://www.recycle everything book.org/sb.html 87

88. Feedback, Questions
http://www.recycle everything book.org/sb.html
88