In July 2015, County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works reveals that over 13 million tons of materials get recycled annually, ranges from 9million tons of disposed trash, 45,000 gallons of used motor oil, 9000 tons of household e-waste and 10 tons of batteries respectively.
Evidently, waste management continues to take a leadership role in modeling the overall ideology of sustainable management, in fact, CEO of waste management David Steiner explains that waste management is seizing every opportunity to turn waste into a resource that benefits our communities and the environment.
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| Source : Waste Management, "Creating a Circular Economy, Sustainability Report Update 2015" Retrieved from the website http://www.wm.com/thinkgreen/index.jsp. |
Here, the company proposed the concept of "circular economy"that showed progressive results in their 2015 annual report. By funneling discarded materials back into the manufacturing process that imposed a mindset to use and reuse again, in a closed loop of innovation to avoid the extraction of new materials.
So, I started to question myself, we as designers, how could our presence contribute further in reducing waste products apart from innovative designs and construction methods that involve the life cycle assessment of each individual materials during the design phase. Design to deconstruct to ensure all materials are able to be recycled after the end phase of a building, as well as being eco-conscious about the resilience of each component of a building to prolong the overall life span.
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| Sources : http://www.archdaily.com/339893/bigs-waste-to-energy-plant-breaks-ground-breaks-schemas/51360fffb3fc4b01c3000082-bigs-waste-to-energy-plant-breaks-ground-breaks-schemas-photo |
By thinking outside the box, he turned the whole factory into a giant public accessible ski slope that is not just a destination but also encourages public participation as a means of communication. Smoke rings that is emitted from the factory isn't just some form of decorative feature but instead, capitalising on human behavior of " if people don't know, they won't act" to expose how much of CO2 is being released into the environment. (5 smoke rings equals to 1 ton of CO2)
However, an environmental debate argues that those CO2 smoke would do more harm than good. Other than going against waste policy of recycling waste to reduce CO2, the burning of trash for power stunts effort to encourage recycling. (Rodrigo, 2013) On top of that, one possible drawback would be the high construction cost. A CAP study says that a WTE plant in the United States could cost between 100 million to 300 million to build, depending on the size that the cost of constructing might outweigh the advantages of the sustainable features.
The Amager Bakke by BIG stands as a successful step forward into innovate sustainable architecture which reflects his "out of the box" solution in a complex situation. While the building is not necessarily carbon-neutral, and critics regarding the incineration of waste product would have a rebound effect. But, personally, I think people of sensibility, who recognize the building's attempts to reduce waste and take responsibility for the environment. For me, the architect and the building recognizes that our current environmental needs and there are an elliptical challenge to the social norm, proving that what was conceive impossible from the past can be environmentally conscious and socially sustainable.
Resources:
http://www.archdaily.com/339893/bigs-waste-to-energy-plant-breaks-ground-breaks-schemas
http://www.dezeen.com/2011/01/27/waste-to-energy-plant-by-big/
http://www.wm.com/thinkgreen/index.jsp
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/08/130801-amager-bakke-europe-waste-to-energy/
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