SweepSmart

As a member of the Innovation Alliance for a Global Plastics Treaty (IAGPT), SweepSmart supports an ambitious #GlobalPlasticTreaty to save our planet and our health from #plasticpollution. It would deliver pioneering organizations who are working all across the world the support they need to scale up their solutions towards a #circularfuture. Unfortunately, the last negotiation round at #INC5 in Busan has not delivered this. Please read below the statement from IAGPT on how we can keep pushing for this crucial unity for the sake of humankind.

🌏 Waste COP29 Azerbaijan Part 2: New Climate Finance breakthroughs achieved 💰 🤝 #COP29 concluded with nearly 200 nations agreeing on a bold finance goal to protect people and economies from the climate crisis. While developing countries are rapidly developing economically, their waste management infrastructure is highly undeveloped, leading to greenhouse gas emissions from methane-leaking landfills and emissions from production of virgin materials which could have been prevented if we recycle more. Therefore, reducing emissions from improper waste handling is essential to achieve the 1.5°C target. ‼️ Experts estimate that developing countries need $1.3 trillion in investment by 2035 to tackle the climate change challenge. The global direct cost of waste management itself was estimated at $252 billion (3). What did the participating nations agree on? 💭 📈 Increasing finance to developing countries to $300 billion annually by 2035 💹 Agreeing on #ParisAgreement Crediting Mechanism, which clarifies how to authorize and track #carbontrading, further solidifying the global #carbonmarket 📋 Transparent climate reporting to strengthen climate policies and financing These agreements will force the countries to accelerate the establishment of their climate plans, keeping the 1.5°C warming level within ambition 💪 Read more below: 1. Nice visual illustrating the process: https://lnkd.in/gNUJrH6M  2. Comprehensive UNCC article explainer: https://lnkd.in/gkeHprER 3. UNEP global waste management outlook: https://lnkd.in/eVyf9_Ed

🌏 Waste COP29 Azerbaijan Part 1: Reducing Methane from Organic Waste 🌱 At #COP29 by UN Climate Change, commitments were made to tackle #methaneemissions from #organicwaste - an often-overlooked but critical climate issue ⚠️. The waste sector is the third largest source of human-caused methane. Methane, with 80x more short-term global warming potential than CO₂ is released when organic waste decomposes in landfills. 🌏 More than 30 countries endorsed the COP29 Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste Developed by Climate & Clean Air Coalition and supported by national and international organizations such as ISWA International Solid Waste Association, RMI, and World Biogas Association 🤝 (1,2) 🏆 One of the initiatives launched at COP28 UAE, Lowering Organic Waste Methane (LOW-Methane), showcases solutions that have already reduced methane emissions by up to 40.800 tons annually, by expanding organic waste treatment capacity, closing dumpsites, developing sanitary landfills, strengthening institutions, and providing support to operators So, what can we do? 💡 📉 Reduce and divert organics from landfills, for example by cutting food loss across the value chain and innovative processing of the remaining organic waste can cut methane emission from solid waste by up to 90% (3)   🔎 Improving methane monitoring and emissions controls at final disposal sites can cut methane from legacy waste Read more about COP29 Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste and the science behind it here: https://lnkd.in/gMdTvQj9 https://lnkd.in/gPScyM77 https://lnkd.in/dhzEbwHQ #Sustainability #WasteManagement #reducewastetolandfill

How do we ensure these women waste pickers earn a fair, decent living? In Indonesia, informal waste workers play a critical role in plastic waste management, collecting a staggering 1 million tonnes of waste annually! 🌏 Yet, many still face unsafe working conditions and poor living standards. That’s why The Circulate Initiative has launched the Responsible Sourcing Initiative in Indonesia to address human rights challenges in the #plasticrecycling supply chain ♻️ A healthy value chain for recycled plastics requires higher, more stable prices flowing back to recyclers, aggregators, and the (majority women) waste pickers at the source 📈💸. Brands and plastic manufacturers must ensure their supply chains are fair, transparent, and provide decent work opportunities 👷🏽♀️. This initiative empowers workers by driving economic empowerment, health and safety, autonomy and inclusion, collective representation, and gender equality 🙌. Read more about the initiative here: https://lnkd.in/gSuRmG8q https://lnkd.in/gd8dw_dV These great organisations are working with the #informalsector on #responsiblesourcing: Recovered Indonesia, Hasiru Dala, Hasiru Dala Innovations, Plastics For Change #circularinitiative #wastemanagement #plasticwaste #humanrights #inclusivity #genderequality

🌏 September 29: International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste! 🌏 Globally, we waste 1.05 billion tons of food, equal to 6 billion meals per day🥘 and 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions 🏭. Food waste isn't just a problem in the global North—Southeast Asia wastes 70 kg/capita/year, even surpassing Northern Europe’s 69 kg 😱. Worse, much of it ends up in landfills, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas 80x more potent than CO2 ⚠. In SweepSmart, we have the expertise on how to collect, separate and process organic waste from source-separated or mixed waste streams to turn it into compost, which can be used as a soil enhancer for the farming sector 🪴. In particular, we did a project for Delterra in which we modelled 6 different scenarios and (re)designed 20 sites to handle organic waste. Also, we are developing a large-scale mixed waste sorting facility with Recovered Indonesia which will reduce 80-85% waste to landfill. Check out SweepSmart projects here: https://lnkd.in/g6-EvPQ3 #foodlossandwaste #foodloss #organicwaste #organicwasteprocessing #composting #circularfoodchain #wastemanagement #smartwastemanagement #circularity

Our Smart Waste Ambon project is featured as UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme)’s Zero Waste Good Practices! The Advisory Board on Zero Waste is part of the UN Secretary-General which showcases and publishes good practices and success stories in zero waste management; raising awareness and promoting local and national zero waste initiatives. 💪♻️ Smart Waste Ambon project demonstrates an innovative #SmartWasteCollection model and #SortingFacility to handle mixed and source segregated waste safely and efficiently. Being chosen as one of the Zero Waste Good practices, we can help other areas to transform their #wastemanagement and transition into a #circular system. Read more about our Smart Waste Ambon project here: https://lnkd.in/gQwX3r5J

Want to know how we can reduce more than 80% waste to landfill in the Global South? In our latest article, we deep dive into why large-scale mixed waste processing solutions are needed for the Global South. It’s not just about #recycling - it's also about managing old value chains during the transition until a #circular system is in place ♻️ We have already started in #Indonesia together with Recovered Indonesia and soon we will bring it to other places as well 🌏 Ready to see how these solutions can transform #wastemanagement in the Global South? Swipe through for the key insights, or dive into the full article on our site! 👇 Link to article: https://lnkd.in/g6rysVbA #waste #landfills #rdf #alternativefuels #sustainablesolutions #resourcerecovery #environment

Meet the SweepSmart Team - Stories from the heroes battling the #GlobalWasteCrisis SweepSmart can not do without its employees, who are working their asses off on a daily basis to tackle the waste crisis in upcoming economies. Listen to their stories. Why do they do what they do? What are they most proud of? What are their ambitions? Rob Tholenaars, with 45 years of experience in the waste management and port industries, found his calling during a 2014 Habitat for Humanity mission in India. Contrary to the prejudices people told him about to the country, Rob enjoyed his time there much more than he thought with the friendliness of the people. Struck by the widespread waste issues during his stay there, he decided that he needs to do something to give back to the communities. An article by Niels van den Hoek on LinkedIn on a waste  sorting center in India sealed his decision to join SweepSmart. We had a coffee, 6 weeks later he was on the plane to India, and 1 month after that, he was setting up our first facility in Indonesia. At SweepSmart, Rob is hands-on, focusing on operational and technical details. "I like to call myself an implementation consultant, who works hard to make things happen," he says. Seeing the direct impact of his work drives him. "When people tell me, 'My life has changed,' that's what motivates me." One of Rob's proudest achievements at SweepSmart is during a project in Delhi, where he handled everything from design to implementation. "Seeing it all come together makes me incredibly happy," he shares. Looking ahead, Rob is excited about implementing a sorting and recycling solution for  a river cleanup project and SweepSmart’s large-scale facility project as these projects present new challenges and opportunities for replication in the future. A message from Rob to us: "Think challenges, not problems. If you think of problems, you can’t find the solution. But if you think of challenges, then it’s more positive and you can think of what we can do to go for the challenge." #WasteManagement #Sustainability #Impact #SweepSmart

This week, a landfill in Kampala, Uganda collapsed, killing 21 people and covering a whole area with waste. This is why we urgently need a pragmatic solution to reduce waste to landfill, while we work on all other ways to transition to a more circular system. How? Read our article on large-scale mixed processing for the Global South here: https://lnkd.in/g6rysVbA

Do we need to invest in #sourcesegregation and better #recycling to solve the waste problem in the Global South? Yes. Do we need mixed waste solutions? Yes. Isn’t that contradictory? No. In our newest article, we explain why we need large-scale mixed waste processing solutions with recyclables and energy recovery tailored to the Global South. Based on 10 years of pioneering work in building zero-waste systems in emerging economies, we believe that, parallel to building circular economy for our future, we urgently need transition solutions for legacy systems which will not be turned around overnight. Our reasoning is this: ➡️ The current waste system in emerging and developing countries is dominated by mismanaged waste and open dumping, with on average only 5-10% recycling. ➡️ Reducing and Reusing materials is needed to close the tap, but waste flows are expected to continue growing even in the most positive scenarios. ➡️ Recycling and source segregation is crucial to transition to a circular system, but huge streams of mixed waste are expected for the foreseeable future. ➡️ Energy and recyclables recovery from mixed waste can be a solution to reduce waste to (badly managed) landfills. ➡️ Large-scale mixed waste processing is expected to also indirectly reduce the mismanaged stream. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/g6rysVbA #wastemanagement #wasteprocessing #resourcerecovery #energyrecovery #circulareconomy