Earth Week 2020: #BestPractice in Resource Management

Welcome to Earth Week 2020! Continuing our focus on #BestPractices in #design #technology and #management, today we turn to resource flows of minerals and organics that are captured in operations and maintenance of drinking water & waste water systems. The story of AquaMinerals in the Netherlands is a successful case study in collaboration, innovation and management by water companies to improve material flows across society.

Sustainable development and economic growth for the future requires us to transform our thinking from linear to circular. For most of the industrial era in the past 200 years, huge investments have gone into extraction and refinement of nature’s resources. For most materials it has largely been a one-way trip. In most economies this focus on extraction is still happening. Towering slag piles, enormous tailings ponds, and mountains of unrecycled plastic waste dot the human landscape of earth like giant scars of consumer culture. Industrial scale #agriculture processes such as #meat and #dairy also amass these byproducts. To be fair, some industries work harder to recycle and reuse their waste in productive ways. In some industries the physical and chemical composition of these residual materials adds to the complexity. The culture and governance of each organization shapes this outlook. The experience in the Netherlands has shown that a new outlook often requires a new organization.

Twenty five years ago – around the 25th anniversary of #EarthWeek - a small group of drinking water companies in the Netherlands shook their collective heads at the huge amounts of solids that were being captured and disposed of from #drinking water systems. These activities had significant financial costs as well as environmental impacts. In 1995, the national government took the initiative to phase out all disposal in all landfills in the entire country. That year, a group of water supply utilities launched the “Reststoffenunie Waterleidingbedrijven.” This wonderfully Dutch name captured the complexity and masked the ingenuity behind transforming these waste streams into resource- and revenue-generating flows and marketable products. It’s also notable for the fact that it was water companies starting to work together to solve a problem.

After twenty years of experimentation – some of which succeeded and some of which failed -- this Dutch initiative re-branded itself, amended their Governing structure, and scaled up to serve only the Dutch and European Markets. The venture now encompasses residuals from drinking water system operations and maintenance as well as wastewater systems. The collaborative project has grown into a socially-responsible company called AquaMinerals. B.V.

AquaMinerals relies on processes run entirely by other entities. This is similar to how neighborhood composting has been working in New York City. One organization cannot harness the power of a flow without investing in collaboration with others in the chain. This collaborative spirit is reflected in their core values, which include:

• Joint pursuit of shared interest – acting transparently, proactively and together.
• Social entrepreneurship – creating additional benefits for the economy and society.
• Innovation – helping lead to higher levels of profitability and sustainability.
• Reliability – ensuring that the process and flows can be replicated, scaled and sustained.

Now to celebrate their 25th Year of activities, AquaMinerals is sponsoring a student #competition to help inspire the next generation. Click here to learn more. Prize is €5,000 Deadline is May 15, 2020

In the context of the #USA, the experience of AquaMinerals is highly relevant. Every organization, be they a private company, a public utility, or a system operator, generates large volumes of residual material from their water processes. A significant portion of these flows - once separated from the other materials - can be reused, as the AquaMinerals experience in the E.U. has shown. Looking ahead in the United States, the dual pressures of shrinking O&M budgets, plus increasing health risks from emerging contaminants in #biosolids shows that resource recovery and beneficial use of these materials is an area that needs to grow. As the #CircularEconomy takes shape in the #USA we hope to see and support more such initiatives growing here as well.

To learn more about AquaMinerals have a look at their #Inspiration booklet.

Posted for #EarthWeek2020 by Carter Craft, Sr. Economic Officer at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York.