KUCHING: Changing consumption habit and prioritising durability packaging against short term disposability of waste should be the path forward in the medium and long term to create a better and sustainable future, said TerraCycle chief executive officer and founder Tom Szaky.

Speaking at a session titled ‘Circular Economy’ at the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Forum yesterday, Szaky said daily items ranging from used chewing gums to dirty diapers can now be recycled while engaging global consumers to participate in this campaign via funding.

TerraCycle is a global leader in collection and repurposing of complex waste stream, currently establishing offices in 21 countries and having close working relationship with some of the world’s largest brands. TerraCycle is also working together with Tokyo Olympics to set up winning podiums made from recycled materials, through funding from major consumer brands.

“The funny joke is that you may know now that the Olympic medals are circular as they are made from cell phone waste. So, if you work really hard and spent a decade winning your sport in the Olympics, you will get a piece of garbage (medal made from recycled materials), standing on a garbage in Tokyo Olympics,” joked Szaky, to the laughter from the audience.

To realise sustainable future for the coming generation, Szaky opined that approaches should not be reviving old practices from the past but changing consumption behaviour to cope with the ever-changing demands of the world today, in a way that business can win and customers can enjoy an elevated experience.

“Recycling is the best way to manage waste but it’s only a solution to the symptom of waste but it’s not going to solve the idea of waste. To do that, we need to tighten the circular economy and revert to the recycle economy,” he said at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here yesterday.

Moreover, he said companies would only feature recycled materials in their final products if they are of the same quality and low cost, equivalent to the plastics made from petrochemical.

By injecting easy to understand purposes like turning ocean plastics into retail products, Szaky said manufacturers and brand owners can save up on advertising expenses as the free media will promote such products to the society.

Furthermore, Szaky shared that environmentalists tend to shift the blame on ocean pollution to countries located in Southeast Asia, as 25 per cent of world plastic waste end up in the ocean. To reduce the amount of waste produced, Szaky suggested one of the ways is to shift ownership from the consumers to the manufacturers, like bringing back Coca-cola refillable bottles to the market.

“Is it strange that we own so many things but the moment they are empty, we do not want to own them anymore. Why should we have to own these things (in the first place)?”

Also, he added, countries with state-of-the-art recycling system tend to be a group of wealthy countries as waste itself is a luxury concept, according to the definition of circular economy.

“The fact that you own everything and the ability to throw something away and not finish your food is a luxury. Even the concept of recycling is a luxury idea.”

On the 16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg, Szaky believes the activist is appealing to the global public to listen to scientists on statistics regarding impacts of climate change and nudge the community to take immediate actions.

“I think what she has done well is that she is taking off the politeness process and be much more direct, although I think she did it in a way that ruffles some feathers,” he said.

Szaky further reckoned that the most powerful vote cast by people is not the political one but the economic one that they cast multiple times a day when they buy things because that’s the future that everyone would like to have.

“If asked whether hydropower is better than fossil fuel, yes, black and white, there is no question about it. As for solar, wind, hydropower or other forms of renewable energy, these renewable energy absolutely should be the way forward to go and should be of higher priority.”