A global report by GSMA has highlighted how digital innovation supports circular economy models in waste management.
The report, titled, “Making Circularity Work: How digital innovation enables circular economy approaches in waste management” takes stock of how and where digital innovation supports circular economy models in waste management.
It presents insights from the recently completed GSMA Innovation Fund for Digital Urban Services, which included organisations working on digitalising waste management.
“These are supplemented with insights from across the ecosystem, with a focus on the start-ups and early-stage companies working in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. The growing waste challenge.” It notes
It adds that with the rapid population growth of the last century and developments in material sciences, the volume of ‘waste’ has increased on a near exponential path.
The per capita increases in material consumption mean that the growth in waste is outstripping population growth by a factor of two globally. E-waste is also the fastest growing major waste stream, exceeding population growth by a factor of three.
Despite an increased focus on circular economy approaches and recycling, the proportion of materials in the global economy cycled back into use fell between 2018 and 2023 from 9.1% to 7.3%.
Global recycling rates, it adds, also remain alarmingly low. Fewer than 10% of the world’s plastic is recycled, and global e-waste recycling rates stand at 22%. Across lowand middle-income countries (LMICs), only half of municipal waste is collected in the first instance.
This growing body of waste has a significant impact on people, ecosystems and climate. The global food system is estimated to account for 22% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and food waste alone accounts for 6-10% of global emissions.
“In the context of more intense and unpredictable rainfall, an estimated 218 million people are at heightened risk of flooding due to plastic waste. E-waste and sewage pose acute health risks if not properly managed, with an estimated 30 million adults and children currently experiencing adverse health impacts from informal e-waste recycling, and the costs of poor sanitation in African and Asian countries are estimated at nine per cent of GDP.”it notes
It raises concern that the negative impacts on waste management are no more profound than on the estimated 20 million informal waste pickers working globally.
“Up to 85% of waste workers operate in the informal sector, working with few, if any, safeguards and are subject to unpredictable working patterns and remuneration. In many markets they form the backbone of the waste management system and are critical actors in enacting any change,”it says
The last few decades have seen circularity principles move from the fringes to take centre stage in global and national policy making. While the concepts are increasingly established, global recycling and reuse rates for materials are testament to the fact that we are only at the very beginning of operationalising these principles.
Presently, the growth in waste is outstripping population growth by a factor of two globally, and a factor of three for e-waste.
The proportion of materials in the global economy cycled back into use fell between 2018 and 2023, from 9.1% to 7.3%, fewer than 10% of the world’s plastics are currently recycled, and global e-waste recycling rates stand at 22%. Across low-and middle-income countries, only half of municipal waste is collected in the first instance.
The report takes stock of how and where digital innovation supports circular economy models in waste management. It presents insights from the recently completed GSMA Innovation Fund for Digital Urban Services, which included organisations working on digitalising waste management.
These are supplemented with insights from across the ecosystem, with a focus on the start-ups and early-stage companies working in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
However, it notes that there are causes for optimism in the face of the mounting waste challenge.
“There is growing momentum behind national and global policy change governing waste. In many cases, these changes are market-making for those working towards circular economy approaches,”it states
It further says that, ‘demand for secondary materials in manufacturing is also rising, particularly those from e-waste in response to the limited global supply of critical inputs.That the waste sector is such a significant source of emissions presents the opportunity for mitigation, and for access to climate finance.”
Lastly, it notes that start-ups working in the waste sector are increasingly being viewed favourably by investors, with series raises in the tens of millions being increasingly common.
The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change.