My future speculative design has a clear glass chute accessible on each floor of an apartment building into which residents throw any waste that is biodegradable, meaning anything that is plant or animal based. This material is composted on site in the building. All glass containers are standard sized and can be repurposed as brick building blocks. All metal containers are standard sized and bear a 10c deposit, and can be crushed. All other wastes, including plastics and mixed material items containing plastics, along with toxics, are considered “exo-wastes” and must be disposed of in enclosed, compacting containers that have waste treatment and stabilization technologies incorporated. All sales of items that will become exowastes are tagged with an RFID that records the manufacturer and the purchaser. Upon disposal of exowastes both parties are charged a fee. Illegal dumping of exowastes brings heavy fees and is highly enforceable because of RFID tagging. Truly biodegradable-compostable plastics, such as those made from mycelium, are not considered exowastes and can be disposed of in the clear chute.
This entry was posted in 3/18 - Planning and Futuring (Week 8). Bookmark the permalink.