Waste as a resource
Waste and refuse are no longer just rubbish, but have become an important resource. Today, even a banana peel can be transformed into fuel in the form of biogas, but the most valuable waste is IT products and electronics. Sebastian Abrahamsson and Per Fors, researchers at Uppsala University, explains more in this video.
In Sweden, we're good at making the most of waste, especially recycling packaging and using food waste. There are also good technical solutions for consumer products and electronics, but there is a lot that doesn’t come in for recycling.
– I´m interested in how we as a society organize the waste. What we do with the waste and how we view garbage and waste, says Sebastian Abrahamsson, Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology.
In order to be better at making use of the resources we have to extend the life-span of the products.
– Producers could design products which can be repaired. They could design products with replaceable parts. Consumers need to take better care of their products. To repaire your phone instead of buying a new one, says Per Fors, researcher at the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering.
Annica Hulth