Report: 10th Environmental Dialogue: Our life with waste: between consumption and environmental protection.

At the beginning of this calendar year, the Austrian recycling guidelines for the yellow bin were revised. During the coronavirus pandemic, images of large quantities of medical and laboratory waste spread on the Internet, and everyone is concerned about how we handle waste materials to solve environmental issues. The question of how we handle waste is ubiquitous, which provided the basis for interesting discussions during the event.

On the occasion of the anniversary edition of the event series “Umwelt im Gespräch” (Environmental Dialogue), ten people could win two tickets each, which guaranteed access to both the evening event and an exclusive guided tour on the theme of the event through the collection of the Natural History Museum. Karina Grömer from the Natural History Museum took the visitors on a journey through the museum’s gold treasure to the Hallstatt finds, including a visit to the Venus von Willendorf. Here, too, the focus was on the ways how humans handled waste. Archaeologists are big fans of waste, because sometimes the most exciting scientific findings await them when digging into it. For example, finds of human remains, from the skeleton to the excrement, tell researchers a lot about the everyday life of our ancestors. Drawing on her extensive expertise and exquisite sense of humour, Karina Grömer provided exciting insights into the ways how humans handle(d) waste over the millennia.

Following the guided tour, the guests gathered in the upper cupola hall of the Natural History Museum. Moderated by Marlene Nowotny (Ö1 radio), the evening was kicked off by greetings from Katrin Vohland, Director General of the Museum, followed by the ViceRector of the University of Vienna, Manuela Baccarini, and an introduction by university professor Thilo Hofmann, Co-Director of the Environment and Climate Research Hub, which was newly founded in 2023. This was the second edition of “Umwelt im Gespräch”, which was organised under the auspices of the Environment and Climate Research Hub.

Ulrike Felt, member of the research hub and the research platform PLENTY, and Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the University of Vienna, gave a keynote speech on “Searching for Traces – Stories about what Remains”. In her speech, she focused on the human tendency to put much hope in new innovations to solve problems, which in turn would always bring new challenges.

Ulrike Felt provided three examples of this human behaviour: At the beginning, she addressed recycling, as an incontrovertible beacon of hope in environmental policy. As useful as the process of recycling is, it is often not carried out to the very end and therefore still leaves behind remains. These waste remnants are eventually exported to other countries – a process called “waste colonialism.” A second example is the process of digitalisation, which is often seen as the path to sustainability, but it causes large amounts of waste of all kinds. The added value of rare metals which requires huge amounts of resources, electronic waste and huge data centres are only three areas of a complex and comprehensive challenge.

Finally, Ulrike Felt addressed renewable energies, which are also a great beacon of hope in current political discussions. However, as sensible as the use of photovoltaics and the like may be, it also leads to new challenges. The blades of wind turbines, for example, cannot be properly recycled for which no solution has yet been found. As “green conflict materials”, these difficult-to-dispose materials are also waste that will occupy humanity for a long time to come.

Referring to Italo Calvino’s story of Leonia, the city that reinvents itself every day, Ulrike Felt stressed in her lecture that innovation alone is not enough. If you focus only on the new, you forget that the new will one day become old and will be discarded. We must always consider solutions for this future state in the innovation process.

The keynote speech was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Marlene Nowotny. Josef Thon, head of the City of Vienna’s MA48 waste management and street cleaning department, mentioned that we often focus on the wrong things in the discussion on waste and environmental pollution. As an example, he cited the media phenomenon of plastic straws, which led to a widespread replacement of these “culprits” with paper straws. However, it is now known that paper straws are carriers of so-called “forever chemicals,” highly resistant materials that are hardly degradable.

Ulrike Felt added that humans must ask themselves what we truly need among the many things we first consume and then dispose of. People are “socialized” into needs that drive us to consume goods that we do not actually need.

After the talk, the audience criticized the lack of transparency in the recycling process. They highlighted the situation of the yellow bin, where Austrians have been disposing of all plastic and metal packaging since the beginning of the year. Ulrike Felt responded that legal frameworks are often complicated and do not always function effectively. Additionally, she noted that the broad issue of waste management is often too extensive to be fully addressed within a single legislative period.

Philipp Weber explained that he aimed to increase the transparency of the term ‘recycling,’ enabling consumers to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the process. Josef Thon further emphasized that it is not only the recycling process that must work well but also that the resulting recycled products must be attractive enough to be preferred over their newly manufactured ‘competitors.’ He added that if recycled products were more appealing, the industry would be more inclined to invest in their production.

A statement by an attendee in the audience brought the discussion back to the fundamental question: “How much of what we consume and dispose of do we really need?” Both Ulrike Felt and Philipp Weber emphasized that in the debate on the circular economy, the aspect of reduction is often overlooked, even though it is unavoidable. They also highlighted the need for courage to criticize industry and call for change.

In a final round, the panellists agreed that two things are particularly necessary to achieve a more sustainable relationship between people and waste: First, the willingness to look at complex issues in their entirety from different perspectives. And second, the importance of engaging in conversations with one another to work together, rather than against each other.