Issues which the lecture addresses

The lecture is based on the concept of zero-waste regimes and the need to recover both material and energy from waste to embed a circular economy within urban areas. It discusses the idea of decentralised energy production systems in cities and looks at the challenge of waste, energy production and governance in instituting a circular economy. ‘In my backyard!’ Waste and energy in a Circular Economy suggests a system of nested scales to bring the point of disposal of waste and decentralised energy generation as close as possible to the point of waste generation.

Short analysis of the above issues

The case study and findings of the benefits of a system of waste disposal and energy generation through nested scales – the ‘In my Backyard! Paradigm - is based upon case study research of solid waste processes and practices involving bio-gas generation instituted in one ward of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India.

Propositions for addressing the issue

a) The widely accepted idea of the waste hierarchy;

b) The issues involved in a centralised collection and disposal of waste currently adopted in most cities across the world;

c) The idea of ‘zero-waste’ cities and the ‘circular economy’;

d) The case for decentralised systems of energy and e) the need for nested scales of waste – to – energy and waste – to – material systems. Her case study research received the first prize in the ‘Hidden Successes’ completion exploring urbanization issues in India sponsored by MIT, US and IFMRI, India.