“All waste collection systems are planned on the assumption that waste exists. Yet the only place that waste has ever existed is between human ears. Nature has never had waste. Nature has never produced waste. It recycles, reprocesses, downcycles, upcycles. shifts, shunts, rests and reallocates everything, but never wastes.

The great majority of our landfill problems are caused because we fill them with organic material from our farms - while at the same time our farms die from a lack of organic material. We have become so obsessed with our control of nature that we have come to deny its part in our very existence, its part in our continued survival.

We have become so blinded by the small things we make that we have come to deny the very gifts we make them from. The essence of our being is the soil. It matters little if you are the ruler of a country, the owner of business, or a subsistence farmer, we all live on and from the soil. The soil is a living, breathing thing, if the soil fails to live, ultimately we will fail to breathe.

Our farming processes kill the soil, while our waste disposal processes kill the farm. We must pursue alternate, constructive methods of disposal for materials when we have no current use for them. All things in nature, all things in the natural environment have a second use - always. If we are to survive as a species, all things we use must also have a second use - always.

There is only one option which can promise us employment, conservation, sustainability, rejuvenative agriculture and a future for our children. Working with nature by closing the organic and inorganic ecocycles.”

Zero Waste - there is no alternative!

Part of Gerry Gillespie's presentation at the Zero Waste for Medway seminar October 2000. Gerry was the leader of a team that first introduced the concept of Zero Waste in Australia. Under his leadership Canberra increased its recycling rate from 22% in 1994 to 66% in 2000 and is aiming for Zero Waste by 2010.

The Vision

Medway can become self-sufficient in waste management and will eliminate all waste from landfill and incineration by the year 2020.

Through partnership working it will be possible to progress to a state where all waste products from one process are reused and recycled by other processes within Medway.

By choosing now, the most sustainable methods of waste management which close the organic and inorganic ecocycles and by requiring industry to hange its production methods, it will be possible to progress to a state where all waste products from one process are reused and recycled by other processes within Medway.

Making Waste Work Again

We have a target - it is Zero Waste by 2020! To achieve this, we need a joint venture - National Government, Local Government, Industry and the people of Medway.

We must recycle everything it is possible to reuse in any way – not bury or burn our so-called waste. It is a resource to be made use of. There are at present a number of materials or substances which cannot be recycled such as nuclear or clinical waste, but another ten years of scientific research may provide a solution to the disposal of some or even all of these.

We don’t want, 40%, 60% or 70% recycling. Our target must be 100% recycling - Zero Waste for Medway by 2020.

The concept of Zero waste is not a pipe dream but a realisable target as demonstrated by Canberra, Australia. Here Gerry Gillespie and others have helped the council progress from 22% recycling to 66% recycling in just 6 years. This clearly demonstrates what is achievable when the whole community is enabled and allowed to develop and implement its own strategy for sustainable waste management.

Since the Medway Waste Forum invited Gerry to speak at our Zero Waste for Medway conference, many UK councils have signed up to a policy of Zero Waste. This is what we want Medway Council to do.

The main strategic objectives of the Waste Forum are contained within the 'Zero Waste for Medway by 2020' strategy document. They include:

• No incineration of waste in Medway and no export of Medway's waste for incineration.
• No landfilling of waste in Medway by 2020.
• Encourage recycling and home composting
• Recycling of the organic fraction of sewage.

For further information about 'Zero Waste for Medway' download your own copy here:

To book a Zero Waste for Medway presentation for your group, school or community, email vicechair@medwaywasteforum.org.uk