We keep saying it. We are living in unprecedented times. This is especially true in our industrialised societies, where the community bears a large part of the responsibility for helping its citizens.
This ranges from the insurance companies that are supposed to support and insure all our problems, to the energy suppliers that supply us no matter what, to the government that assures us of a minimum wage, sufficient medical coverage or even the collection of household waste in all circumstances.
This last point is particularly interesting, as the coronavirus crisis also affected waste collection organisations, which saw staff absenteeism increase by 23% (in the Brussels region, see 1, 2), leading to limitations in the number of collections and less selective recycling, thus undermining the governments' commitment to sustainability.
In addition to this problem, which is mainly based on the society in which we live, there is a very individual and human phenomenon: the notion of priority. A study by the SoPrism agency on the Belgian population (see 3) showed that, among the values and causes that were in decline between January and April 2020, sustainable development and global warming had decreased by about 70%. Clearly, recycling and sorting are no longer the concern of households at the moment.
And it is in this general context that Greenzy can bring its small stone to an edifice that is so complex and fragile! By facilitating composting, by allowing recycling without thinking about it, by simplifying a complex process, the Greenzy composter relieves both the collection and the treatment of waste. It reduces selective sorting and recycling to the simple gesture of putting organic waste in what looks like a dustbin in order to obtain the recycled product directly. It gives households the opportunity to do something simple to help our precious planet.
By Eric Van Cutsem
Sources:
1. https://www.rtl.be/info/vous/temoignages/coronavirus-a-bruxelles-les-sacs-poubelles-jaunes-et-bleus-sont-ils-encore-recycles-1213434.aspx
2. https://www.proximus.be/pickx/fr/2033181/bruxelles-proprete-reduit-les-tournees-du-tri-selectif-par-manque-de-personnel
3. SoPrism study: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/soprism_evolution-of-interest-during-the-containment-activity-6657946486409568256-Iq67
