Politics & Governance / Public Policy / Environmental & Climate Policy

You Throw Away 7.5 kg of Waste Daily Without Knowing It. Here's Where It Really Goes.

This video is based on the groundbreaking textbook *An Introduction to Waste Management and Circular Economy* by Stijn van Ewijk and Julia Stegemann (UCL). It exposes the hidden reality of global waste: every day, each person generates 7.5 kg of waste, but only 1.6 kg is visible household trash. The rest is invisible industrial waste created before you even buy a product. We reveal how planned obsolescence was invented in the 1920s to force endless consumption, why recycling is often a thermodynamic trap that can't save us, and how landfills become toxic time bombs for future generations. Discover the 10 R hierarchy that puts 'recycle' near the bottom, and learn about real-world solutions like the Kalundborg industrial symbiosis in Denmark. This is not a guilt trip—it's a systems-level wake-up call about the linear economy and the urgent need for a circular one.