Olympic zero waste vision 'has not matched reality'

Olympic organisers' vision of a zero waste legacy has not matched reality, with the big waste management promises turning out to be more unrealistic than originally expected.

Zero waste was a major goal in creating a sustainable environment at the Games. The London 2012 Sustainability Plan outlined some big hopes and expectations, saying: "A development on the scale of the Olympic Park and an event on the scale of the 2012 Games provide the opportunity to create a micro-economy of waste efficiency, putting in place the infrastructure and processes to minimize waste and to maximize reuse and recycling."

The plans also outlined the prospect of London 2012 becoming the "greenest games ever", with a design that included minimized waste, composting, reusing and refurbishing spare parts, cutting back on hazardous materials and using incineration only with energy recovery.

However, the expectations of the organising committees don’t seem to have translated into reality, with a new report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and BioRegional unveiling that the games are generating far more waste and carbon than the green plan imagined.

Despite a good deal of success, the report said: "The failure to meet the renewable energy targets set out in the bid is disappointing. Not only did this leave a significant 'hole' in London 2012's carbon reduction strategy…it also sent out an unfortunate signal regarding the difficulties of incorporating renewable solutions in UK projects."

That being said, it is not all gloomy, and Jay Coalson, executive director of the Zero Waste Alliance in Portland, Oregon, praises the Olympics’ "substantial on-the-ground effort." He said that the less-than-perfect results were not surprising given the high targets set and the huge amount of foresight, time and active management the plans required to be successful.

Although the 'zero waste' targets are unlikely to be met, 70 per cent of the estimated 8,000 tons of waste will be recycled. The reuse of demolition debris also seems to have been a significant achievement.

Posted by Joseph Hutton