Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

Last week, our team had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Hanan Farhat, our industry mentor assigned through Dr. Naqaa. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss project two, our problem statement, which focuses on the pressing issue of hazardous waste particularly microplastics, which have become increasingly pervasive in recent years. In preparation, we created a memo summarizing the potential solutions we had explored, including a deposit return scheme (DRS), multi-stream recycling, advanced AI sorting and robotics, chemical recycling, and waste-to-energy (WTE).

Initially, our team leaned toward implementing the deposit return scheme as our primary solution. However, Dr. Hanan offered a valuable perspective that shook our approach. She suggested that instead of relying on a single solution, we could adopt a two-pronged strategy: one solution to address microplastics upstream, preventing them from entering the waste stream, and another to manage them downstream, reducing their impact once they reach waste management facilities. According to her guidance, we could pair either the deposit return scheme or multi-stream recycling with one of the other solutions, AI sorting, chemical recycling, or WTE, to optimize effectiveness. This approach not only minimizes cross contamination with other recyclables but also prevents microplastics from breaking down further during processing.

Another key takeaway from the meeting was the improvement of our decision matrix. Dr. Hanan recommended modifying one of the evaluation criteria from "environmental impact" to "environmental and human impact" to account for risks to waste management workers as well as for the impact it can have on civilian lives. This adjustment ensures that our analysis considers both ecological and human safety concerns, making our project approach more comprehensive.

Despite some initial technical difficulties with the Zoom link, which briefly delayed me from joining on time, the meeting went smoothly overall. Dr. Hanan's patience and thoughtful feedback allowed us to refine our solutions and better understand the practical considerations of implementing them. We concluded the session with clearer direction for our project and renewed motivation to advance our work.

I am grateful to Dr. Hanan for taking the time to meet with us despite her busy schedule and for providing insights that will undoubtedly strengthen our approach to managing microplastics in hazardous waste.