Waste not, want not: Is sustainable industry viable?

The United Nations has 17 Sustainable Development Goals that contain ambitious objectives for member countries to meet by 2030. As of 2023, only 15% of these objectives were on track for success.

One such goal is Goal nine focusing on “sustainable industrialisation”. This idea seems oxymoronic when industrialisation is so historically linked with environmental damage.

In this episode of The Big Question, Angela Barnes is joined by Christophe Yvetot, the EU representative for the UN Industrial Development Organization, to discuss how countries can grow economically while still staying green. 

How does “sustainable industrialisation” work?

“The wealth that we have is because we were industrialised. We all benefit from the services and products that are created every day,” Yvetot explained. 

“So now the big challenge is to make sure that everything that is produced has the least impact on the environment.”

According to the European Commission, in 2022 alone, the EU produced 2,233 million tonnes of waste. Of that, 71% came from construction, manufacturing and mining and quarrying.

“The word ‘waste’ should be eliminated from the vocabulary because waste doesn’t exist,” Yvetot added. “It’s only raw materials that you haven’t found a way to use.” 

Yvetot wants us to rethink the way that societies engage with waste, insisting that this sort of ‘circular economy’ wouldn’t just have environmental benefits. 

“We see not only that it decreases the cost of production, but also you create new jobs because instead of wasting or throwing away raw material, you use it to create new industries on this basis,” Yvetot said. 

Why is industrialisation an important part of the SDGs?

While sometimes it might be hard to see how all the sustainable goals can work hand in hand, Christophe emphasised that achieving one goal can have great benefits on other targets. 

“What we have seen with the new report is that, every time that you have more industry in the GDP or in the wealth of a country, you have quasi-automatically more human development. 

“It means more access to education, more access to health services, more life expectancy, more equality between men and women. So you have a direct impact on social goals, on human goals.”

Christophe spent five years posted in Senegal. From his experiences there, he suggested as an example that, if money were invested to reduce ‘post-harvest losses’ from fruit production by transforming it locally into juice, it would also directly impact goals on poverty, hunger and equality.

What role should Europe play in global sustainable development?

There is a move to re-industrialise Europe in a bid to create growth, jobs and reliable supply chains.

However, Christophe insists that this cannot be at the detriment to countries in the global south and that solidarity is key.

“The re-industrialisation of the North cannot happen without the resources that are in the South,” he adds. 

Regardless of whether a country is big or small, wealthy or poor, one thing is crucial, insists Yvetot. Rules on sustainability must be consistent.

“It’s very important to make sure we have a global playing field,” Yvetot said. 

“If we fight climate [change] in Europe or the US or China it is very good, but if we don’t do it in the rest of the world, we are not going to make progress.”

The Big Questionis a series from Euronews Business where we sit down with industry leaders and experts to discuss some of the most important topics on today’s agenda.

Watch the video above for the full conversation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

Video editor • Joanna Adhem