Have you seen the animated movie Wall-E? One of the remaining robots on the planet is assigned the task of collecting, crushing and stacking mountains of garbage. It’s soon evident that what appear to be tall buildings are really stacks upon stacks of compacted blocks of refuse.

While the premise of the movie is interesting and at times humorous—as when the robot, who has his own collection of favorite finds, discards a diamond ring and keeps the ring box—the movie is also poignant. And it rings true, as more and more our planet is literally swimming in trash.

It’s by now well known that plastic garbage has accumulated in an area in the ocean larger than the size of Texas-I’ve seen reports that it’s up to three times the size, in fact. Just last week I read a newspaper report that another massive swirl of trash was discovered not far from the stunningly beautiful island of Bermuda.

Most of this garbage is plastic—water and drink bottles and scads of other items we discard daily without thinking.

The scary part is that this plastic is being churned into tiny particles, which are being ingested by marine animals, including the fish we eat.

As a commuter, I’m a daily witness to trash that is literally choking canals adjacent to the tracks, canals that feed into wetlands and filter into our water supplies.

Just thinking about the future, as the volume of trash in landfills, streams, lakes and our oceans continues to build is depressing. What’s more, businesses and municipalities don’t appear to be doing a very good job of recycling plastics and other materials. Garbage disposal has been viewed as something someone else needs to take care of—something we want out of sight and out of the way, no matter where it ends up.

Some are starting to take positive steps, however. I know that Lloyd’s, for example, took on the project of reducing, if not eliminating the truckloads of paper the market produces every day, by doing more business online. It’s a good sign to hear the chairman of an organization that size addressing its waste.

Looking ahead, I believe there is hope for our massive garbage problem. Recently I’ve read about new technologies that allow for burning trash, yes our garbage, at extremely high temperatures—3,000 degrees. This would process would create more than enough fuel to create electricity for homes and businesses.

The way I see it, mining our own garbage is about our only hope for keeping the planet from turning into the set of Wall-E. The way to begin tackling the issue is to bring value to waste products, and so far, recycling just isn’t enough. 

Risk managers, do you have any innovative methods or solutions at your organization or municipality? Any advice to pass on? If so, I’d love to hear it and to write about it in future blogs.