Systems Thinking Is Critical In Developing Solutions To Sustainability Challenges - Assignment Solution

Introduction

Our society thrives in a continuous paradox (Palmberg et al. 2017). The more we produce, the more we destroy. In other words, as our society develops towards market-based economies, we generate more wastes and thus, environmental sustainability becomes a challenge. The paradox lies in the fact that economic growth is connected to more consumption and consequently, to more environmental damage (IPCC 2014).  In essence, all aspects of our lives are interconnected and therefore, to find solutions to one problem is only meaningful if the interconnected components are devoid of problems too. This is the crux of a systems thinking approach. According to Sterling (2009), systems thinking is a holistic approach to finding solutions to complex problems, whereby the interrelatedness of a system's smaller areas is analysed and addressed together within the broader scheme of the system. Sustainable development is possible only when environmental management takes into account a systemic vision of the world (Seiffert & Loch 2005). China's recent ban on Australia's recycling waste is one such wicked problem that would require a systems thinking approach to come to a sustainable solution. The aim of this discussion is to reflect on the importance of systems thinking in modern times and in doing so, to explore probable solutions to the Australian recycling crisis.

The Wicked Problem

One of the contributing factors to China's economic growth was the import of tonnes of recyclables from various parts of the world. In 2016 alone, China's import witnessed an inflow of recyclables amounting to USD 18 billion, comprising nearly half of the world's total exports in paper and plastics (Ritchie 2018). However, in early 2018, China decided to cap its waste acceptance limit through its National Sword or Blue Sky policy, thereby banning the import of plastics and other materials that steadily poured into the nation from other parts of the world for over two decades (Katz 2019). The policy aimed to put an end to the excessive amount of contaminated materials entering the country and giving rise to an environmental issue that is not their own to begin with. 

However, in effect, this ban has led many countries into a recycling crisis as the new Chinese restrictions now leave them in a fix to find fresh solutions to their waste recycling issue. One such nation majorly affected by the China ban is Australia. Even in 2017, 600,000 tonnes of Australian wastes reached the Chinese waste processing facilities to be recycled (MacKenzie 2018). Therefore, China's National Sword policy forced Australia to think of alternative export destinations or to handle its wastes domestically. The main concern Australia faced was in terms of recycled paper and plastics as the country has very limited local markets for these and had to depend largely on China for buying and reprocessing all the recyclable dump (Downes 2018). But China set its contamination thresholds to 0.5%, which particularly turned Australia's export of paper and plastics quite problematic (Downes 2018). Recycled glass and metals like aluminium were relatively less affected by China's ban (Katz 2019). 

According to the Australian Government's National Waste Report 2018, the country approximately generated 67 million tonnes of wastes in 2016-17. While this is higher than many other developed economies, the amount of waste Australia recycles is much lesser than the global average (AU government 2018). Evidently, the Australian domestic market has very little capacity to handle the nation's entire waste recycling and the country is struggling within this crisis ever since the ban.