75 See Blume et al. (2023), p. 39 EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE Developed in 2021 in a collaboration project bringing together the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the University of Leeds, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), and the NGO Wasteware, the waste flow diagram (WFD) has already been used in over 100 cities to estimate the amount of waste entering the environment and improve local waste management based on scenarios.76 The tool’s data-driven approach serves four overarching purposes:77 ─Estimating the amount of plastic entering the environment ─Designing waste management projects, especially to prevent water pollution ─Monitoring the effectiveness of waste management interventions ─Providing support in decision-making for planning and improving municipal waste management The underlying material flow analysis is based on primary and secondary data, observations, and surveys on the various levels of municipal waste management: waste generation, collection, transportation, processing, and disposal.78 As a result, the WFD maps the total amount of uncontrolled plastic waste, its various sources, and leaks as the reason for waste entering the environment and its final fate in the environment. The tool also enables comparisons between municipalities and thus promotes competition between cities for improved and environmentally friendly waste management.79 76 Whiteman, Andrew et al. (2023), p. 6 77 Waste Flow Diagram (n. d.) 78 Whiteman et al. (2023), p. 6 79 Ibid. p. 8 “We are already working on the interoperability of different data sources together with the PREVENT Waste Alliance, for example,” Floehr says in this context. Due to the positive feedback from international projects, Wolf also advocates for making algorithms freely available (open source), so that proven data analysis methods can be used as widely as possible. The same applies to ensuring that the data collected and the insights gained from it are as freely accessible as possible. This is the only way they can best fulfill their purpose, i.e., to be used to curb the plastics crisis. 51
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