Ideas worth spreading

Taking trash talk to a whole new level

25,040 views |

Peter Harris |

TED@UPS

• September 2015

Dealing with the waste of a consumer society is one of the greatest challenges of our modern times. But UPS' Sustainability Director, Peter Harris wonders: what if waste weren't waste at all? He proposes a plan where methane from the trash we produce fuels the machines that transport our critical goods; a closed-loop, circular economy that powers our world along the way.

Dealing with the waste of a consumer society is one of the greatest challenges of our modern times. But UPS' Sustainability Director, Peter Harris wonders: what if waste weren't waste at all? He proposes a plan where methane from the trash we produce fuels the machines that transport our critical goods; a closed-loop, circular economy that powers our world along the way.

About the speaker

Peter Harris

Peter Harris

Sustainability innovator

As the director of sustainability for UPS’s businesses in Europe, Peter Harris pursues innovations that turn risks into opportunities. He has served as UPS's UK automotive director, UK industrial engineering director and as a senior manager in corporate compliance. He is also a director of a small company providing transport services to the UK’s National Health Service.

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

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