Waste Hierarchy Research Articles

Evaluating the Impact of Government Policies on Circular Economy Adoption in the Construction Sector

The construction sector is both essential for global economic progress and one of the largest contributors to pollution, resource depletion, and energy consumption. Given the urgent need to adopt more sustainable practices, governments in developed countries have introduced policies aimed at fostering a circular economy in this sector. These policies emphasize the use of green materials to reduce resource consumption, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions, aligning with global sustainability goals. The waste hierarchy further governs these policies, prioritizing waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. This study analyzes the effectiveness of these government policies in promoting circular economy principles, particularly the adoption of green materials in the construction industry. Our findings reveal that while these policies have led to measurable reductions in energy consumption and emissions, the extent of green material adoption varies significantly across countries. Key factors influencing this variation include economic incentives, regulatory enforcement, and the level of industry acceptance of green technologies. One of the most important results of this study is the identification of significant gaps between policy intent and actual industry practices. In many cases, green materials, despite their favorable characteristics, have not been widely implemented due to economic, technical, and market barriers. These findings underscore the need for stronger government incentives and more consistent policy enforcement to drive broader adoption of sustainable practices. Future studies should focus on overcoming these barriers, exploring the long-term economic impacts of green material adoption, and evaluating how policy frameworks can be optimized to ensure more widespread.

How Can Circular Economy Strengthen the Recycling of Plastic Packaging Wastes? Exploratory and Qualitative Case Study of the Danish Plastic Industry

This paper investigates how companies in the plastic value chain can comply with the requirements put forward in the European Union’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for plastic packaging wastes, which must be fully adopted in a Danish context ultimo 2024. Plastic packaging waste for recycling is expected to increase when the EPR scheme enters into force, just as national regulation seeks to avoid the incineration of plastics. Multiple case studies, applying an exploratory and qualitative approach, were conducted with three best-case companies within the plastic value chain to illuminate technical capabilities in sorting and further processing of plastics, current recycles strategies and market positioning. To access the possibility to prevent, reuse, recycle, and recover plastic wastes we make use of the waste hierarchy in combination with a circular economy approach, where suggestions to activities along the cascading chain are proposed to qualify the analysis. This paper reveals that only few recycling plastic value chains have been established that originate from plastic packaging waste from household, and there are none for food packaging reusage; the current unfavorable management practices mostly lead to downcycling of the plastic value chain to recovery only. It is further concluded that strengthening the EPR scheme is important, by applying, for example, eco-design, hereunder to utilize mono plastics of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and by fee-modulation using taxes/penalties to spur on the plastic industry to produce environmentally friendly products. Finally, alternative sources of handling and producing plastics are outlined as watermark technology, bio-plastics and PtX-nafta.

Holistic Approach to the Indian Higher Education System in Design and Sustainability

Sustainability is a need of the hour as we have very limited resources that are to be restored or utilized carefully. One way toward sustainability is through higher education, with awareness, possible ways of using it, and a change in thought process which will lead to minimal wastage of resources. Design decisions based on sustainability are more than using natural resources that are biodegradable. One of the main strategies of green design is to follow the ‘waste hierarchy’. Green materials are designed to be reusable and recyclable, and they degrade naturally at the end of their life, reducing the environmental footprint of the product. In point of fact, design has the power to stoke and encourage innovation. It can also contribute to the shaping of the world on a variety of levels, from materials to products, product service systems, social organizations, and socio-technical systems. Eco-design is a comprehensive and holistic approach to planning activities that emphasizes the welfare of people and the environment as the final design. ‘It focuses on resource efficiency and the use of environmentally friendly materials to develop products and processes’ (Manzini, 2020, Design, When Everybody Designs). Sustainability for design is sometimes referred to as a lifetime configuration approach since it gathers data on the full life cycles of products and their effects on the environment and living beings. The aim of the paper is to be unambiguous as to why sustainable systems should be included in higher education. An endeavor, additionally, had been to summarize the government policies in order to raise awareness for the next generation. Further, data is collected from respondents who belong to the education system for understanding the importance of sustainability in education. From the gathered information, it was observed that every person unconsciously considers sustainability in their day-to-day lives. However, with mindfulness and plan training there will be an impact on the general public for a better future.

Unravelling the Environmental Challenges: a State-of-the-Art Review of the Legal Framework of Solid Waste Management in Metropolitan Cities of India

Abstract This article provides insights into the challenges and current state of solid waste management in metropolitan cities of India. It emphasizes the importance of legal regulations in ensuring effective waste management to address environmental concerns. This research highlights the need for coordinated efforts among public authorities, adopting technologically advanced best practices globally, and incorporating Waste Hierarchy and Circular Economy concepts for efficient waste management. By addressing challenges like poor community engagement, understaffing, and political interference, the article underscores the significance of robust legal frameworks and strategic policies to mitigate environmental impacts and improve waste management practices in metropolitan cities. Recommendations include enhancing transparency in environmental information, establishing sustainable waste management systems, improving legislation, and promoting stakeholder engagement.

Sustainable Waste Management: Innovations and Best Practices

The expanding worldwide trash challenge, caused by urbanization, rising populations, and financial growth, necessitates innovative and long-term waste management techniques. This article investigates several sophisticated techniques and standards of excellence in the management of green waste, with a focus on the use of cutting-edge technologies, community involvement, and comprehensive policy frameworks. It highlights the waste hierarchy, circular economy, and life cycle thinking as essential components to efficient waste management. Developments in technology such as modern waste-to- energy technologies, sophisticated recycling methods, and smart waste management systems are assessed for their potential contribution to sustainability. The paper also includes case studies from San Francisco, Freiburg, and Kami katsu, which demonstrate successful environmentally conscious waste practices. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of legislative frameworks, public-private partnerships, and community involvement in achieving sustainable waste management. Regardless of constant obstacles such as affordability, technological boundaries, behavioral barriers, and regulatory inconsistencies, the article concludes that a strategic combination of innovative technologies, strong policies, and active involvement by the public is essential for addressing the worldwide waste disaster and obtaining a cleaner happier more likely and more sustainable future.

Biomass of invasive plants as a resource for the development of the bioeconomy

The global spread of invasive plants is an important environmental problem and a real threat to biological diversity, with significant impacts on agriculture, forestry, and human and animal health. Invasive plant eradication produces large amounts of plant biomass, which should be safely utilized. The study reviews possibilities for using biomass of invasive plant species in the bioeconomy to safely convert them to items of value. Invasive plant biomass can be used as fuel or for energy production applying either biochemical or thermochemical processing technologies. The biomass of invasive plants also can be used for energy production or isolation of biologically active components. Invasive plants contain many groups of substances providing their defense potential against predators; these substances participate in metabolic regulation processes and others. Amongst the substances of interest for bioeconomy are lipids, polyphenols, alkaloids, carbohydrates, plant fibers, and essential oils. In the development of invasive plant biomass utilization strategies, the bio-based value pyramid and the waste hierarchy should be considered. Scientific sound strategies of invasive plant management will limit their spread and provide economic benefits via their eradication.

Evaluation of hydrothermal carbonization of biomass residues for bioenergy: A life-cycle based comparison against incumbent technologies

Hydrothermal carbonization of biowaste with energy recovery was evaluated as a biowaste treatment technology using attributional life cycle assessment carried out in line with ISO 14044. Results show that important differences were observed for individual impact categories. Hydrothermal carbonization outperformed all other incumbent technologies in three impact categories and performed on par with anaerobic digestion and composting in the climate change category, where impact scores across three different wet biowaste streams ranged from -0.014 to -0.032 kg CO2 equivalents per kg of wet biowaste treated. However, it performed the worst in those environmental impacts which address resource depletion, including mineral, fossil and renewable resource depletion. This stresses the need to include all impact categories when evaluating environmental performance of biowaste treatment technologies. Differences in the ranking between different midpoint categories corroborate earlier studies suggesting that the general waste hierarchy might not necessarily apply to hydrothermal carbonization of biowaste.

Review of the slaughter wastes and the meat by-products recycling opportunities

In the ancient times, the Kazakhstan population were considered as nomadic people, where a cult of all types of cattle breeding had a leading position. However, currently the processing approaches of livestock slaughter wastes and secondary meat raw materials are weakly developed. The presented review of waste-free technologies considers the utilization processes of following: carcasses, skins, bones, meat scraps, blood, adipose tissue, horns, feet, hooves, and internal organs. These substances are an important source of animal protein, collagen, bioactive peptides, blood plasma, minerals, and fats that can be applied in various industries: food, feed, medical, and technological. When slaughtering livestock, meat on bones makes up almost half of the total weight of livestock, yet the remaining half contains offal and inedible raw materials. Blood consists of: erythrocytes, leukocytes, platelets, and plasma. Animal bones have mostly proteins (30–50%) and lipids (13–20%) from bone tissues. Tendons, bones and skins contain a large amount of collagen. Animal fat and adipose tissue have 54.9% saturated acids, 40.9% unsaturated fatty acids and 4.2% polyunsaturated fatty acids. Bioactive peptides from collagen derivatives contain from 2 to 20 amino acids and have various biological (antihypertensive, antioxidant, and antimicrobial) activity. This review considers a world current status, modern prospects and opportunities in the slaughter wastes and the meat by-products recycling technologies. Overview of existing approaches for waste processing with the subsequent use of the final product in the food industry, the production of feed, medicines and technical products is considered. The complete processing within the slaughtering livestock and the secondary meat raw materials allows to expand the wide-range products with a low prime cost, thereby promoting to the sustainable development of agroecology by applying the waste hierarchy: Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling.

Discussion on plastic waste management hierarchy

Although recycling is one of the main solutions proposed in the waste hierarchy established by the Waste Framework Directive, the effective recycling of plastic packaging waste in Italy is still insufficient. Through a review of European Union and Italian legislation, recycling strategies and technological innovations, such as the use of bioplastics and chemical recycling, this work aims to help fill possible knowledge gaps and guide decisions in both, the public sector and the private sector, in the development of policies that enhance the management of plastic packaging waste. Among the results it was found that the low recycling rate of plastic packaging is in partly due to the technical and regulatory limitations that exist at European level for the growth of innovative solutions in the plastic industry. These limitations include the complexity of plastic packaging waste streams and the lack of a single European Union Directive that harmonizes the laws of the Member States regarding the use of bioplastics, chemical recycling technologies and value-added products obtained.

Legal provisions for the facilitation of the transition to a circular economy in the Polish legal system

The transition to a circular economy (CE) is a priority objective for European Union (EU) Member States. Specifically, this goal is stated in the 8th Environmental Action Programme (which outlines a programme until 2030), the European Green Deal, European Commission communications, and the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC as amended by Directive 2018/851. As a member of the EU, Poland is obliged to align its waste management practices with the CE; this work is reflected in legislative changes related to waste, packaging, and the municipal maintenance of cleanliness and order. This article presents the legal status of the transition to a CE in Poland, including the established legal instruments. The Polish legal system has developed measures to protect the environment, life, and human health by preventing and reducing waste and improving the efficiency of raw material use. Waste management is consistent with the waste hierarchy, with a focus on maximising recovery (material and organic recycling, energy recovery), an extended producer responsibility system, and strict requirements for recovery and recycling rates, with a particular focus on plastic packaging. In Poland, the CE Roadmap—which includes a legislative toolkit on sustainable industrial production, sustainable consumption, bioeconomy, new business models, and CE implementation and monitoring – has been developed for the transformation toward a CE. Poland’s priorities in this regard include: (1) innovation, strengthening cooperation between industry and the scientific sector, resulting in the implementation of innovative solutions in the economy; (2) creating a European market for secondary raw materials, where their movement would be easier; (3) ensuring the high quality of secondary raw materials that results from sustainable production and consumption; and (4) developing the service sector.

Quantifying circular economy pathways of decommissioned onshore wind turbines: The case of Denmark and Germany

Onshore wind turbines in Europe are increasingly reaching the end of their first lifecycle. Their pathways after decommissioning call for the establishment of circular supply chains (e.g. refurbishment or recycling facilities). Reliable component and material flow forecasts are particularly crucial for the development of blade-recycling capacity, as such facilities still need to be established. However, current forecasts assume a static decommissioning time and neglect a second lifecycle for the wind turbines and their blades, which has resulted in potential recycling quantities being over-estimated. This study overcomes these issues by (i) collecting empirical data on the circular economy pathways taken by decommissioned onshore wind turbines in the mature onshore wind markets of Denmark and Germany, and by (ii) proposing a new component and material flow forecasting model for the more reliable planning of blade-recycling capacity. The results reveal that ∼50–60 % of decommissioned onshore wind turbines in Denmark and Germany were exported mainly to other European countries. If the second lifecycle practices of the past are continued in the future, annual blade masses for domestic recycling are expected to range between ∼380–770 tonnes for Denmark and ∼4400–11,300 tonnes for Germany in the next ten years. This study finds that the threshold values of blade volumes for an economically viable blade-recycling facility can be reached in Germany with its large operating wind-turbine fleet, but the recycling of Danish wind turbine blades would have to rely on aggregating resource flows from other countries or industries. By modelling the cascading order of a sustainable circular economy and the EU Waste Hierarchy Directive, this study improves the decision-making basis for policy makers and companies to achieve sustainable resource use along the wind industry's entire value chain.

THE TACIT END-OF-WASTE STATUS IS de facto USED IN THE EU AND CRUCIAL FOR THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

For a well-functioning circular economy, recycled materials with a specific purpose, that have a market, and meet the legal requirements for both products and the environment should have an end-of-waste (EoW) status. However, at the EU level, EoW has only been established for certain metals and cullet glass, and implementation at the national level has slowed down. One potential solution is tacit EoW, supported by articles 6(1) and 6(4) of the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), which place responsibility on economy operators with possible oversight by authorities. This discussion paper examines the status of various waste streams in the EU and illustrates that tacit EoW is already widely used in regulation and waste management practices. This includes: - Reuse of waste as a product after preparation (level 2 of the waste hierarchy); - Recycling of materials (level 3 of the waste hierarchy) to produce new products; - Recycling in environmental applications, such as fertilisers, soil conditioners, and growing substrates, as well as backfilling operations; - Energy production from various biomass and wood waste categories. Granting tacit EoW status consistent with level 3 of the waste hierarchy to other materials processed by certified industrial facilities would benefit the circular economy. A first group consists of materials recycled into products that do not come into contact with the environment, which could benefit from immediate tacit EoW, since the four EoW conditions are met. Ten wastes of this group are ranked for priority EoW by the Joint Research Center of the EU.

Carbon Recycling of High Value Bioplastics: A Route to a Zero-Waste Future.

Today, 98% of all plastics are fossil-based and non-biodegradable, and globally, only 9% are recycled. Microplastic and nanoplastic pollution is just beginning to be understood. As the global demand for sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics continues to rise, biobased and biodegradable plastics have emerged as a promising solution. This review article delves into the pivotal concept of carbon recycling as a pathway towards achieving a zero-waste future through the production and utilization of high-value bioplastics. The review comprehensively explores the current state of bioplastics (biobased and/or biodegradable materials), emphasizing the importance of carbon-neutral and circular approaches in their lifecycle. Today, bioplastics are chiefly used in low-value applications, such as packaging and single-use items. This article sheds light on value-added applications, like longer-lasting components and products, and demanding properties, for which bioplastics are increasingly being deployed. Based on the waste hierarchy paradigm-reduce, reuse, recycle-different use cases and end-of-life scenarios for materials will be described, including technological options for recycling, from mechanical to chemical methods. A special emphasis on common bioplastics-TPS, PLA, PHAs-as well as a discussion of composites, is provided. While it is acknowledged that the current plastics (waste) crisis stems largely from mismanagement, it needs to be stated that a radical solution must come from the core material side, including the intrinsic properties of the polymers and their formulations. The manner in which the cascaded use of bioplastics, labeling, legislation, recycling technologies, and consumer awareness can contribute to a zero-waste future for plastics is the core topics of this article.

Business model innovation in circular start-ups: Overcoming barriers in the circular plastics economy

Circular start-ups (CSUs) are crucial for implementing a circular economy; yet, little research has been undertaken on the specific barriers they face. Through a case study of CSUs in the Dutch plastics industry, we identify several key barriers encompassing technology dependence, poor credibility, constrained resources, collaboration challenges, lack of knowledge and inadequate institutional support. Additionally, we highlight four success factors (SFs) that enable CSUs to compete in circular plastics: circular value proposition design, market sensitivity, networking prowess and circular ambidexterity. Our study shows that CSUs can enact these SFs as strategies-in-use to overcome barriers. Yet still, CSUs in plastics continue focusing on recycling-centric business models, limiting their potential to drive the transition more radically along the waste hierarchy. This calls for support from various entities such as entrepreneurial ecosystems as well as a multi-stakeholder perspective that considers their business models as interdependent with other actors in the plastics value chain.

Which labour for the CE? An exploration of narratives on labour and circularity in Flanders

The circular economy (CE) and its impact on the labour market has received increasing attention in both academic and practitioner circles over the past decade. The CE aims to close material and energy loops through various transition pathways or strategies, which are often ranked in a waste hierarchy based on their contribution to the CE. Using discourse analysis, this paper examines how labour market actors in Flanders understand the role of labour in the transition to the CE. We find three distinct future-visions of labour in a CE, closely related to which circular strategies are imagined to become dominant. The findings show that specific storylines shape incremental change through engendering low-ranked strategies which do not require significant shifts in worker skills or policies. On the other hand, alternative discourses show that more radical changes require new or marginalised skills and more fundamental changes in policies and systems.

Application of nanocellulose in food packaging - A SWOT analysis

Environmental concerns due to the wide use of plastic in food packaging have become one of the most significant challenges in the world. Consequently, the research in developing sustainable materials for food packaging has accelerated. Nanocellulose-based packaging is a biodegradable, renewable, and antimicrobial material with some competitive physicochemical characteristics when compared to plastic packaging. However, there has been insufficient research on a holistic discussion of the potentials and drawbacks of nanocellulose as well as its production, applications and disposal regarding sustainability. This study aims to evaluate the application of nanocellulose in food packaging. It gives an exhaustive overview of the essential aspects from the production to disposal of nanocellulose through a literature review. Then, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis is used to evaluate the potential and drawbacks of applying nanocellulose in food packaging. It has been observed that the physicochemical properties of nanocellulose materials have the potential to be used in food packaging with fewer negative impacts on the environment. Furthermore, it supports the top tiers of the waste hierarchy and a circular economy. However, some challenges need to be addressed to ensure the safe and effective use of nanocellulose in food packaging, including high expenses, a lack of guidelines, and potential hazards to people and the environment. To eliminate these uncertainties, more studies need to be performed on applying nanocellulose in food packaging.

Transforming the E-waste Management System

The aim of this research is to inform the transformation of the e-waste management in Dunedin by shifting the focus from recycling to activities higher in the waste hierarchy (for example, redesigning, reducing and refurbishing). Previous research has identified the importance and potential solutions of creating a circular economy for e-waste, but few have addressed the context of Dunedin's social and environmental economy. To gain insight into how Dunedin’s climate influences the e-waste management system, semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders involved in the production, processing and diversion of e-waste.
 The interviews focused on understanding current e-waste management practices, identified barriers and explored opportunities for collaboration with other stakeholders. This research hopes to generate recommendations to improve e-waste management in Dunedin that may be adopted in other areas to support sustainable consumption and production patterns. 
 Supervised by: Craig Cliff, Ray O’Brien
 Scholarship Project Funded by: Dunedin City Council

Meeting the challenges of the waste hierarchy: A performance evaluation of EU countries

The focus of this paper is to evaluate how well European countries are advancing towards a Circular Economy transition and to which extent they are fulfilling the European Union (EU) requirements in terms of municipal waste management. With this aim, an innovative composite indicator is devised by integrating the Goal Programming Synthetic Indicator (GPSI) methodology with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The suggested methodology allows to encompass not only the guidelines provided by the EU directives and the EU Waste Hierarchy, but also the deviations from the EU thresholds. As a first step of the analysis, a dashboard of indicators is identified together with a set of targets that European countries are supposed to meet. Indicators, targets and their relative importance in the dashboard have been discussed and validated by a team of experts. Then, two Goal Programming Synthetic Indicators are computed taking into account two different perspectives. The first one rewards the countries with good performance in the higher level of the Waste Hierarchy, while the second one penalizes countries whose infringements are in the lower part of the Waste Hierarchy. Hence two different systems of aggregating weights are identified by means of the Analytic Hierarchy Process and accordingly two scenarios are explored. The analysis is performed using Eurostat data on 28 European countries from 2013 to 2018. For each year, countries are assessed in terms of their ability to keep the right waste management track delineated by the Waste Hierarchy principles. Countries’ ranking over time is first obtained and then interpreted in light of countries policies and achievements, deriving policy suggestions to improve waste management strategy able to reach the expected results.

A Risk-based Approach for Waste Management in the Modern Circular Economy: Propositions from the EU Recycling Industries

EuRIC, the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation, proposes five regulatory actions to enhance material circularity: i) Set stable regulations based on the principle of "one substance - one assessment" along with realistic, evidence-based scientific risk assessments; ii) Prioritise increasing waste collection for a better elimination of substances of concern to reducing the concentration limit in recycled products; iii) Strict enforcement of an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for all restricted or banned substances, where exemptions should be carefully considered by evidence-based science; iv) Align the classification hazard systems used for waste materials with those used for products; v) Grant an end-of-waste status (EoW) at the output of a controlled, certified industrial loop. Those propositions create a level playing field for collection, sorting, and waste preparation within EU and an improved waste shipment. The underlying question is striking the right balance between the precautionary and responsibility principles in the circular economy. Given the presence of hazardous "legacy" substances and the prolonged life of certain products within an evolving regulatory framework, the recycling industry proposes controlled-risk solutions aligned with the intended use or recycled materials for products not yet ecodesigned. The recommendations suggest a shift in the waste definition, considering the fate of matter within the waste hierarchy—emphasizing prevention, management, and policy alignment with the principles of the circular economy. So, materials that can be prepared for reuse or recycling are categorized as pre-materials, while those suitable only for other recovery methods such as energy recovery or landfilling are considered wastes.

Evaluating localized conceptions and embedded applications of the Food Waste Hierarchy in luxury hotels

ABSTRACT The Food Waste Hierarchy is a prescriptive framework advocating the use of waste prevention and reuse strategies above less sustainable ones such as recycling, recovery, and disposal. However, its adoption and effective deployment in the tourism and hospitality sector remain questionable. This paper examines hospitality workers’ conceptions and applications of waste hierarchy principles within the context of routine operations to assess the implications of embedded organizational practices for the adoption of optimal approaches. Primary data were collected through documentary analysis, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews at luxury hotels. The data suggest that the Food Waste Hierarchy is not fully understood. Consequently, choices that do not help to maximize environmental benefits are often adopted. Furthermore, various levels of the hierarchy potentially conflict and undermine the implementation of other options. The findings stress that, although the general principles of the waste hierarchy clearly have merits, the application of this framework within tourism and hospitality is likely to be limited by several contextual factors. These factors shape employees’ behaviours and guide organizational routines in hotels that shape the prevention and effective management of food waste.