Waste Hierarchy Research Articles

Принципи управління відходами та ресурсами у країнах ЄС

Метою статті є дослідження європейської системи управління відходами та ресурсами в контексті наближення національного законодавства до acquis communautaire, виходячи з відповідних загальних і спеціальних принципів.
 Наукова новизна зумовлена тим, що в умовах європейської інтеграції для України актуальним є зміна законодавства та практик у сфері поводження з відходами, модернізація відповідної інфраструктури та підвищення екологічної свідомості громадян. Узагальнено позитивний досвід управління відходами та ресурсами у країнах ЄС, досліджено зміст Директив ЄС у сфері поводження з відходами та ресурсами, наукові публікації з цієї тематики, відзначено, що більшість стандартів ЄС у цій сфері формулюються як принципи системи управління відходами та ресурсами. З’ясовано поняття і зміст категорії «принципи управління відходами», запропоновано їх класифікацію.
 Висновки. На підставі дефініцій «принципи права» та «принципи екологічної політики ЄС» визначено принципи управління відходами та ресурсами як основоположні ідеї та керівні положення, на підставі яких функціонує система управління відходами та ресурсами, вони визначають її загальну спрямованість, мету, цілі та структуру, а також встановлюють методи такого управління.
 Європейська система управління відходами та ресурсами базується на таких загальних принципах екологічної політики ЄС, як принцип сталого розвитку, принцип забруднювач повинен платити, принцип запровадження найкращих доступних технологій, принцип проведення превентивних заходів, принцип стимулювання екологічно чистих технологій та продуктів, принцип єдиної термінології та класифікації, принцип планування та звітності.
 До спеціальних принципів управління відходами та ресурсами можна віднести такі: принцип ієрархії поводження з відходами, який передбачає п’ятиступеневу систему пріоритетів у поводженні з відходами, починаючи з найбажаніших варіантів та закінчуючи небажаними варіантами, що можуть застосовуватися лише після попередніх: запобігання утворенню відходів; підготовка до повторного використання; переробка відходів; рекуперація енергії; ліквідація. Принцип самодостатності – означає створення кожною державою-членом ЄС відповідної інфраструктури, достатньої для утилізації і розміщення всіх відходів, що в ній генеруються. Принцип наближеності – полягає у тому, що збирання, утилізація та ліквідація відходів має здійснюватися якомога ближче до джерела їх утворення. Принцип розширеної відповідальності виробника (фізична чи юридична особа, яка за родом діяльності розвиває, оброблює, має справу, продає чи імпортує товари) – зобов’язання виробника забезпечувати організацію збирання, переробку та утилізацію своєї продукції після її використання, а також проведення інформаційних заходів для споживачів тощо.

Challenges and opportunities for reduction of single use plastics in healthcare: A case study of single use infant formula bottles in two Irish maternity hospitals

The issue of plastic pollution is now recognised as a catastrophic global crisis. Single-use plastics have attracted much attention in terms of elimination and mitigation measures. The concept of circular economy aims to attain a state where waste no longer exists. Pathways to eliminate or adapt stages of the life cycle, long before the end-of-life phase, are necessary to address single-use plastics.This paper examines single-use food packaging plastic waste in Irish maternity hospital settings through a case study of ready-to-use infant formula bottles. A quantitative and qualitative assessment of single-use plastics arising from infant feeding bottles is presented. Quantitative examination reveals a high variability in materials used for bottles, teats and associated packaging, thus creating difficulties in standardising labelling and identifying appropriate waste treatment options. Quantitative calculations reveal the extent of plastic waste generated by this single use product.Possible mitigation options include: demand reduction for single-use bottles in the first place, alternative solutions to eliminate single-use bottles, opportunities for manufacturers to address product design, impetus for policy makers to act on coherent labelling systems for materials and improved overall waste management. Considering the level of confusion at hospital and household levels as to best practice in recycling, this research highlights the need for targeted collaborative research utilising sectoral best practice, waste hierarchy and circular economy principles.

An account of the textile waste policy in China (1991–2017)

Abstract: The dramatic increase in textile waste and the ineffective disposal of textiles as emerging global issues are driving researchers to study new ways of thinking and designing textile waste policies with the aim of conserving resources and reducing the environmental impact of textile waste. However, there is limited research that systematically and comprehensively examines the development processes of policies that govern textile waste management. It is important to identify the underlying issues and improve textile waste management systems. This paper fills this gap by presenting a comprehensive study of the development and characteristics of policies related to textile waste in China. All the major textile waste policies issued between 1991 and 2017 at the central-government level have been examined to ensure accuracy and reliability. To achieve the descriptive objective of the study, content analysis was employed, and the following conclusions were derived: (1) The number of policies has gradually increased since more stringent textile waste management was introduced in 2001, and although the Chinese government has continuously reinforced its supervision from 2010 onwards, stringency remains low; (2) most policies regulate the recycling level of the waste hierarchy, as in open-loop recycling, and only a couple of polices regulate higher levels; and (3) the highly imbalanced structure of policy instrument types has been changing, and the variety of policy instruments has peaked in recent years. This paper contributes a general and important reference relating to textile waste policies for governments and businesses in other industrialized nations.

Waste hierarchy index for circular economy in waste management

The aim of current European Union waste management directives is to promote prevention of waste and the application of a waste management hierarchy: preparing for reuse, recycling, other recovery, and disposal. The Waste Framework Directive only measures the waste operations recycling, incineration, and landfill individually, not measuring the implementation of the waste hierarchy principle in Member States of the European Union. The present study proposes a waste hierarchy index (WHI) to measure the waste hierarchy within a circular economy context, applied to municipal solid waste. In developing the WHI, recycling and preparing for reuse, as defined by Eurostat, were considered as positive contributors to the circular economy, and incineration and landfill as negative contributors. The WHI was applied at different geographic scales (local and national levels) to verify its potential and limitations. The WHI is a direct and concise indicator that provides a holistic perspective on how waste is being managed. The WHI is more than a source of waste statistics; it is the beginning of a real discussion about how waste statistics should be managed to reach a circular economy through the implementation of waste hierarchy.

Model of Industrial Textile Waste Management

Manufacture of textiles significantly contributes not only to water resources, natural resources and inputs of pollutants into the atmosphere, setting and the amount of waste entering the landfill. Majority of textile products are made from mixed the composition of inorganic substances that naturally hard to break down. Textile waste can be recycled and can be used in new product development. In this paper, waste flows of textile cutting evaluated in the selected company, on the strength of the waste management hierarchy scheme, scenarios were offered for industrial textile waste and was created a model. The model was introduced to reduce industrial textile waste disposal to a landfill. It was recommended by the author that industrial textile waste can be new products, such as accessories, bags, animal wear and bearings, etc. The amount of textile waste to evaluate in the company set up research methodology, which is based on a real examination (cutting process monitoring, textile waste measuring, weighing) one month. Also, a methodology was developed to assess the actual textile waste streams and their change after installation scenarios analyzed. Methodology - evaluate the effectiveness of the model, based on sustainability indicators. Based on the waste hierarchy diagram, were created and evaluated textile scrap handling scenarios, according to the model developed. The created model was assessment of environmental, social and economic indicators. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.75.1.21703

Extended producer responsibility for waste tyres in the EU: Lessons learnt from three case studies – Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands

The article compares the performance of three Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems for tyres and discusses the respective policy context that leads to these results. It aims to give insight into the varied implementation of EPR policy through the presentation of case studies. The EPR systems for tyres in Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands are described and common success factors as well as weaknesses are examined. The systems mainly differ in respect of scope and targets for material and energy recovery. The presented case studies assign physical (through a take-back obligation) as well as financial (through an advanced disposal fee) responsibility to the producers. EPR for tyres has been found to reduce flytipping and illegal stockpiling of tyres; increase resource efficiency by increased recycling; and move waste tyre management up the waste hierarchy. It is found that best results for recycling are achieved, if the legislation sets quantitative targets and clearly defines waste status of tyres to maximise local reuse/retread. It is argued however, that recycling is favourable over reuse/retread in the case of waste tyres. The case studies show that an EPR system is no guarantee for waste treatment in the most environmentally sound way. An EPR system will only achieve its objectives if properly designed, implemented and enforced. If legislation allows, Producer Responsibility Organisations will find the cheapest, not the environmentally most favourable, solution for waste management.

Per capita municipal solid waste generation and its relationship with socioeconomic and demographic factors in a developing country

In Brazil, per capita municipal solid waste (MSW) generation has increased in recent years. This situation, combined with inadequate management of MSW, provides a disturbing scenario in the Brazilian States. For example, in the State of Goias, just 16 of 246 municipalities send their MSW to licensed landfills. To change this, one of the measures that Goias should adopt is the prevention of waste generation, as the waste hierarchy advocates. To do this, it is necessary to identify elements that may be associated with increased production of MSW. Thus, the objective of this study is to perform a statistical analysis to identify socioeconomic and demographic factors that may be associated with per capita MSW generation in the municipalities of Goias State. For such analysis, statistical techniques were used as descriptive analysis and linear regression. Results showed that daily per capita MSW generation in Goias can be better justified by socioeconomic and demographic variables than just by socioeconomic variables. The Municipal Human Development Index for Education has been shown to be a statistically significant variable to exert influence on the production of waste, in order to contribute to the 39% growth of daily per capita generation of MSW, in the State.

Waste-to-energy is compatible and complementary with recycling in the circular economy

This paper reviews the role of conventional waste-to-energy, i.e. incineration of (mainly) municipal solid waste with energy recovery, in the circular economy. It shows that, although waste-to-energy figures on a lower level in the European waste hierarchy than recycling, it plays, from an overall sustainability point of view, an essential, complementary and facilitating role within the circular economy. First of all, waste-to-energy combusts (or should combust) only waste that is non-recyclable for economic, technical or environmental reasons. This way waste-to-energy is compatible with recycling and only competes with landfill, which is lower in the waste hierarchy. Furthermore, waste-to-energy keeps material cycles, and ultimately the environment and humans largely free from toxic substances. Finally, waste-to-energy allows recovery of both energy and materials from non-recyclable waste and hence contributes to keeping materials in circulation. These arguments are elaborated and illustrated with many examples. This paper also points out the pitfalls of a circular economy if it merely focuses on material cycles, disregarding economic, environmental, social and health aspects of sustainability.

An assessment of achievements of the WEEE Directive in promoting movement up the waste hierarchy: experiences in the UK

Rapidly developing technology and an increasing number of products containing electrical or electronic functions, has led to discarded electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) being one of the fastest growing waste streams. The European Union (EU) has enacted several iterations of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive to address this complex waste stream. However, recycling dominates treatments for e-waste, despite the established ‘waste hierarchy’ showing waste prevention and reuse are generally preferable to recycling.This paper reports on 30 semi-structured interviews, undertaken across the EEE value chain, examining the impact of the WEEE Directive in the UK. The interviews confirmed that reuse takes place for a limited number of product types, mostly on a small scale. Additionally, whilst legislation has prompted innovation in recycling and higher capture rates, resource recovery is in practice limited to easily salvageable materials, whilst recovery of critical raw materials is often neglected. Furthermore, there is confusion around available collection networks, particularly for small WEEE, which consistently appears in residual waste streams.The waste hierarchy remains the key component of EU waste strategy and moving to the higher levels of the waste hierarchy is an essential part of achieving sustainable waste management and moving towards a circular economy. The paper proposes a series of measures to this end: promoting recovery routes and practices that facilitate reuse of suitable products, adapting recycling technology to increase recovery of critical raw materials and targeted policies to encourage the application of the waste hierarchy within a resource efficiency-oriented framework.

Metal Swarf and Cutting Fluid Waste Management in Metal Processing Industry

Metal swarf is unavoidable material in metal processing industry, also metal swarf treatment lead to cost savings by metal waste reduction and removing the cutting fluid waste, that cause to increasing process stability and metal value. It is interested that in how to recycle metal swarf especially when swarf surrounded by cutting fluid, is considered because these waste are classified as hazardous waste. The aim of the study is to increase the process efficiency and environmental performance by metal waste reduction at source which are the first step of the waste hierarchy. The results of the experiments showed that 3391 tons of metal swarf coated with cutting fluids which contained 2.29% cutting fluid be produced annually. It has been found that if the total amount of cutting fluid on the swarf surface be reduced to less than 1% leads to a significant mass reduction in the amount of hazardous waste. In this research, it was considered, 107,922 USD profit at the end of first year and 205,278 USD at the end of second year would be obtained by reducing the cutting fluid content from 2.29% to 0.8% with using cutting fluid that surrounded metal swarf separation equipment in manufacturing location.

Evaluation of a European textile sorting centre: Material flow analysis and life cycle inventory

Life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have shown that the optimal treatments of textile waste follow the waste hierarchy. Consequently, there is great potential for environmental improvements through ensuring that textiles are collected, reused, recycled and disposed of in the best possible way. Despite the fact that textile sorting centres play a central role in ensuring a high reuse rate, they have either been left out of previous LCAs or modelled based on low-quality data. In this study, a material flow analysis (MFA) of the textile flows in a sorting centre, and a life cycle inventory (LCI), was undertaken for the period 2015–2017, along with an assessment of the main economic factors. The MFA showed that the majority of the sorted textiles were indeed reusable, but their numbers decreased in the reference period, from 79.8% to 74.9%. The LCI and economic analysis showed increasing resource consumption in terms of electricity, gas (trucks) and packing per sorted tonne. Furthermore, the quality of textiles has generally decreased over the last decade, which is reflected in the share of reusable textiles of the highest quality, which undergo additional fine sorting. While in 2015, almost 33% of the reusable textiles were sorted out for fine sorting, in 2017, this figure was down to 29%. The number of recyclable textiles increased over the period, from 12.9% to17.3%, and the amount of waste also increased, from 5.4 to 6.0%. The results presented herein are important for properly representing the sorting process in modelling textile waste management.

Process of fruit peel waste biorefinery: a case study of citrus waste biorefinery, its environmental impacts and recommendations.

Fruit peels are a rich source of cellulose, hemicellulose, phenolic compounds, and terpenic compounds. Thus, they have the potential to be a novel renewable, sustainable, and low-cost raw material (source) for the production of several value-added products based on framework and concepts such as waste hierarchy that includes biofertilizers, dietary fiber, animal feed, industrial enzymes, substrate for the bioactive compounds production, synthesis of nanomaterials, and clean energy (from residual biomass). With a view of evaluating the environmental burden of biorefinery, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is performed for a representative citrus waste (CW) biorefinery. The functional unit used for LCA was set as 2500kg of CW processed. The overall GWP was observed to be 937.3kg CO2 equivalent per 2500kg of CW processed. On further analysis of the environmental impact, it was found that different steps contributed significantly, as shown by the various environmental indicator values. Alternative advanced process intensification technologies like microwave and ultrasound-assisted steps replacing the conventional steps when implemented show considerable reduction in environmental indicator values. The variations in the contribution to environmental indicators should be considered during the design and process selection of biorefineries.

An overview of the problems posed by plastic products and the role of extended producer responsibility in Europe

Plastic products are easy and convenient for our everyday use, but their negative impacts on human health and the environment cannot be overlooked. The negative impacts and effects of plastic waste are now widely known and have been subject of much recent media coverage, both in Europe and on a global level.Faced with increasing amounts of plastic waste, the European Union as a whole and many European governments in particular, are currently revising the policy options available to cope with the problem. One of the tools which may be deployed with a view to reducing the pressures posed by plastic waste, is the Extended Producer Responsibility principle. It is considered to be one of the major waste management policy instruments that support the implementation of the European waste hierarchy. Its application may assist in fostering the collection and recycling of waste streams that contain plastic. This paper presents an overview of the problems posed by plastic waste, and outlines their environmental dimensions. It discusses the role of the Extended Producer Responsibility principle and provides some recommendations that may be useful in enhancing extended producer responsibility.

LIQUID WASTE MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY. A WASTE-TO-ENERGY APPROACH

The purpose of this paper was to sum up the most appropriate pretreatment methods for destabilizing the oil waste emulsions coming from metal surface processing operations. A three steps oil waste management pretreatment methodology was proposed considering the application of the waste hierarchy and end-of waste criteria in the spirit of circular economic concept. Our main objective was to valorize the high energy content of oil waste flows using low cost pretreatment methods. The obtained phase can be used as a fuel substitute decreasing this way the waste volume to be disposed knowing that according to the waste hierarchy recycling is better than burning and burning is better than landfilling. The obtained results showed for the recovered oil phases the following values for the determined relevant indicators: carbon content 50 70%, humidity 20 65%, ash content 4 5% and superior heating value 6800 8800 Kcal/kg. The obtained results for the separated water phase were also encouraging: turbidity 20 30 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) and COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) 5000 7000 mg/L. The low costs physical-chemical pretreatment proposed technologies brought the obtained results in line with other more expensive hybrid technologies presented in recent literature in the field making them more attractive for the implementation within a circular economic model.

Superuse and upcycling through design: approaches and tools

In Italy, first EU Country to have made Green Public Procurement (GPP) one hundred per cent mandatory, the recovery of construction and demolition (C&D) waste, the use of recycled materials and design for disassembly have been mandatory in public building projects since 2015. Nevertheless, in Italy, the renovation and substitution of existing buildings, not conceived to be easily deconstructed, generates 53 million tons/year of C&D waste (80% mixed inert waste) while the recovery rate is limited. Since 2012, the research team has been engaged on the increase of resource productivity in the building sector with two focuses. With the Atlante Inerti Project, co-funded by the EIT Climate-KIC, the team has experimented the upcycling of aggregates from the recovery of inert waste in prefab concrete design products for the building and outdoor furniture industries, testing innovative production techniques (large scale additive 3D printing). Simultaneously, the main research focus is the integration of adaptive reuse of buildings with superuse of components and materials: strategies inherent to the preservative Italian approach, complemental and preferable to recycling according to the EU Waste Hierarchy, still underestimated by the Italian legislation. The team has experimented the process of scouting construction/industrial waste materials at the local scale, with the application of the harvest map tool, to complex urban districts in Rome, in order to demonstrate how superuse and upcycling can represent reliable technical options widely replicable on a supply chain scale for increasing resource productivity in the building sector.

Evaluating the environmental benefits of implementing Industrial Symbiosis to used electric vehicle batteries

For many countries, the transportation sector plays a critical role in the economy. Unfortunately, transportation contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the United States, there exists a very developed end of life (EoL) infrastructure for conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. As the market for Electric Vehicles (EVs) grows, this EoL infrastructure will need to keep pace with the changing vehicle technologies. One reason why this is of particular concern is the use of several high value and critical materials that have been procured using several resource-intensive manufacturing processes. The lack of adequate EoL infrastructure will result in the wastage of several materials resulting in increasing environmental burdens and the possibility of supply chain risks. This paper proposes the use of industrial symbiosis (IS) and principles of waste hierarchy to minimize material wastage and environmental burdens. A short case study evaluating the potential environmental benefits of rerouting degraded EV Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries as feedstock in an alternative industry is presented and the resulting environmental benefits are estimated.

Governance for system optimization and system change: The case of urban waste

This paper analyses urban waste systems to explore how local authorities can resolve challenges related to climate change, urbanization and resource depletion. The paper investigates how different public governance regimes affect local authorities’ ability to move upwards in the waste hierarchy. It identifies three different governance regimes – traditional bureaucracy, new public management and networked governance – and uses the insights from innovation in urban waste in three Norwegian city regions – Oslo, Drammen and Bergen – to illuminate how these regimes possess both strengths and weaknesses in how they affect system optimization and system change. The observed working practices signal that the issue of urban waste systems is perceived as a challenge of system optimization rather than system change. Viewing this as a challenge requiring system change would probably have ensured a stronger directionality and a broader anchoring of actors. Such an approach is likely to have arrived at a waste prevention mode earlier than the step-by-step-solutions implemented so far. The paper concludes that there is not one best governance regime, but a need to acknowledge their co-existence and carefully consider the characteristics of the respective regimes in order to arrange urban waste systems for long-term dynamic and sustainable city regions.

Environmental-Economic Analysis of Integrated Organic Waste and Wastewater Management Systems: A Case Study from Aarhus City (Denmark)

This study presents a comparative analysis of the environmental and economic performances of four integrated waste and wastewater management scenarios in the city of Aarhus in Denmark. The purpose of this analysis is to deliver decision support regarding whether (i) the installation of food waste disposers in private homes (AS1) or (ii) separate collection and transport of organic waste to biogas plants is a more viable environmental and economic solution (AS2). Higher environmental benefits, e.g., mitigation of human health impacts and climate change, are obtained by transforming the existing waste combustion system into scenario (ii). Trade-offs in terms of increased marine eutrophication and terrestrial ecotoxicity result from moving up the waste hierarchy; i.e., from waste incineration to biogas production at wastewater treatment plants with anaerobic sludge digestion. Scenario (i) performs with lower energy efficiency compared to scenario (ii). Furthermore, when considering the uncertainty in the extra damage cost to the sewer system that may be associated to the installation of food waste disposers, scenario (ii) is the most flexible, robust, and less risky economic solution. From an economic, environmental, and resource efficiency point of view, separate collection and transport of biowaste to biogas plants is the most sustainable solution.

Systematic environmental assessment of end-of-life pathways for domestic refrigerators

Rigorous and fair comparison of end-of-life handling options for domestic refrigerators is much more complicated than simple policy perspectives such as the waste hierarchy might suggest. The drive towards product reuse over material recycling merits particularly close attention. This study explores the factors that might influence policy and decision-making in this area, with a view to minimising overall environmental impact. The work combines life-cycle assessments of refrigerators with models for product performance over time to give a sector-wide perspective on these issues. Generally-accepted tenets such as the preferability of product reuse are shown to be provisional, heavily dependent on factors such as the electricity mix, and non-uniform for different measures of impact. A more general and complicated picture emerges, and recommendations for existing policy and ongoing work are developed.

Challenging Changes – Connecting Waste Hierarchy and Circular Economy

Challenging Changes – Connecting Waste Hierarchy and Circular Economy