LIFE and waste recycling - Innovative waste management options in Europe - LIFE III - Europa EU
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LIFE III LIFE and waste recycling Innovative waste management options in Europe
European Commission
Environment Directorate-General
LIFE (“The Financial Instrument for the Environment”) is a programme launched by the European Commission and coordinated
by the Environment Directorate-General (LIFE Unit - BU-9 02/1).
The content of the publication “LIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe” does not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the institutions of the European Union.
Authors: Nora Schiessler, Ed Thorpe, Wendy Jones, Leigh Philips. Editorial department: Eamon O’Hara (Astrale GEIE-AEIDL).
Managing editor: Philip Owen (European Commission, DG Environment, LIFE Unit). LIFE Focus series coordination: Simon
Goss (DG Environment, LIFE Communications Coordinator), Evelyne Jussiant (DG Environment, Communications Coordinator).
Graphic design: Daniel Renders, Anita Cortés. Production: Monique Braem.� The following people also worked on this issue:
Remo Savoia, Rosalinde Van der Vlies, Liga Blanka, Evija Brante, Pekka Hänninen, Zsuzsanna Kocsis-Kupper, Donald Lunan,
Laura Nocentini, Claudia Pfirrmann, Katerina Raftopoulou, Mariona Salvatella, Gabriela Staicu, Peter Vissers. Acknowledge-
ments: Thanks to all LIFE project beneficiaries who contributed comments, photos and other useful material for this report.
Photos: Cover: LIFE00 ENV/D/000318, LIFE00 ENV/GR/000688, LIFE00 ENV/IT/000223, LIFE 99/TCY/CY/041. Inside: From the
respective projects unless otherwise specified – This issue of LIFE Focus is published in English with a print-run of 5,000 copies
and is also available online.
Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union.
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It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu).
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2007
ISBN 978-92-79-07397-7
ISSN 1725-5619
© European Communities, 2007
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium
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Printed on recycled paper that has been awarded
the EU Ecolabel for graphic paper (http://ec.europa.eu/ecolabel/)
LIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe I p.
Klaus Kögler
Head of Unit - Sustainable Production &
Consumption
Directorate-General for the Environment
European Commission
For more than 30 years, efforts to reduce and avoid the negative impacts of waste on the environment and human
health have been central to EU environment policy. Significant progress has been made based on the principle of the
waste hierarchy that prioritises waste prevention and sees landfill generally as the least favourable waste manage-
ment option for the environment.
Heavily polluting landfills and incinerators are being cleaned up. Re-use, recycling and energy recovery are being
applied to regulated wastes. The diversion of biodegradable waste from landfills is an important contribution to
limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, while recycling and re-use are increasing, overall amounts of waste are still
growing, increasing demand for primary resources and stress on eco-systems.
This unsustainable trend reveals that, despite all progress achieved, the challenges for waste policy are still mounting
and a lot still needs to be done. The new EU ‘”Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste’” sets out
the objectives and means by which the EU can further improve the management of waste and make better use of its
material and energy resources. A closely related revision of the “Waste Framework Directive” will be voted on in the
European Parliament and in the European Council in the coming months.
In this context, now is an opportune moment to consider what promising and encouraging best practices already
exist. The more than 290 waste-related projects co-financed since 1992 under the European Commission’s LIFE
(Financial Instrument for the Environment) programme reveal some of the ways in which Europe’s waste management
challenge can be successfully tackled.
This LIFE-Focus brochure on “LIFE and waste recycling. Innovative waste management options in Europe” is there-
fore published at just the right time. It presents 20 projects, which represent a small but valuable selection of the
numerous successful waste-related LIFE initiatives that support the EU’s evolving waste policy. Covering the wide
range and scope of activities carried out over the years, these projects not only refer to solutions to waste as a prob-
lem, but also to opportunities to see waste as a valuable resource for industry, generating jobs and businesses.
The projects serve to highlight some of the key principles around which European environment policy is built. They
underline the value of information sharing and exchange and have the potential to contribute to the European Union’s
long term vision: to become a recycling society that seeks to avoid waste and uses waste as a resource.
Klaus Kögler
Head of Unit - Sustainable Production & Consumption
Directorate-General for the Environment
European Commission
Foreword.................................1 Waste oils....................... 23 End-of-life vehicles ........ 41
The aim: Moving towards ICOL: Driving up waste SuperRubber: Turning used
improved waste lube oil recycling rates in tyres into football pitches ....42
management...........................3 Greece...................................24
RENOFAP: Pioneering
EU waste strategy and Used Oil’s Highway: the treatment and re-use
legislation ...............................4 Romania’s first ever of diesel particulate filters.....45
management system for
LIFE: Support for an evolving KYPROS: Sustainable
waste oil ...............................27
EU waste policy......................9 management of end-of-life
DOL-EL: Recovery of base vehicles in Cyprus . ..............46
Packaging and plastic oil fractions from used
waste ............................. 11 oil lubricants..........................28 Hazardous waste............. 47
Paperfoam: The “baked Picked: Reducing nitrate
Waste from the
potato” reinvented as discharges from the steel
sustainable packaging..........12
construction and industry ................................48
demolition sector............ 29
AFM: Cleaner, safer water PERCUS: Recovering
filtration, thanks to recycled Recdemo: Concrete and valuable raw materials from
glass bottles..........................14 compost from recycled spent alkaline etchant .........52
demolition waste . ................30
WPC-Recycle: ‘Greener’ out-
door products from recycled PAROC-WIM: Innovative
waste recycling in the Further projects focussing
thermoplastic waste . ...........16
stone wool industry...............32 on recycling, re-use and
recovery...............................51
Organic and EQuation: Linking life-cycle
biodegradable waste . .... 17 assessment to sustainable List of available LIFE
building.................................34 publications...........................53
RECASH: Recycling ash
to enhance the sustainability Information on LIFE .............54
of biofuel production
Waste electrical and
from wood.............................18 electronic equipment...... 35
Bio Waste: Increasing HEATSUN: Pioneering the
the composting of household management of IT waste
bio-waste in Latvia . .............21 in Dublin................................36
ECOFILTER: Reducing SUMANEWAG: A major
ammonia emissions and advance for e-waste
odours from composting......22 management in Greece.........39
PIRR: New benchmarks in
the recycling of dangerous
technological waste .............40
LIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe I p.
The aim: Moving towards
improved waste management
The objectives of EU waste policy are to reduce the negative impact of waste on the environment
and public health and to ensure the most efficient use of resources, particularly natural resources.
Towards these goals, it aims to improve and strengthen measures to prevent the disposal of
waste and promote its re-use, recycling or recovery.
The challenges
Every production process generates
some form of waste and all material
placed on the market is destined to
become waste at one time or another.
This has already resulted in ever
growing waste mountains. Each year
1.3 billion tonnes of non-agricultural
waste is generated in the European
Union - some 58 million tonnes of
European Commission
which is hazardous. This amounts to
a yearly average of 570kg of waste
production for every man, woman
and child in the EU-15 (300-350kg in
the EU-10). Waste volumes are increasing at rates equalling and sometimes outpacing economic
growth
Waste represents an enormous loss of
resources in the form of both materials The objectives resource management - environ-
and energy. In addition, waste manage- mental policy needs to ensure that
ment itself creates environmental dam- The significant and growing envi- any negative environmental impact
age. Of the total waste generated in the ronmental, social and economic is minimised throughout the entire
EU, 31% is currently landfilled, 42% is challenges presented by waste life-cycle of resources. Life-cycle
recycled, 6% is incinerated with energy explain why the EU’s 6th Environ- thinking is also being introduced
recovery and 21% is unaccounted for. ment Action Programme identifies into waste policy. Furthermore, more
Landfilling and incineration contribute waste as one of its top four priori- ambitious waste prevention policies
to pollution of the air, water and soil ties. This EU-level work is based on and re-use of products and compo-
as well as noise and other nuisances. three principles: waste prevention; nents can also contribute to avoiding
Furthermore, the economic costs of recycling and re-use; and improving the negative environmental impact
municipal waste and hazardous waste final disposal and monitoring. from the extraction of primary raw
management alone amount to around materials and their transformation in
€75 billion a year. There have been waste policy production processes.
successes, including increases in
Waste is not just a serious problem; it recycling and reductions in dioxin For the EU, improving waste manage-
is also a growing problem. Between emissions from municipal waste ment is about becoming an economi-
1990 and 1995 - in the EU-25 - waste incinerators. However, the greater cally and environmentally efficient
generation rose 10% compared to a increases in waste generation mean recycling society that seeks to avoid
GDP increase of only 6.5%. Munici- that the EU still has the challenge waste, or, where this is impossible, to
pal waste is the single fastest grow- of decoupling the use of resources use it as a resource.. Supported with
ing waste stream; it increased by 19% and the generation of waste from high environmental standards, this will
between 1995 and 2003. The Joint the rate of economic growth. ensure the protection of human health
Research Centre predicts that 42.5% and the environment against the
more waste could be generated in An important tool to guide European harmful effects of waste and enable
2020 compared to 1995. efforts is the life-cycle approach to sustainable economic growth.
EU waste strategy and legislation
In the face of the growing challenges posed by waste generation, treatment and disposal, the EU
has placed waste management at the heart of its environment strategy. It has called for specific
efforts on the prevention and recycling of waste and the sustainable use of resources. EU legis-
lation has been adopted since the mid-1970s to provide a framework for action by the Member
States towards the overall objective of improved waste management.
??????
LIFE04 ENV/FIN/000299
The key objective of the Thematic Strategy on waste prevention and recycling is to make Europe a real recycling society.
Strategy The ‘worst’ options are identified as and management of wastes’ as one
the use of landfill and incineration of its four priorities. The objective
The EU strategy for waste manage- without energy recovery. This order is to ensure that the consumption
ment, adopted in 1989 and reviewed of preference is known as the ‘waste of renewable and non-renewable
in 19961, refers to prevention, re-use hierarchy’. resources does not exceed the carry-
and recovery, optimisation of final ing capacity of the environment and
disposal, and regulation of trans- The environment action pro- to achieve a decoupling of resource
port as strategic guidelines for the grammes (EAP) represent the EU’s use from economic growth through
management of waste in Europe. tool to define the priorities and objec- significantly improved resource effi-
The document specifies that waste tives of European environment policy ciency and waste reduction.
management should first of all aim at and to describe measures to be taken
preventing waste generation. If that is to help implement its sustainable The 6th EAP specifically targets a
not possible, material waste recycling development strategy. The 6th EAP2 20% reduction in the quantity of
and the incineration of waste with - adopted in 2002 - established ‘the waste going to final disposal by 2010
energy recovery should be pursued. sustainable use of natural resources and a 50% reduction by 2050. To this
LIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe I p.
aim, it defines several actions, such Framework legislation be taken during transportation. Pro-
as the improvement of existing waste cedures must take into account the
management schemes and invest- One of the first legal measures taken principles of self-sufficiency, prox-
ment in quantitative and qualitative to protect the environment at EU level imity of waste for disposal and prior
prevention. Furthermore, it called for was the waste framework Direc- informed consent.
the development of seven thematic tive (WFD)5 of 1975 (revised in 1991
strategies, including those on ‘the and codified in 2006). The WFD lays Processing and disposal
sustainable use of natural resources’ down the principles for – and there- facilities
and ‘the prevention and recycling of fore has a direct or indirect impact
waste’, which were published by the on - all other EU legislation related The European Union has laid down
European Commission on 21 Decem- to waste. It sets guidelines for waste strict conditions that need to be met
ber 2005. management in Member States, by European waste facilities. Common
including the obligation to take all technical operational standards aim at
The Thematic Strategy on the sustain- necessary steps to prevent waste reducing the impact of the treatment
able use of natural resources3 aims generation, to encourage re-use and and disposal of waste - particularly
to reduce the negative environmental to ensure safe disposal. Provisions incineration and landfilling - on the
impacts arising from the use of natu- relating to the establishment of an environment and human health.
ral resources in a growing economy. integrated and adequate network of
To achieve this it focuses on improv- disposal installations are intended to Based on the definition of differ-
ing knowledge, understanding and make the Community self-sufficient ent waste and landfill categories,
awareness of European resource use, in waste disposal. the Directive on landfill of waste8
developing monitoring tools, and fos- lays down a standard waste accep-
tering strategic approaches and pro- The Thematic Strategy on prevention tance procedure to avoid risks. This
cesses in specific economic sectors. and recycling of waste foresees a fur- includes the obligation that waste
It stresses that policies need to move ther revision of the WFD as described be landfilled according to type and
beyond emissions and waste control above. To improve implementation it treated before disposal. It defines
if they are to reduce the environmen- seeks to oblige all EU Member States wastes not to be accepted in any
tal impact of resource use; they must to develop national waste prevention landfill and sets up a system of oper-
cover the whole life-cycle of resources programmes. To contribute to better ating permits for landfill sites.
from collection to disposal. regulation it calls for the hazardous
waste and waste oil Directives (see The Directive on waste incinera-
A ‘European recycling society’ is below) to be merged with the WFD. tion9 covers waste incineration and
the long-term vision of the The- ‘co-incineration’ plants - the main
matic Strategy on the prevention The hazardous waste Directive 6 purpose of the latter being energy
and recycling of waste 4. It seeks of 1991 laid down stringent require- generation or the production of mate-
to promote a ‘recycling society’ in ments for the management of a list rial products. It introduced technical
Europe and provides the framework of commonly defined hazardous
for a comprehensive revision of EU wastes. It requires Member States Although the recycling of municipal
waste policy in view of the priorities to ensure that hazardous waste is waste has been increasing, this has
set on prevention and recycling in recorded, identified and not mixed been almost completely offset by an
the EAP. The strategy calls for the with other hazardous or non-haz- increase in municipal waste generation.
existing legal framework to be clari- ardous waste. It states that any
fied, simplified, streamlined and also establishment carrying out disposal
modernised with the introduction of operations must obtain a permit
a life-cycle analysis in policymaking. and be subject to inspection. The
It stresses that progress requires a competent authorities must publish
renewed emphasis on full implemen- plans for the management of haz-
tation of existing legislation and bet- ardous waste, to be evaluated by
ter knowledge and information on the the Commission.
current situation and best practice.
More ambitious waste prevention The Regulation on the shipment of
LIFE04 ENV/LV/000634
policies and common reference stan- waste7 sets out a system of control
dards for recycling are also needed for the movement of waste; it speci-
to prevent the threat of ‘eco-dump- fies the documentation to be pro-
ing’ in Europe. vided and the security measures to
LIFE05 ENV FIN 000539
Waste hierarchy "%34 /04)/.
0REVENT WASTE IN THE FIRST PLACE
Current EU waste policy is
based on a concept known 2E USE THE PRODUCT
as the ‘waste hierarchy’,
which classifies the dif- 2ECYCLE THE PRODUCT
ferent options for managing
waste from ‘best’ to ‘worst’ from 2ECYCLE OR COMPOST THE MATERIAL
an environmental perspective:
2ECOVER THE ENERGY BY INCINERATING
prevention; re-use; recycling;
recovery; and disposal. Although $ISPOSE OF THE PRODUCT IN A LANDFILL
the waste hierarchy should not
be seen as a rigid rule, the aim of 7/234 /04)/.
moving towards a recycling and
recovery society means moving up the hierarchy, away from environmentally dam-
aging landfill and incineration procedures.
Waste prevention awareness raising The Directive on waste electrical and The Directive on packaging and
poster
electronic equipment (WEEE)10 was packaging waste (adopted in 199412
introduced to tackle this fast growing and amended in 200413) supplemented
requirements and operational condi- waste stream by setting targets for the Community measures14 first intro-
tions for these plants, including the its separate collection, recovery and duced in the early 1980s, covering the
obligation for plants to have prior recycling. It shifts responsibility to packaging of liquid beverage contain-
authorisation. Emission limits are set producers for recycling electrical and ers intended for human consumption.
for certain pollutants released into electronic equipment, which consum- The directive sets out measures and
the air or water. ers can return to them free of charge. requirements for the prevention, re-
This is complemented by the Directive use and recovery of packaging waste
Special waste streams on the restriction of the use of cer- in Member States. It aims to harmonise
tain hazardous substances (RoHS)11, national schemes to ensure the viabil-
To complement the measures set out which requires the substitution of ity of collection and recycling activities
above, the EU has adopted detailed various heavy metals and brominated within the internal market.
legislation covering specific individ- flame retardants in new equipment
ual waste streams. These typically entering the market. Together, these The 1975 waste oil Directive15, as last
cover both preventative measures aim to provide incentives to improve amended by the 2000 waste incinera-
and common rules for separate col- the design of electrical and electronic tion Directive, promotes the safe col-
lection and treatment. equipment to facilitate recycling. lection and disposal of mineral-based
lubricants or industrial oils which
have become unfit for their original
intended use. According to the direc-
tive, Member States must ensure that
waste oils are collected and disposed
of appropriately. Priority should be
given to refining and thus regenerating
waste oils. Alternative procedures may
include combustion, destruction, stor-
age or tipping. The directive outlaws
certain disposal methods and requires
the registration and supervision of enti-
ties engaged in waste oil collection or
disposal.
LIFE03 ENV/S/000596
Bunker to receive used vehicle oil filters
and conveyer belt
LIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe I p.
LIFE99 ENV/NL/000232
The Directive on end-of-life vehi-
cles16 promotes more environmentally
friendly dismantling and recycling of
motor vehicles. It establishes targets
for the re-use, recycling and recov-
ery of vehicles and calls on manu-
facturers to incorporate recycling
objectives within vehicle design. It is
foreseen that vehicles may be put on
the market only if they are re-usable
and/or recyclable to a minimum of
85% by mass or are re-usable and/or
recoverable to a minimum of 95% by
mass. This has been complemented
by several pieces of implementing
legislation on spare parts, certificates
of destruction and rules on monitor-
ing implementation.
From September 2008, a new Bat-
tery Directive17 will ban mercury in
all batteries and cadmium in most
portable ones. In addition, it will The LIFE Paperfoam project developed an alternative packaging material made from
establish rules for the collection, potato starch, replacing traditional plastic CD holders.
recycling, treatment and disposal of
batteries and accumulators to reduce heavy metals, poorly biodegradable facilities. Inventories of closed facili-
the amount of hazardous substances organic compounds and potentially ties posing serious risks to the envi-
dumped in the environment. pathogenic organisms that can be ronment and health have also to be
found in sewage sludge. It prohibits drawn up.
The Directive on the disposal of the use of untreated sludge on agri-
polychlorinated biphenyls and cultural land unless it is injected or
polychlorinated terphenyls18 (PCB/ incorporated into the soil. It further 1 COM(96) 399
2 European Parliament and Council
PCT) aims at the controlled decon- regulates the use of sludge in agri- Decision No 1600/2002/EC
tamination and disposal of all PCBs culture to prevent contact with crops 3 COM(2005) 670
and equipment containing PCBs as and grazing animals. 4 COM(2005) 666
5 European Parliament and Council
soon as possible. It requires Mem- Directive 2003/30/EC
ber States to prepare inventories, The Directive on the management of 6 Council Directive 2003/96/EC
7 European Parliament and Council
collection plans and decontamina- waste from extractive industries20 Directive 2004/8/EC
tion and disposal plans for electrical aims at minimising negative effects 8 COM(2005) 265 final
9 COM(2006) 545 final
equipment manufactured before the on the environment and human health
10 European Parliament and Council
restrictions on PCB use. from the treatment and disposal of Directive 2002/91/EC
mining and quarrying waste. The 11 Council Directive 92/42/EEC
12 European Parliament and Council
With the Directive on sewage sludge Directive covers the planning, licens- Directive 2000/55/EC
used in agriculture19, the EU seeks ing, operation, closure and after-care 13 European Parliament and Council
Directive 96/57/EC
to prevent harmful effects on soil, of waste facilities and provides for a
14 Council Directive 92/75/EEC
vegetation, animals and humans from major-accident policy for high-risk 15 Council and Commission deci-
sions 2001/469/EC, 2003/168/EC,
EC/2422/2001
16 European Parliament and Council
Life-cycle thinking Directive 2005/32/EC
17 European Parliament and Council
Directive 2006/32/EC
The introduction of the concept of ‘life-cycle thinking’ to waste policy aims
18 European Parliament and Council
at ensuring that the optimal environmental option within the waste hierarchy Directive 2003/87/EC
is selected in each specific situation. The approach examines environmental 19 Council Directive 96/61/EC
20 European Parliament and Council
impacts at each stage in the life-cycle of a resource or a product with the aim of Directive 2006/21/EC
minimising the overall impacts.
LIFE: Support for an evolving
EU waste policy
Good waste management begins with preventing or minimising waste generation in the first
place. However, where waste material is produced, management and treatment solutions are
necessary. Featuring a wide range of innovative and successful waste-related LIFE projects, this
LIFE-Focus publication illustrates methods and technologies to treat waste in an optimal way to
reduce risks to human health and the environment.
LIFE00 ENV/GR/000739
Despite the numerous regulations Instrument for the Environment (LIFE)
adopted over the last decades, and demonstrate the technical feasibility
the intensive efforts of some Member and financial viability of methods and
States to reduce waste volumes, the technologies that can successfully
potential for waste prevention, recy- enhance environmental performance
cling, re-use and recovery in the EU is in the waste sector. These include not
not yet fully exploited. Unsustainable only a number of projects showing how
trends in waste generation need to be the planned introduction of life-cycle
stopped and waste management fur- thinking into waste policy can effecti-
ther improved. vely be implemented, but also many
‘win-win’ projects underlining that
EU waste policy has the potential to measures to protect the environment LIFE in action: Managing earthquake
reduce the negative environmental can also be financially beneficial. demolition waste in Greece.
impact of resource use and increase
resource efficiency in the European Current waste policy tools need to environmental problems, the pro-
economy. This will not only contri- be complemented by approaches gramme links research and com-
bute to maintaining the resource that promote smarter resource use. mercialisation. LIFE bridges the gap
base, essential for sustained eco- This can be achieved by changing between research and development
nomic growth, but developments in production and consumption pat- and large-scale application, and
waste management and recycling terns and through innovation, as assists the widespread dissemina-
will also generate jobs and business confirmed by the European Envi- tion of verified pioneering technolo-
opportunities. ronment Agency . gies and good practices.
Numerous projects co-financed by However, even innovative techno-
Recycling paper and cardboard
the European Commission’s Financial logies that can deliver sizable envi-
LIFE04 ENV/FIN/000299
ronmental benefits can have difficul-
Collecting batteries ties breaking into the market due to
high entry barriers when competing
against established conventional
technology.
LIFE represents an important tool
in helping to overcome such entry
barriers. By financing demonstra-
tion projects aimed at developing
and testing innovative solutions to
For example LIFE99 ENV/NL/000232,
LIFE02 ENV/GR/000373
LIFE02 ENV/E/000236, LIFE00 ENV/
S/000853, LIFE99 ENV/IRL/000605 or
LIFE02 ENV/E/000187.
EEA Signals 2004. A European Environ-
ment Agency update on selected issues,
p. 6AG
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LIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe I p.
Percentage of LIFE-Environment projects focusing on waste
Figure I: Percentage of LIFE-Environment projects focusing on waste
Since 1992, the percentage of waste-related LIFE-Environment projects has remained consistently high and close to the overall
average of 19%. (Please note that a cumulative budget covered 2000 and 2001 due to a delay in the launch of the call for proposals
under LIFE III.)
290 waste-related ment, recycling, re-use and recovery. private enterprises, underlining the
LIFE-Environment projects Some projects looked at waste in strong economic interest in reducing
general, while others focused on spe- the amount of waste produced.
Since 1992, LIFE-Environment has cific waste streams such as hazar-
financed more than 290 projects dous waste (19%), municipal waste The table below shows the range
focusing on waste. These have been (18%), packaging and plastic waste of private and public entities that
complemented by a number of waste- (10%), agricultural waste (9%), and have engaged -through LIFE - in
related LIFE-Third Countries and waste from electric and electronic efforts to improve waste mana-
some LIFE-Nature projects. In total, equipment (7%) or end-of-life gement. The projects covered in
19% of all LIFE-Environment projects vehicles (6%).
Waste-related LIFE-Environment projects by
the present brochure reflect this
approach
have specifically addressed issues
LIFE-Environment projects by approach balance: twelve of the twenty pro-
in the waste sector. Project themes Nearly half of the programme’s jects featured are managed by pri-
Percentage of waste-related LIFE-Environment
include waste collection, manage- waste-project beneficiaries were vate enterprises.
Enterprises constituted more projects per type of beneficiary
than 50% of the LIFE-Environment beneficiaries of waste-related projects.
Figure 2: Percentage of waste-related LIFE-Environment projects per type of beneficiary
4ECHNOLOGIES -ETHODS AND TOOLS !WARENESS RAISING 4ECHNOLOGIES -ETHODS AND TOOLS !WARENESS RAISING
Making efficient use of electricity
isessential.
Awareness raising
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Source:
E
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Waste-related
LIFE-Environment
LIFE-Environment
projects byprojects by
approach approach
LIFE-Environment
LIFE-Environment
projects byprojects
approachby approach
Figure 3: LIFE-Environment projects Figure 4: Waste-related LIFE-Environment
by approach projects by approach
4ECHNOLOGIES 4ECHNOLOGIES
-ETHODS AND TOOLS !WARENESS
-ETHODS AND TOOLS RAISING
!WARENESS RAISING 4ECHNOLOGIES 4ECHNOLOGIES
-ETHODS AND TOOLS !WARENESS
-ETHODS AND TOOLS RAISING
!WARENESS RAISING
Old Member States implemented the Over two-thirds of all waste-related therefore directly contributing to the
most waste-related projects, with the LIFE-Environment projects were realisation of the long-term goal of
most active countries being Spain technology-focused, compared to the European UnionAwareness raising
as defined Awareness
in the raising
(51 projects), France (44 projects) less than half of all LIFE-Environment Thematic Strategy on the prevention
and Italy (35 projects). However, two projects. This shows the particular and recycling of waste: to become
new Member States, Hungary and focus on developing new and more an economically and environmentally
Slovakia, had the highest proportion efficient technologies and impro- efficient recycling society.
(33%) each of projects focusing on vements in working methods in the
waste. waste sector. Support from LIFE is Disseminating results
Knowledge and information are
important to strengthening and
improving waste management
policy. This brochure aims to support
this need by highlighting successful
waste-related projects.
The projects featured are from 15 coun-
tries and were selected for their level of
innovation, the sustainability of their
outcomes, their relevance to environ-
mental policy and legislation, or their
demonstration value and transferability.
The initiatives chosen for this bro-
chure represent only a small sample
of the many LIFE waste projects.
Other exciting projects dealing with
this issue are listed on page 50 of this
publication, and many more can be
found on the LIFE website’s project
database at http://ec.europa.eu/envi-
ronment/life/project/Projects/index.
cfm or its thematic pages on waste at
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/
themes/waste/index.htm.
LIFE00 ENV/IRL/000764
Collection point for electrical and
electronic equipmentLIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe I p. 11
las t ic waste
d p
an
Packaging is now estimated to form
i ng
up to half the volume of municipal
waste in western Europe. Over the
ag
next ten years, the total amount of
P ac k
packaging waste in the EU-15 is
projected to increase by 20-25 %
compared to the year 2000.
Packaging comprises an increasing
proportion of non-degradable plastic
and produces toxic emissions during
incineration. It consumes significant
raw materials during its manufacture and typically has a
very short useful lifetime, soon becoming waste that must
be treated or thrown away. Although on the European scale,
there has been a continuous increase in the recycling rate of
packaging waste, the situation varies significantly between
Member States.
The EU packaging Directive encourages the esta-
blishment of re-use systems and sets clear tar-
gets for recovery and recycling. The LIFE
programme supported projects developing
innovations such as a self-supporting selec-
tive-collection system for plastic packa-
ging waste in the construction sector, a
divided packaging waste management
system for tourist use or foldable, reu-
sable, and recyclable boxes for fruit
and vegetable packaging.Packaging and plastic waste
Paperfoam: The ‘baked potato’
reinvented as sustainable packaging
This LIFE-project successfully demonstrated how injection moulding of potato starch and paper
can produce a new form of biodegradable packaging that is economical and of high quality.
Complaints abound concerning to ‘moisturise’ the packaging so that
the waste produced by packaging. it becomes more flexible and less
Although necessary for the protection brittle too.”
of products for distribution, storage,
sale and use, packaging often produces Alternative packaging solutions such
unbiodegradable waste that ends up in as EPS (polystyrene) and cardboard
landfills and frequently employs non- are far less environmentally friendly
renewable resources in its sometimes due to their origin (EPS) or their energy-
very energy-intensive production. intensive manufacturing process (card-
board). Paperfoam’s process is, com-
Whilst high-quality alternatives to tra- pared to corrugated board, much less
ditional petroleum-based packaging, energy intensive. This is because the
such as bio-plastics, have been devel- wet paper pulp that is used as base
oped in the past, these were all very material for corrugated board contains
expensive. Just over ten years ago, about 5% dry matter, whereas the sus-
however, Vertis B.V., a Dutch automa- Apple chose Paperfoam for its ability to pended solution of starch and water,
tion services provider, invented a pro- provide unusually shaped packaging. which forms the basis for Paperfoam,
cess and product, which they called contains 50% dry matter. This means
‘Paperfoam’ that addresses many of Vertis used Paperfoam to package that it uses about ten times less energy
these concerns. Paperfoam is a sus- products such as desktop phones, to reach the requested dry matter per-
tainable packaging solution which is DVDs and iPods. It could also be used, centage if Paperfoam is used as base
sufficiently cost-effective and of high however, for much more complicated material instead of corrugated board.
enough quality to be commercially and unusually shaped objects. Later Furthermore, Paperfoam can be eas-
attractive. on, the firm found that the packaging ily disposed of in any waste process
needed to be stronger to pass trans- (paper recycling, combustion or com-
The injection moulding technology that port and drop tests. This was achieved posting), as it is completely biode-
Vertis invented in 1996 produces a by adding paper to the mix. gradable and contains no toxic com-
substance made of renewable natural ponents.
fibres and potato starch - Paperfoam. ‘Baking’ sustainable packaging
In essence, the process involves the Vertis set up a separate company,
injection of a mixture of potato starch When you walk through the Paper- Paperfoam B.V., to oversee the imple-
and water into a mould before this foam offices, it smells more like the mentation of the ‘Paperfoam’ project.
mixture is then ‘baked’ in the heated baking of biscuits than baked pota- However, first of all, Paperfoam needed
mould. Once ejected from the mould, toes. “It is a sort of baking process,” to prove the viability of the technol-
the substance is ready to be used says Jan Wietze Huisman, the com- ogy. “We could not afford to produce
as packaging. This technology was pany’s director of research and tech- enough packaging ourselves to supply
a major breakthrough in terms of the nology. “In fact, it is quite like bak- worldwide,” recounts Huisman. “So
economies of production and the cost ing cookies in another way as well. we needed to prove that the machines
of biopolymer based foam-packaging, When you bake biscuits, the first day and the technology worked.”
especially when compared to other they are very brittle, but if you leave
techniques, such as wafer irons. The a tray of them on the kitchen table, Demonstrating viability
injection moulding technology origi- you notice that the next day, they are
nated in the plastics industry, but until slightly soggier, more flexible. This is Thus, with LIFE funding supporting a
Vertis’ development, no one had ever because they have absorbed some project that lasted from 1999 to 2001,
tried to use it to make starch-based, moisture from the air. Well, Paper- Paperfoam built a demonstration plant
biodegradable packaging. foam uses a similar sort of process to show the market that all conceiv-LIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe I p. 13
able kinds of packaging could be would be saved, when compared with still fairly small – there are 2 billion CD
constructed in a continuous produc- traditional packaging energy require- packages produced worldwide every
tion process, combining design tools ments, leading to a reduction of 300 year - but it is all part of the ‘green
(CAD), the injection moulding technique tonnes of CO2 equivalents. wave’ washing over the entertainment
and the company’s knowledge-base of industry at the moment as it replaces
fibre-starch recipes. An attractive technology its petroleum-based packaging.
Specifically, this demonstration plant As it happened, many firms have been Under pressure from environmen-
was meant to enable the Paperfoam attracted to the technology for reasons tal and labour rights campaigners,
company to attract its first commer- other than its eco-friendliness. “When the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart,
cial orders. This would be achieved people see Paperfoam, they think it is recently introduced a sustainability
by developing a packaging product beautiful and recyclable, but often it is ‘scorecard’ amongst its suppliers
that was qualitatively very good, bio- some of its other special characteris- – they were to deliver items that were
degradable, able to hold a weight of tics that attract clients,” notes Ciaran both good for the environment and
1kg, used less energy and contributed Jetten, Paperfoam’s sales manager. good for the bottom line. Taking heed
to a reduction in surpluses from the of this new approach, Universal Music
industrial processing of agricultural “For instance, because it is very diffi- Group chose Paperfoam as its pack-
substances into goods that are not cult for Paperfoam to be copied – the aging supplier to improve its sustain-
meant for human or animal consump- pre-mix that we add to the starch and ability score with the retail giant.
tion (agrification). water is a secret recipe: it is very dif-
ficult to make ‘pirate’ packaging.“ This For businesses in a declining sec-
At the end of the project, the results can help with the prevention of piracy tor such as record companies, most
were better than expected. Following of the product the packaging encases. packaging alternatives have proved
the demonstration project, the ben- “When companies track down what too expensive, even in large volumes.
eficiary generated orders from five might be a pirated copy of their prod- Paperfoam is thus a perfect fit, as it can
multinational companies primarily in uct, they can quickly tell if the pack- be produced in bulk and at low cost.
the non-food sector: Bosch, Siemens, aging is not Paperfoam. AMD, when Other major record labels, including
Packard, Detewe and Ascom. Fur- they were looking for new packaging Sony BMG and EMI have now also
thermore, it sold four licences, to firms for their hard-drives, went for Paper- decided to go with PaperFoam.
in Malaysia, Denmark, China and the foam for these anti-piracy qualities.”
US. The financial figures were also Similarly, Apple chose Paperfoam for This ‘green wave’ is expected to
better than expected, as more sales its ability to provide unusually shaped spread throughout the entertainment
revenue was received. Depending packaging for its sharp lines, a task for industry and beyond. Thanks to its
on the scale of production and pur- which traditional cardboard is less well ‘start-up’ demonstration funding from
pose of the Paperfoam packaging, an suited. LIFE, Paperfoam will be at the forefront
investment in machinery can be paid of developments, ‘baking’ its way to
back in seven years. As of the end However, because the technology sustainable packaging worldwide.
of the project, the profit after seven cycle for consumer electronics prod-
years was expected to be between ucts requires changes in packaging
€1.4 and €4.5 million. While the basic every three years or so, Paperfoam Project Number:
production cost is higher than other has decided to divide its business into LIFE99 ENV/NL/000232
types of packaging, when looking at two lines: the first services specialty Title: Paperfoam: demonstration
the entirety of the business produc- packaging needs of licensees; and the of the applicability of an innovative
tion chain, Paperfoam comes out second line services the packaging technology to produce packag-
cheaper. As it weighs so much less, needs of standard, more mainstream ings, made of natural fibres and
starch, which are both environmental
transit costs are lowered substantially, products that have longer technology
friendly and of a high quality
thus in the end, the cost to the end- cycles, and thus provide more con-
Beneficiary: Vertis B.V.
consumer are comparable to other stant business.
competing products. Additionally, the Total Budget: e 1,608,000
reduced transportation needs result in This second line has so far produced LIFE Contribution: e 358,000
lower CO2 emissions. mainly packaging that replaces the tra- Period: Feb-1999 to Aug-2001
ditional plastic CD and DVD packaging,
Website: www.paperfoam.com
In an energy audit performed in 2004, as well as that of gift cards. Paperfoam
Contact: Jan Wietze Huisman
Paperfoam found that in the following themselves now produce some 80 mil-
year, 2005, almost 7000 GJ of energy lion CD and DVD cases a year. This is Email: huisman@paperfoam.comPackaging and plastic waste
AFM: Cleaner, safer water filtration,
thanks to recycled glass bottles
This innovative UK project demonstrated the potential of using recycled glass as a medium for
water filtration. This not only provides an interesting secondary use for the bottles, but manages
to out-perform standard sand filtration methods in terms of water quality.
AFM proved to be highly effective
at removing bacteria, parasites and
organic matter in water filters tested
at several different locations, includ-
ing swimming pools and large aquari-
ums. It improved the quality of sew-
age effluent by eliminating 90% of
pollution and the quality of drinking
water by removing 30% more waste.
Results included the removal of spe-
cific pathogens, the reduction of dan-
gerous chemical compounds – such
as trichloramine and trihalomethanes
– and a reduction in chlorine con-
sumption of up to 80%.
AFM is presently used on a small
scale (approximately 1,000 tonnes) in
pressure filters to treat a wide range
of water types. However, this project
Recycled glass is the basis of the water filtration medium used here, in this Scottish served to demonstrate the tremen-
swimming pool dous growth potential of AFM for
tertiary treatment of sewerage efflu-
The project started from the observa- water supplies to the benefit of pub- ent, industrial wastewater, fish farms,
tion that 80% of water supplies in the lic health. It would also provide an swimming pools and landfill leachate.
UK were being treated by rapid gravity important new use for processed The Drinking Water Inspectorate has
and pressure sand filters, the perform- recycled glass. also approved AFM filters for use in
ance of which deteriorate as the bac- domestic water supply.
teria biomass in the sand develops. Recycled glass outperforms sand
Bacteria colonise the sand in sewage Before and after AFM treatment of
treatment works, drinking water and The project developed a process sewage effluent
swimming pool filters, producing a to create the AFM water filtration
sticky alginate coat that prevents the media from recycled glass bot-
filters from working properly after just tles. The glass is firstly reduced in
a few days. particle size to equate with sand.
It is then further processed to give
The Scottish-based marine bio- the media surface a high negative
logical company, Dryden Aqua, charge or zeta potential and amplify
believed they could develop a new the inherent properties of glass to
and innovative water filtration prod- provide catalytic activity. The nega-
uct called AFM (Active Filter Media) tive charge means that AFM can
from recycled glass. It expected that absorb much smaller particles than
AFM could prove to be more effec- sand, including sub-micron par-
tive than sand filtration systems for ticles as well a proportion of dis-
the treatment of municipal drinking solved organics.LIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe I p. 15
Although the product is more expen- Furthermore, since companies that
sive than the sand equivalent, the presently process glass for recycling
medium has a lifespan at least 3-4 in the UK are not accustomed to treat-
times longer than sand filter media. ing glass as a secondary product, but
Life-cycle cost analysis indicates a as a waste product, few of the big
return on capital investment measured recycling companies have the ability
in months, especially for wastewater to supply the glass processed in the
treatment, not to mention the health way required for the AFM product.
and safety benefits of the improved fil-
tration efficiency. The results and the Instead of a network, the benefici-
savings achieved were large enough ary therefore developed a working
to convince three local councils and relationship with one company to
many large private leisure centres in supply the required glass. It estab-
Scotland to adopt AFM in their swim- lished the first full-scale processing
ming pools. facility for AFM, primarily exploiting
waste green and brown bottles, with
Using recycled glass bottles a capacity to process 20,000 met-
ric tonnes per year. It is hoped that
Dr John Hargreaves, chief executive
Besides the obvious environmental an incremental increase in demand Scottish Water PLC, and minister for
and health advantages of the new for AFM will be met with a similar the environment Ross Finnie, MSP, visit
water filtering system, the project has increase in supply. the AFM system
also created a feasible secondary
use for the often wasted resource of Extending the use of AFM of the market. As drinking water
used glass and offered the potential and wastewater disposal standards
to decrease the use of virgin sand, a The fact that the AFM filter out-per- become stricter in the coming years,
non-renewable natural resource, in formed traditional sand filters in ini- AFM filtration will become increas-
water filtration. tial testing suggests there is much ingly attractive to water treatment
scope for the extended use of the facilities of all kinds.
Glass that is crushed and ready to be filter to provide improvements in
re-melted is called cullet. Based on the water quality. Opening up future The development of the AFM market
impressive results of the initial investi- markets to AFM could, for example, will provide considerable benefits to
gations, the project sought to create a contribute to removing the environ- public health and the aquatic envi-
network of suppliers for the raw cullet mental impact of industrial, sewage ronment. Furthermore, since a large
that would meet Dryden Aqua’s speci- and landfill wastewater discharges. It water plant may require up to 35
fications. However, despite the excess could also reduce the need for chem- tonnes of AFM, it will also contribute
of recyclable glass, this proved more ical treatment through improved pri- to boosting the market for recycled
difficult than anticipated, with the mary filtration. glass. The AFM LIFE project has
project unable to source adequate thus made an important contribu-
quantities of processed glass. The approval of AFM by the Drinking tion towards the double objective of
Water Inspectorate has already pre- enhancing wastewater treatment and
Much waste glass is reprocessed by sented opportunities for its use within waste glass recycling.
the recycling industry for use in indus- the water industry. Significantly, the
trial sectors such as the production political climate is currently highly
Project Number:
of aggregate for road building. This favourable for the future expansion
LIFE02 ENV/UK/000146
requires much less processing than is
Title: Development and applications
needed for AFM and at present there
of advanced filtration medium
is little economic incentive for glass
Beneficiary: Dryden Aqua Limited
to be processed in the specific way
required given the limited market for Total Budget: e 1,166,000
such a product. LIFE Contribution: e 176,000
Period: Jul-2002 to Jul-2005
Website: www.AFM.eu
Contact: Howard Dryden
Project logo showing the
Active Filter Media Email: aqua@drydenaqua.comPackaging and plastic waste
WPC-Recycle: ‘Greener’ outdoor
products from recycled
D
AR
AW
S
CT
JE 5
thermoplastic waste BE
ST
PR
O
20
04-2
00
This German LIFE project demonstrated a new technology to use recycled thermoplastic waste to
create ‘Wood Plastic Composites’ (WPC), a new, cost-effective and more environmentally friendly
material for manufacturing products for outdoor use.
Traditionally, products for outdoor use calibrated and cooled. This resulted in
such as garden furniture have had to a non-destructible adhesion without
be coated with duro-plastic resins and the need for additional glues.
treated with environmentally damag-
ing fungicides. The energy input during The new material proved to be
production is relatively high due to the weather-resistant, without the need
long treatment times at high tempera- for potentially environmentally harmful
tures. Furthermore, the combination of wood preservatives. The more effec-
chipboard and duro-plastic means that tive production process also reduced
used products cannot be recycled. the overall quantity of material needed
and minimised the use of new thermo-
Thermoplastic waste, such as pack- plastic material in wood-plastic-com- WPC can make use of more than just
aging waste, is also a major environ- posites. a handful of recycled pellets from ther-
moplastic waste
mental hazard. However, the German
project beneficiary Werzalit - a com- WPC does not require the use of fun-
pany specialising in veneer sheets, gicides, halogens, chlorines, or formal- injection moulding is about 60%. By
woodchip panels, furniture and dehyde, whilst the substitution of pure September 2007, six full-scale produc-
weather-resistant products - foresaw plastics with ecological wood-based tion lines and 16 new jobs had been
a way to recycle thermoplastic waste materials (domestic timber) helps created in Werzalit’s WPC department.
to create an environmentally friendly reduce CO2 emissions. It creates new Increasing quantities and varieties of
WPC material for outdoor products opportunities for recycling thermo- WPC products are being produced
that could itself be recycled after use. plastic waste material, thus extend- and the plastic wood compound sold
ing its life cycle. Future waste is also as granulate to other injection mould-
Cheaper and more prevented, since the material itself is ing companies. The material is now
environmentally friendly easily recycled and spare material and being used by well-known sound sys-
chippings can be easily remoulded. tem supplier Bose to equip Audi with
The combination of the technical char- high-fidelity speakers.
acteristics of woodchips and thermo- The project therefore successfully
plastics was shown to be feasible dur- demonstrated that the recycled mate-
ing laboratory research. The project rial could replace, and even outper- Project Number:
experimented with and optimised the form coated wood chipboards. The LIFE00 ENV/D/000348
production of WPC with young poly- new technology also offers economic Title: Pilot-plant for the material
propylene, substituting the thermo- benefits, since recycled polypropylene utilisation of plastic waste in the pro-
duction of products based on new,
plastic component up to 100% with is cheaper than young polypropylene.
polimer-bound wood materials
recycled polypropylene.
Beneficiary: Werzalit AG + Co KG
Since the project ended, compres-
Based on excellent test results, the sion moulding has been replaced by Total Budget: e 1,579,000
project produced decorative, covered, injection moulding and also extrusion. LIFE Contribution: e 153,000
semi-finished side panels using WPC Although extrusion products - such Period: Dec-2001 to May-2004
core material and thermoplastic foils as profiles for flooring - are still pro- Website: www.werzalit.de
suitable for outdoor use. The foils and duced with juvenile plastics because
Contact: Matthias Schulte
the extruded molten WPC core material of the high optical requirements,
were combined in a double belt press, the share of recycled plastic in the Email: m_schulte_of@werzalit.deLIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe I p. 17
le w a s t e
ad ab
g r
e Biodegradable waste is capable of
d
bio
undergoing biological decomposition.
It is made up of food waste, garden
waste, paper and cardboard, some tex-
Organic and
tiles and wood waste. Much of it comes
from ordinary households. On average,
the annual production of biodegradable
municipal waste is around 300kg per
capita in EEA member countries.
The main negative impact of biowaste occurs when it is
landfilled. This produces methane, a greenhouse gas which
is a potent greenhouse gas (21 times more potent than car-
bon dioxide) and which accounted for 3% of total green-
house gas emissions in the EU-15 in 1995. A major aim of
the European Landfill Directive is, therefore, to reduce the
amount of landfilled biodegradable waste and to apply life-
cycle thinking to biowaste management policies.
The three principal alternative treatments to landfill are
central composting, incineration with energy recovery and
recycling. The LIFE programme has supported the devel-
opment of such alternatives, including projects on the
recycling of organic waste through co-fermen-
tation in municipal sewage
sludge digesters, local sys-
tems for recycling waste-
water and organic household
waste, and the development
of biodegradable covers for
sustainable agriculture.You can also read
