Volume: 9 Issue: 2 March / April 2008

Regulars
From the editor
The latest creation from the makers of Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo is a waste disposal robot trapped on an abandoned earth.

ISWA comments
Our world of waste is continuing its trend of making meaningful, positive steps towards more sustainable practices.

Comment
The problems associated with sustainable waste management are, like many other environmental concerns, horizontal in nature.

Features
Problem or opportunity? How to deal with old landfills
In March last year the European Commission decided to start legal action against 14 European Member States for inadequately transposing the EU’s legislation on the landfilling of waste into their national law.

Waste Leaders: Seeds of change in Israel
Israel has managed to make important improvements to waste management within a relatively short time-period by using both carrot and stick

The twin towns challenge: Could the competition of a ‘twin’ help boost recycling ratios?
What started out as an act of friendship to create warmer relations between communities in France and Germany after two world wars, soon grew to become a platform for exchange visits by school children and then wider cultural events for everyone else.

Shredding past, present and future; Two European companies under the spotlight
In 1857, a blacksmith named Søren Jochumsen and a merchant named Johan P. Møller founded the Danish company they called Møller & Jochumsen – M&J Industries A/S was 150 years old last year.

Renewable energy from bioresiduals and waste: Designing a viable project in an overheated European market
Recent changes in EU and national waste legislation and a growing focus on renewable energy have resulted in a very dynamic, if not overheated, market for waste-to-energy (WTE) and for biomass power and combined heat and power (CHP) projects.

Cutting edges: Trends in composting technologies
Composting is the natural biological decomposition of all kinds of organic materials by micro-organisms.

‘Start-of-pipe’ solutions: The conversion of landfill gas into pipeline gas
Western Pennsylvania, USA has a history of new fuel discoveries and initiatives.

The true value of compost: Expanding new markets and the potential of this resource
Successful business practices within the waste sector obey rules that apply elsewhere too.

CBAs and LCAs: Learning from Nordic best practice
European waste managers and policy-makers increasingly demand tools that can offer them science-based arguments to support their decisions.

Geomembranes in landfills: Overview of liners, caps and floating covers
Geomembranes, predominantly high-density polyethylene (HDPE), have been used as bottom liners in landfills for almost 30 years.

A site better: How 360 excavator-mounted attachments could reduce construction’s carbon footprint
The equipment used to recycle construction site waste is echoing the ‘downsizing’ trend already common in the construction industry, by developing specific machines for urban applications.