MSW management in Europe
Cesar Preda
A survey of 47 Member States in the Council of Europe
by Cesar Preda
Nowadays there is broad consensus that proper management of solid waste represents a central pillar of far-sighted, sustainable environmental policies, and that inadequate waste management results in considerable public health hazards and additional costs in both the short and the long term.
As a delegate to the Council of Europe (see box one) and being aware of the importance of the subject to any country, I started an initiative in early 2006 with the aim of gathering and conveying relevant and comprehensive information on status, achievements and shortcomings in the area of municipal solid waste (MSW) management across Europe. The aim was to stimulate suitable policy initiatives where necessary, appropriate and promising.
The resultant data inquiry - conducted by the Austrian consultancy firm TBU - seeks to collate for the first time information related to solid waste from all 47 Member States of the Council of Europe, representing a total population of about 800 million. It should be seen as the start of a process with significant potential to harmonize information relating to waste management and to improve generally the understanding of issues in this industry across nations and on a pan-European scale.
This report, published here publicly for the first time, provides an overview of the key findings of the survey, including the relevant Resolution of the Council of Europe as a tangible political result.
Waste per capita
The survey - which was targeted at a Ministerial level (with responses also from environmental protection agencies or similar bodies) - achieved a population-weighted response rate of 55%. By number of countries, the response rate was about two thirds. This indicates that smaller countries were more likely to co-operate than larger countries. Indeed, if the Russian Federation, Ukraine, France and Italy had participated then the survey would have covered about 93% of the total population.
Figure 1 shows the quantities of MSW plus separately collected materials per capita for a selection of countries. The extremely high values reported by Liechtenstein and Monaco can be explained by the high level of economic activity in these countries plus an unknown number of unregistered non-residents. It is evident from the remaining values that countries with long-established waste management systems show higher proportions of separately collected materials compared with the countries in the right-hand third of the graph.
Transboundary co-operation
Turning to international cooperation, the survey revealed four cases of joint disposal - which is defined as two or more countries that formally (on a legal basis) share disposal structures.
Andorra (with Spain) and Liechtenstein (with Switzerland) have formed disposal partnerships with their larger neighbours, which makes good sense for countries of this small size. In addition, Finland maintains some co-operation in waste disposal with Norway and Sweden. The recent reunification of the two ‘half-cities’ of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Nuova Gorizia (Italy) also seems to have resulted in a joint mechanical-biological waste treatment (MBT) plant.
Technology choices
The level of ‘home-grown’ technology usually allows some conclusions to be drawn on the status of development in a particular sector. With this in mind, responses to the question ‘Is MSW treatment technology predominantly imported, of domestic origin or mixed imported/domestic?’ show that 41% of the responding countries (15 countries) rely on imported technology, 9 countries are self-sufficient and 2 use a mixture of imported and domestic technology.
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FIGURE 2. The range of typical disposal costs (excluding collection) by responding country. Data shown in brown includes pre-treatment by incineration or MBT; that in blue indicates landfilling or predominantly landfilling in the case of Hungary, the UK and the Czech Republic
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And the related question - ‘Does your country export MSW treatment and disposal technology?’ - shows that only 6 responding countries are exporting technology related to waste treatment.
Economics
The information received on disposal economics (see Figure 2) reflects the higher technical standards applied to solid waste treatment and disposal in Western and Central Europe.
And Figure 3 reveals that landfill levies are at present only applied as an economic steering tool (in order to foster treatment prior to landfilling) in EU Member States and, by and large, only in more highly developed waste management systems. Germany is a clear exception in this respect. The example of Austria (which currently charges €87/tonne for untreated waste on landfills, the highest cost worldwide) shows that landfill levies potentially represent a useful element in an up-to-date solid waste management system.
Political perspective
When probing the issue of political accountability, the survey asked ‘Are MSW related issues assigned to one single ministry on a national level?’. More than one government ministry was found to be responsible for solid waste related issues in one third of responding countries. On reflection this can be viewed as a positive development since things would have been significantly different 25 years ago: waste was a matter that was dealt with - if at all - partially by public health, partially by water, partially by mining and partially by public affairs agencies.
Tied in with ministerial responsibility are the linked issues of reporting (i.e. data collation) and planning. MSW amounts were shown to be reported at least annually to an institution at a national level in over 80% of responding countries. And 78% of countries were found to have a national plan that dealt with MSW (see box 2).
Responses concerning time targets within the national plan for the reduction of MSW - or fractions of it - revealed that it is not only EU Member States (which have obligations such as to reduce biodegradable MSW components significantly over time) that pursue such waste-reduction goals. Indeed, 26 responding countries indicated that their national plans contain time targets. This is encouraging news, though naturally it is important to ensure that action is taken to pursue such targets. In terms of timeframe, 45% of responding EU Member States (10 countries) were targeting 2010 as a key ‘first’ date to reduce biodegradable municipal waste according to the Landfill Directive.
Collection rates
In brief, when looking at the quantity of MSW that is collected regularly in different countries, nearly half of the 24 countries that responded on this issue - Austria, Andorra, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland and the UK - estimate 100% MSW collection rates. The remaining countries, which by and large are from Eastern and South-eastern Europe, reported collection grades below 100%.
The Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland and Slovenia report collection rates of >95%; Azerbaijan, Estonia, Greece, Hungary and Sweden 90-95%; Bulgaria, Romania and Poland 80-85%; and Ireland 77%. The reported minimum was 50% for Montenegro.
Conclusions
Having collated and studied the data selectively summarized in this article and, following its calling to develop common and democratic principles, the Council of Europe has adopted Resolution 1543 (see box three). This incorporates the understanding that minimum standards with respect to the handling of MSW are required throughout Europe.
It is impractical to draw more broad-sweeping conclusions from this research. Indeed, the Resolution is almost a conclusion in itself - as well as a starting block. It is important for stakeholders in Europe to view activity in this sector beyond the boundaries of the European Union. Potentially valuable lessons can be learned and best practice shared with enhanced communication.
Cesar Preda is a Member of the Romanian Parliament
e-mail: preda.rrr@buzau.ro
Acknowledgements
Martin Steiner was an important contributor to this article along with Erich Vogel, both from TBU Austria.
Box1. The Council of Europe
The Council of Europe was founded in 1949. Today, theorganization comprises 47 Member States in the Europeanregion (with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Turkey alsoextending into Western Asia and Russia into North Asia). With the exception of Belarus, all European states haveacceded to the Council of Europe. It can be seen as thepolitical representative of Europe beyond the European Union,which currently includes 27 Member States.
Box 2. Which countries have a national plan?
26 Member countries were found to have a national levelagency dealing with MSW issues, and 29 Member countriesreplied that they have developed a national waste plan. Thefive responding countries without a national plan on MSWinclude two miniature states and the two representatives fromCaucasia, namely Georgia and Azerbaijan, where issuesrelated to the environment still attract a much lower level ofpolitical attention than in Central Europe (their co-operation inthis initiative therefore deserves particular acclaim). Turkey,the fifth country, reports that an MSW strategy is currentlybeing prepared as part of a National Environmental Strategy.
Box 3. Resolution 1543 of the Council of Europe
The essential content of Resolution 1543, adopted on 16 Mar 2007 by the Standing Committee acting on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, is given here. There are significant differences between Council of Europe Member States regarding solid waste management standards and practices. The Assembly therefore urges member states to develop an integrated approach to municipal solid waste management in order to contribute to sustainable urban development in Europe, in particular by:
- Ensuring compliance with occupational health and safety standards during the collection, processing and landfilling of all types of waste, in particular by banning any bare-handed operations and any recovery of waste from landfills without proper protection and regular health checks for the persons involved.
- Establishing regular waste collection systems for all urban, suburban and rural areas (exceptions should only be granted for remote locations with approved, safe, individual waste disposal facilities) and including in the relevant legislation phased targets for the provision of municipal solid waste collection systems in accordance with the requirements of European Union Directive No 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste.
- Enforcing compliance with strict standards for landfilling, for instance:
- landfills must be fenced and patrolled;
- waste accepted at landfills must be recorded;
- waste placed in landfills must regularly be covered with suitable material (e.g. construction debris) in order to reduce odour, windblown litter and vermin;
- adjacent groundwater must be monitored.
- Depending on local hydrogeology, suitable measures for groundwater protection (such as landfill liners and leachate collection, etc.) must be put in place.
- Planning waste management through the development of strategies including the gradual reduction/phasing out of the landfilling of specific waste streams, given their recyclability and/or the impacts related to their disposal (e.g. biodegradable waste).
- Assigning municipalities responsibility for managing waste from households, businesses, institutions, and construction and demolition activities within their territory and enabling municipalities that are too small to provide the relevant services to set up inter-municipal consortia for solid waste management.
- Facilitating co-operation between European towns and cities to allow information exchanges so that the best solutions in terms both of administrative management of municipal solid waste and of processing technologies are disseminated and used Europe-wide.
- Encouraging R&D in the field of solid waste processing and recycling.
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