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Danish city uses waste management to negate its GHG impact

A study of Aalborg in northern Denmark has measured the impact of waste management changes and found that the city is now able to produce energy from its waste while saving on greenhouse gas emissions – where most cities use energy and create GHG emissions.

The findings have been published recently in Waste Management & Research (an ISWA publication). It is one of the few studies of recent times that has revealed the results of better waste management over the longer term. Historical data from the municipality of Aalborg was used, as well as assessments of sewage sludge, food waste, yard waste and other organic waste.

UK changes its approach to landfill diversion

After discussions with the European Commission, the UK government's environmental arm, Defra, has accepted that the calculations used in regard to EU Landfill Directive targets are currently too focused on waste collected by local authorities. A new approach, which includes much more commercial waste, will be used in future to bring the UK into line with otherMember States.

Greater convergence between the management of commercial and domestic waste is needed to ensure that the environmental impacts of all waste are taken into account. The new approach to municipal waste is based on the European Waste Catalogue and will basically mean that a lot more waste will be counted as municipal waste. This will mean the baseline on which landfill diversion targets were set for 2010, 2013 and 2020 will need to be amended. Defra remains confident that the UK will meet its current 2010 targets.

UBA warns RFID tags could affect recycling

The German Federal Environment agency (UBA) has released a study which highlights potential problems caused by Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. These tags are being, ever more frequently, used in packaging of consumer goods, and are set to eventually replace the barcode system widelyused now.

The tags are beneficial to consumers and retailers as they store more information in a smaller amount of space, and streamline the processes of checkout, warehousing and theft prevention. However, the tags contain silicon and aluminium which could contaminate the products they are placed on, and cause problems for recyclers further down the chain. A trace element of silicon when glass is melted down could affect the quality of recycled glass when it is used again, making it discoloured or less shatterproof.

There are estimated to be around 86 million tags in use in Germany today, with 20 million of these being placed on packaging. While this amount does not pose any threat to recycling systems today, the figure is expected to increase to over 23 billion by 2020. This would mean a sharp increase in copper, aluminium and silver into recycling processes, from 7 tonnes (2007) to 770 tonnes, plus an increase in silicon input.

UBA recommends close observation of tag types and volume and more dialogue between RFID manufacturers and the recycling industry in order to prevent this problem or createa solution.

Recycling leads to CO₂ reductions

A report showing that recycling could lead to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions was published and presented at the Bright Green Exhibition and Conference recently.

The conference was held by the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) in Copenhagen to coincide with the United Nations COP15 conference.

The study, which was carried out by Imperial College London, showed recycling can deliver carbon dioxide reductions of 500 tonnes a year. Dominique Maguin, president of BIR said, 'The figure of 500 million tonnes of reduced CO₂ is a conservative estimate based on sound scientific analysis.'

Francis Veys, director general of BIR said, 'The purpose of Bright Green is to showcase specific approaches to address climate change challenges. BIR will be supported by GI, the Danish recycling federation, to make the case for our industry.'

£12 million for London gasification plant

The London Waste and Recycling Board has announced it will give £12 million of guaranteed funding to a gasification plant proposed for a site in east London.

The plant will be run by London-based technology firm Biossence and will be located in Dagenham, Essex. It is expected to process 100,000 tonnes of London's waste per year and turn it into electricity.

It is expected the plant will cost £80 million in total.

Steel recycling rises in USA

Steel recycling reached an all time high of 83.3% in 2008, according to information released by the USA's Steel Recycling Institutelast month.

Steel recycling rates are compiled based on data from scrap processors, steel producers, the US Geological Survey and the US Environmental Protection Agency. The first three quarters of 2008 marked high levels of production and scrap usage in the United States and that, along with a full-year of high levels of steel scrap exporting, contributed to record numbers.

Bill Heenan, president of the Steel Recycling Institute said, 'Steel continues to be recycled at a higher volume than paper, plastic, glass, copper and aluminum combined, and the steel can still holds the distinction of being food's and beverage's most recycled container.'

Appliance recycling rates remained stable at 90% in 2008 as did structural steel at 97.5%, while construction reinforcement steel increased slightly to 70%. For every US ton of steel recycled, 2500 pounds (1133 kg) of iron ore, 1400 pounds (635 kg) of coal and 120 pounds (54 kg) of limestone are conserved.

PSF supports ship recycling

A pair of twin ships called Spirit of Tasmania have been recycling up to 400 kg of glass per week over the last two months in a trial of a new recycling scheme. Funded by the Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF) of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, the recycling service Bottlecycler has now been taken on as a permanent feature on the boats. The Bottlecycler machines sit in the bar area and crush bottles to an optimum size for recycling.

South Africa waste strategy

The South African government is reported to be hurrying to finalize its national waste strategy amid reports produced over the last year showing that waste is not being managed effectively and being allowedto stockpile.

There is also the issue of 2.6 billion plastic bags to contend with, which is causing a problem despite a national plastic recycling programme which was fundedby shoppers.

If the government succeeds in its aim to define mine slag as waste then its current production figure of 510 million tons (462.6 million tonnes) of mining waste will also increase significantly.

The national waste management strategy, which has been put in place to combat these problems, includes useful measures such as mandatory tax on plastic bags. But it has been overshadowed by high profile cases of illegal dumping including a 300-ton (272-tonne) medical waste pit found in Welkom in the Free State.

Plastic recycling is also a concern with Jay Singh from the Department of Environmental Affairs, saying, 'In order for the market to accept recycled plastic, the plastic needs to be relatively clean. Currently most recyclables are collected with general waste, as there is no separation of waste at source.'

Beijing to tax excess waste

A new tax designed to curb excess disposal of waste will be brought into effect in Beijing this year in an attempt to combat the city's growing waste problem. The vice-director of the Beijing municipal commission of administration, Chen Ling, has stated organizations and residents will be charged under the tiered scheme which would be proportional to the amount of waste produced.

The scheme will encourage recycling, and waste disposal standards for organizations will be released in the near future. Those that produce less waste than the standard will receive a reward,and those that produce morewill be fined.

Wales may ban certain wastes from landfill

The Welsh Assembly Government is investigating the possibility of banning certain waste streams from landfill sites, in accordance with the objectives given in the Welsh draft waste strategy, 'Towards Zero Waste'.

Wales sent 47% of its commercial, household and industrial waste to landfill in 2007 – a figure which does not compare well with other European states.

Key materials being considered with regard to bans include:

• food
• green
• paper and card
• textiles
• wood
• glass
• metals
• plastics
• waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
• biodegradable waste

The government has also announced a £1.5 million project, to help Welsh companies reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill. Two hundred and fifty companies will receive advice from consultants who will help them minimize their waste whilst increasing profits.

UK report helps improve recycling efficiency

Local authorities in the UK will be able to compare their kerbside collection schemes with the help of new research produced by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). An analysis of the government's WasteDataFlow has produced benchmarks which give an idea of how schemes shouldbe performing.

The report, called 'Analysis of kerbside dry recycling performance in England 2007/8', shows social and geographical differences have an effect on the results, so local authorities should compare their own results with areas that have similar conditions.

WRAP's Director for Local Government Services, Phillip Ward, said, 'These benchmarks should throw light on differences. All local authorities in England have now invested in some form of kerbside collection for dry recycling. WRAP is on-hand to help local authorities make the most of these benchmarks and identify targeted actions to squeeze more from their recycling collections.'

Researcher converts plastic bags into nanotubes

A researcher in the US has discovered a way to convert plastic bags into carbon nanotubes, it was reported in the Journal of Environmental Monitoring.

Vilas Ganpat Pol from the Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, United States converted high or low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE) into valuable multiwalled carbon nanotubes and used the nanotubes to make lithium ion batteries.

He made the nanotubes by cooking 1g pieces of HDPE or LDPE at 700°C for two hours in the presence of a cobalt acetate catalyst and then letting the mixture cool gradually.

Vilas Ganpat Pol said, 'Above 600°C the chemical bonds within the plastic completely break down and multiwalled carbon nanotubes grow on the surface of the catalytic particles.'

The discovery will potentially provide a new use for this waste.

EU Commission wants better adherence to waste law

The EU Commission has announced that waste laws are poorly implemented and enforced in many Member States. The reports adopted by the Commission show that significant changes must be made in order to ensure that waste management meets standards.

The research shows that the Waste Framework Directive, the Landfill Directive and the Waste Shipment Regulation are being poorly implemented. The problem lies in the fact that waste treatment options are unavailable and waste is not separated before collection.

In light of the fact that adherence to EU law would decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 30%, offer significant opportunities for companies to access valuable secondary raw materials, and decrease the currently high costs of cleaning up illegal dump sites – poor implementation of the law is costing the EU dearly in terms of social, economic and environmental benefits. 

in brief 

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has produced a report entitled 'Getting to 50 per cent and Beyond: Waste Diversion Success Stories from Canadian Municipalties'. It reports that in 2006 Canadians produced over 35 million tonnes of waste – a figure up 8% from 2004. The report shows that waste diversion is now seen as a key component of waste management, and its implementation has lead to many economic and environmental benefits. The report includes case studies which show how this isbest achieved.

The USA's non-profit recycling organization, the Container Recycling Institute (CRI) has released a report on single-stream recyclables collection. This has been a popular practice over the last 10 years, making things easier for the consumer who can place all recyclables together in one bin. However, it can cause problems with contamination of waste streams and produce lower quality recyclables.

The report looks at the impact of switching to single-stream recycling, and has been produced using data from industry reports and interviews with recyclers. It is designed to provide guidance which will allow municipalities to make the right decision for them.

The International Solid Waste Association's working group for Collection and Transportation has produced a report on littering and street cleansing which reveals how different European cities and towns approach their street cleaning. This report can be downloaded fromthe Collection and Transportation section of iswa.org.