Cost-efficiency in packaging waste management: The case of Belgium

In order to exploit economies of scale Belgian municipalities regularly cooperate in the provision of waste related services. In particular for the collection and separation of household packaging waste, municipalities appear to seek technical and cost efficiency gains by cooperating via municipal waste joint ventures. Although most Belgian municipal waste joint ventures can present excellent recycling and recovery rates for household packaging waste, their performance in terms of cost-efficiency has never been assessed. Using a unique dataset comprising of the costs for all 35 Belgian municipal waste joint ventures in 2010, this paper present the first assessment of the cost efficiency of household packaging waste collection in Belgium. As we are not sure on the relative importance of the separate cost efficiency scores for the three selectively collected household packaging waste fractions when determining the overall cost efficiency, this paper draws on the Benefit-of-the-Doubt approach. Our results indicate that, despite the substantial cooperation between municipalities, still considerable differences in cost efficiency for household packaging waste collection exist.     

The paradox of packaging optimization – a characterization of packaging source reduction in the Netherlands

The European Council Directive 94/62/EC for Packaging and Packaging Waste requires that Member States implement packaging waste prevention measures. However, consumption and subsequently packaging waste figures are still growing annually. It suggests that policies to accomplish packaging waste prevention do not suffice, especially since developments are less insightful as these are part of a self-declaring compliance system. This study is aimed at expanding the understanding of packaging source reduction. We collected and evaluated 131 available options implemented in the Netherlands in the period 2005–2010. Lightweighting has been identified as the most frequently applied packaging source reduction method, indicating that the packaging industry prioritizes low-effort and familiar concepts, despite the dichotomy in efficacy.     

Recycling and reducing packaging waste: How the United States compares to other countries

This report summarizes current developments in the United States and 18 other industrial countries regarding packaging waste. It presents available data concerning the types, amounts, and methods of managing such waste and provides information concerning the policies established or under consideration to reduce the amount of such waste being disposed. The countries discussed are all members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).In recent years, waste disposal capacity has become more scarce in most OECD countries. As a result, waste management policies have focused on efforts to reduce and recycle major components of the waste stream. Packaging represents about one-third of municipal solid waste in many countries. Because of this, measures to reduce the amount and toxicity of packaging and to encourage its recycling are currently being considered in at least 18 OECD countries. In addition, the EC and the Nordic Council are developing programs to address packaging on a regional basis.The report is divided into four main sections. Section I summarizes available information for the OECD countries. The second section discusses waste generation and recycling rates for six types of packaging material: paper, glass, metal, plastic, wood, and composites. The third section discusses key questions raised by the information presented in the report. The fourth briefly discusses packaging waste issues facing the Congress.In general, the report finds, other countries use less packaging than the United States, recycle more of it, and are considering policy measures stronger than the measures generally being considered in America. As noted in detail, other countries have adopted or are developing requirements that:

• • set mandatory requirements for packaging waste reduction;

• • require reusable or refillable packaging;

• • impose taxes to discourage single-use packages;

• • prohibit the use of non-recyclable packaging,

• • prohibit or limit disposal of packaging, and

• • require manufacturers of packaging materials to collect and recycle post-consumer waste.

Perhaps the most fundamental issue raised by these approaches is whether local governments will continue to bear responsibility for funding and operating recycling programs or whether all or some of this responsibility might be shifted to industry. To date, this issue has not been joined in the Congress directly; however, there is a growing consensus in other countries concerning the advantages of industry responsibility.     

Costs and benefits of packaging waste recycling systems

This Special Issue provides several different perspectives on the complex issue of packaging waste recycling. It comprises a diverse and rich set of contributions with insights from very different disciplines that range from economics to engineering. All types of “costs and benefits” are addressed in this collection of articles. In addition to the economic and strictly financial impacts of selective collection and sorting of packaging waste, several authors discuss other types of impacts, such as the environmental and social ones. The reader will find articles that address recycling systems as a whole, pieces that focus on specific impacts and detailed discussions of particular material streams or waste management strategies. The Special Issue represents an indispensable resource for academics, policy-makers and practitioners with interests in recycling and packaging waste management.     

System dynamics model for analyzing effects of eco-design policy on packaging waste management system

EU's long-term objective is to become a recycling and resource effective society, where waste is utilized as a resource and waste generation is prevented. A system dynamics model was developed to analyze the policy mechanisms that promote packaging material efficiency in products through increased recycling rates. The model includes economic incentives such as packaging and landfill taxes combined with market mechanisms, behavioral aspects and ecological considerations in terms of material efficiency (the packaging material per product unit, recycled fraction in products). The paper presents the results of application of various policy instruments for increasing packaging material efficiency and recovery rate and reducing landfilled fraction. The results show that a packaging tax is an effective policy instrument for increasing the material efficiency. It ensures the decrease of the total consumption of materials and subsequent waste generation. The tax helps to counteract a rebound effect, which, as identified by the analysis, can be caused by reduced material costs due to eco-design. The model is applied to the case of Latvia. Yet, the elements and structure of the model developed are similar to waste management systems in many countries. By changing numeric values of certain parameters, the model can be applied to analyze policy mechanisms in other countries.     

The costs and benefits of packaging waste management systems in Europe: the perspective of local authorities

Local authorities are generally in charge of household packaging waste management operations, particularly in countries with Green Dot schemes or similar extended producer responsibility systems. This leads to the need of establishing a system of financial transfers between the packaging industry and the local authorities (regarding the costs involved in selective collection and sorting). In the present study, the costs and benefits of recycling, from the perspective of local authorities, are compared for Portugal, Belgium and Italy (in Lombardia region), adopting the same economic–financial methodology. The results show that the industry is not paying the net cost of packaging waste management. If the savings attained by diverting packaging waste from other treatment operations are not considered, it seems that the industry should increase the financial support to local authorities. However, if the avoided costs with other treatments are considered as a benefit for local authorities, the costs are generally outweighed by the benefits, and the financial support could, therefore, be reduced.     

Assessment of plastic packaging waste: Material origin,methods, properties

The global plastics production has increased annually and a substantial part is used for packaging (in Europe 39%). Most plastic packages are discarded after a relatively short service life and the resulting plastic packaging waste is subsequently landfilled, incinerated or recycled. Laws of several European and Asian countries require that plastic packaging waste collected from households has to be sorted, reprocessed, compounded and reused. These recycling schemes typically produce milled goods of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(ethylene) (PE), isotactic poly(propylene) (PP), mixed plastics, and agglomerates from film material. The present study documents the composition and properties of post-consumer polyolefin recyclates originating from both source separation and mechanical recovery from municipal solid refuse waste (MSRW). The overall composition by Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were determined and compared with the sorting results of the sorted fractions prior to the reprocessing into milled goods. This study shows that the collection method for the plastic packaging waste has hardly any influence on the final quality of the recyclate; however, the sorting and reprocessing steps influence the final quality of the recyclate. Although the mechanical properties of recyclate are clearly different than those of virgin polymers, changes to the sorting and reprocessing steps can improve the quality.     

A comprehensive waste collection cost model applied to post-consumer plastic packaging waste

Post-consumer plastic packaging waste (PPW) can be collected for recycling via source separation or post-separation. In source separation, households separate plastics from other waste before collection, whereas in post-separation waste is separated at a treatment centre after collection. There are also two collection schemes, either curb side or via drop-off locations. These different schemes have impact on total costs of collection at the municipal level. It can also influence the facility choices and network design. Therefore, a method which can compare costs of various collection schemes is needed.A comprehensive cost model was developed to compare costs of municipal collection schemes of PPW. The ‘municipal waste collection cost model’ is based on variables including fixed and variable costs per vehicle, personnel cost, container or bag costs as well as on emission costs (using imaginary carbon taxes). The model can be used for decision support when strategic changes to the collection scheme of municipalities are considered. The model takes into account the characteristics of municipalities, including urbanization degree and taxation schemes for household waste management.The model was applied to the Dutch case of post-consumer plastic packaging waste. Results showed that that in general post-separation collection has the lowest costs and curb side collection in urban municipalities without residual waste collection taxing schemes the highest. These results were supported by the conducted sensitivity analysis, which showed that higher source separation responses are negatively related to curb side collection costs. Greenhouse gas emission costs are a significant part of the total costs when collecting post-consumer plastic packaging waste due to the low density to weight ratio of the materials collect. These costs can amount to 15% of the total collection costs.     

Environmental,economic and social costs and benefits of a packaging waste management system: A Portuguese case study

The impact of the management of packaging waste on the environment, economic growth and job creation is analyzed in this paper. This integrated assessment intends to cover a gap in the literature for this type of studies, using the specific case study of the Portuguese packaging waste management system (SIGRE).The net environmental benefits associated with the management of packaging waste, are calculated using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The results show that, for the categories studied, the impacts associated to SIGRE's various activities are surpassed by the benefits associated to material and energy recovery, with special focus on recycling. For example, in 2011 SIGRE avoided the emission of 116 kt CO₂ equiv. – the equivalent carbon emission of the electricity consumption of 124.000 households in Portugal.The economic impact of SIGRE is evaluated through Input–Output Analysis. It was found that SIGRE's activities also have a significant economic impact. For example, their added value are ranked amongst the upper third of the economic activities with highest multiplier effect at national level: this means that for each Euro of value added generated within SIGRE, 1.25 additional € are added to the rest of the economy (multiplier effect of 2.25).Regarding the social impacts of SIGRE, the number of direct jobs associated with the system is estimated to be more than two thousand and three hundred workers. Out of these, 83% are connected to the management of municipal waste packaging (selective collection and sorting), 15% are connected to the management of non-municipal packaging waste and only 2% are connected to the Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV, green dot society in English) – the management entity responsible for SIGRE.In general terms, the results obtained provide quantitative support to the EEA (2011) suggestion that moving up the waste hierarchy – from landfilling to recycling – creates jobs and boosts the economy.     

Economic viability of packaging waste recycling systems: A comparison between Belgium and Portugal

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive has had an undeniable impact on waste management throughout the European Union. Whereas recycling and recovery targets are the same, member states still enjoy a considerable degree of freedom with respect to the practical organization and management strategies adopted. Nevertheless, in all cases, the industry (which brings packaging material onto the market) should be responsible for the costs associated with packaging waste recycling/recovery (following the extended producer responsibility principle). The current paper compares and contrasts the institutional frameworks and financial costs and benefits of waste management operators for Belgium and Portugal. The unit costs of selective collection and sorting of packaging waste are provided for both countries. In Belgium, the costs of recycling seem to be fully supported by the industry (through Fost Plus, the national Green Dot agency). In Portugal the fairness of the recycling system depends on the perspective adopted (economic or strictly financial). Adopting a strictly financial perspective, it seems that Sociedade Ponto Verde (SPV, the Portuguese Green Dot agency) should increase the transfers to local authorities. However, the conclusions differ for this country if the avoided costs with refuse collection and other treatment are taken into account.     

Evaluating the impacts of packaging policy in The Netherlands

Packaging materials are one of the largest contributors to municipal solid waste production. This paper evaluates the material impacts packaging policy in The Netherlands in the period 1986-2007. Five different voluntary agreements were implemented over this period to reduce the environmental impact of packaging. The analysis shows that among the investigated indicators, population statistically is the most robust indicator to estimate the packaging demand. A baseline is developed on the basis of population growth in The Netherlands, and is used as reference to evaluate policy impacts. The policy periods are evaluated on the basis of overall effectiveness compared to the baseline and target achievement. Dutch packaging policies have been effective to reduce the total packaging volume until 1999. After 2000, packaging consumption increased more rapidly than the baseline, suggesting that policy measures have not been effective. The largest increase in packaging recycling rates was achieved during the first policy period. More clear and consistent packaging policy measures and targets could improve the effectiveness of policies.     

Retail waste of horticultural products in Sweden

Waste of food is a topic of considerable policy interest. However, few studies have been done on food waste at the retail level. The aim of this study was to examine how large retail waste is for 16 different horticultural products, selected among typical fruit and vegetables. The levels of retail waste were examined in cooperation with one of the leading Swedish retail companies. The results showed that retail waste of horticultural products amounted between 0.4% and 6.3% of store supplies for different horticultural products. The results did not show that packaging reduced waste of horticultural products.     

Introduction of a waste incineration tax: Effects on the Swedish waste flows

A tax on waste-to-energy incineration of fossil carbon in municipal solid waste from households was introduced in Sweden on July 1, 2006. The tax has led to higher incineration gate fees. One of the main purposes with the tax is to increase the incentive for recycling of materials, including biological treatment. We investigate whether and to what extent this effect can be expected. A spreadsheet model is developed in order to estimate the net marginal cost of alternative waste treatment methods, i.e., the marginal cost of alternative treatment minus avoided cost of incineration. The value of the households’ time needed for source separation is discussed and included. The model includes the nine largest fractions, totalling 85% (weight), of the household waste currently being sent to waste incineration: food waste, newsprint, paper packaging, soft and hard plastic packaging, diapers, yard waste, other paper waste, and non-combustible waste. Our results indicate that the incineration tax will have the largest effect on biological treatment of kitchen and garden waste, which may increase by 9%. The consequences of an incineration tax depend on: (a) the level of the tax, (b) whether the tax is based on an assumed average Swedish fossil carbon content or on the measured carbon content in each incineration plant, (c) institutional factors such as the cooperation between waste incinerators, and (d) technological factors such as the availability of central sorting of waste or techniques for measurement of fossil carbon in exhaust gases, etc. Information turns out to be a key factor in transferring the governing force of the tax to the households as well improving the households’ attitudes towards material recycling.     

Introduction of a waste incineration tax: Effects on the Swedish waste flows

A tax on waste-to-energy incineration of fossil carbon in municipal solid waste from households was introduced in Sweden on July 1, 2006. The tax has led to higher incineration gate fees. One of the main purposes with the tax is to increase the incentive for recycling of materials, including biological treatment. We investigate whether and to what extent this effect can be expected. A spreadsheet model is developed in order to estimate the net marginal cost of alternative waste treatment methods, i.e., the marginal cost of alternative treatment minus avoided cost of incineration. The value of the households’ time needed for source separation is discussed and included. The model includes the nine largest fractions, totalling 85% (weight), of the household waste currently being sent to waste incineration: food waste, newsprint, paper packaging, soft and hard plastic packaging, diapers, yard waste, other paper waste, and non-combustible waste. Our results indicate that the incineration tax will have the largest effect on biological treatment of kitchen and garden waste, which may increase by 9%. The consequences of an incineration tax depend on: (a) the level of the tax, (b) whether the tax is based on an assumed average Swedish fossil carbon content or on the measured carbon content in each incineration plant, (c) institutional factors such as the cooperation between waste incinerators, and (d) technological factors such as the availability of central sorting of waste or techniques for measurement of fossil carbon in exhaust gases, etc. Information turns out to be a key factor in transferring the governing force of the tax to the households as well improving the households’ attitudes towards material recycling.     

Environmental assessment of packaging: The consumer point of view

When marketing environmentally responsible packaged products, the producer is confronted with consumer beliefs concerning the environmental friendliness of packaging materials. When making environmentally conscious packaging decisions, these consumer beliefs should be taken into account alongside the technical guidelines. Dutch consumer perceptions of the environmental friendliness of packaged products are reported and compared with the results of a life-cycle analysis assessment. It is shown that consumers judge environmental friendliness mainly from material and returnability. Furthermore, the consumer perception of the environmental friendliness of packaging material is based on the postconsumption waste, whereas the environmental effects of production are ignored. From the consumer beliefs concerning environmental friendliness implications are deduced for packaging policy and for environmental policy.     

Should tobacco products’ waste be considered as hazardous in India?

Tobacco and its associated products are known to be harmful for health. Moreover, the waste emanating out of the production, processing, packaging, and consumption of these products is equally harmful for humans as well as other biotic/abiotic agencies. Taking into account the toxic nature of these waste products, it is necessary to have a well-defined approach to deal with this waste. Consideration of tobacco products’ waste as municipal solid waste has serious implications in the long-term as it results in dumping of these wastes mixed-up with domestic waste in landfills. With time, toxic components become part of the leachate which contaminates water and soil, further leading to the contamination in food chain. Therefore, many countries are now considering this waste under the hazardous category and evolving various measures to safely dispose it off. In the light of recent researches and policies, it is time to re-consider this important public health issue.     

From waste to value-added products: A review of opportunities for fish waste valorization

The fishing industry is responsible for generating large amounts of organic waste rich in compounds of commercial interest. This review aimed to present the state of the art about the possibilities of using solid waste to obtain value-added products. Skins, fins, and scales have been used to obtain gelatin and collagen, a promising compound for use as an additive in yogurts and creams, as well as for the synthesis of biodegradable packaging that, if applicable, can reduce the environmental impact caused by petroleum packaging. Other parts, such as the head and the viscera, contain polyunsaturated fatty acids and other fat-soluble vitamins that have been studied for the production of omega-3 capsules for the pharmaceutical industry, but when the extracted oil does not fit the feeding parameters, it can be applied for the production of biodiesel. Furthermore, fishes are a promising source of astaxanthin, a carotenoid with high antioxidant properties. The use of combined techniques such as chemical and enzymatic methods can increase the extraction yield and favor the obtaining of more purified compounds, in addition to promoting the reduction of chemicals that are aggressive to the environment. In general, conscious production in the fishing industry through the valorization of waste generated for use as inputs for other value chains encompasses aspects of the circular economy, which can positively impact several Sustainable Development Goals.     

包装企业有机废气深度处理技改实例探讨

有机废气的治理方法有很多,应选择合适的治理方法或组合来提高处理效率,来着力改善大气环境质量。以某包装企业有机废气深度处理技术改造项目为实例,探讨采取RTO焚烧法取得的治理效果。     

Packaging waste and the polluter pays principle: a taxation solution

Packaging waste has become a focus for attention by policy‐makers in a number of countries. This article offers a simple policy measure — a packaging tax or levy — which serves the required aims of policy, namely: reducing waste at source; increasing the rate of recycling; and consistency with the polluter pays principle. The tax is illustrated in the context of beverage containers in the UK and Japan. The merits of the proposal are its simplicity and flexibility. The article suggests that the relevant environmental damages are captured by waste disposal costs and litter. Other life cycle impacts, such as emissions from energy use, could be included but only if there are not more efficient ways of regulating them.     

Mechanical performance of woodfibre–waste plastic composite materials

Plastic products used for packaging are often discarded after a single use resulting in an inexhaustible supply of waste polymeric materials. The stiffness and strength of polymeric materials have been known to improve with the addition of lignocellulosic fibres available in abundance in nature. Hence, composite materials containing natural fibres and waste plastics would result in the reduction of solid wastes and the use of cheap, renewable resources. Composite specimens, consisting of waste plastics obtained from a Kerbside collection (high density polyethylene (HDPE) waste, Janitorial waste, Kerbside waste I and Kerbside waste II) and Pinus radiata woodfibres (medium density fibres (MDF)), have been produced through melt blending and injection moulding. The effects of fibre content, matrix type and interfacial bonding on the tensile and flexural properties of these composite materials have been determined through extensive testing at various conditions. The mechanical properties of these composites at room temperature and humidity depend on the amount of woodfibres, the mechanical properties of the waste plastics used and the presence of a suitable coupling agent. The tensile strengths of MDF/waste plastic composites do not generally change with fibre content except for 40% MDF/HDPE waste and 40% MDF/Kerbside waste II (plus 1% Epolene™) composites, where the tensile strengths increase by about 25% compared to those of the corresponding waste plastics. Flexural strengths of MDF/waste plastic composites increase with the addition of medium density fibres with the exception of MDF/Kerbside waste I composites. The tensile and flexural moduli of MDF/waste plastic composites mostly increase with increasing fibre content.