Issue No. 106, December , 2019

Issue No. 106

01 / BCRC China Activities

BCRC China Fully Supports on "Zero-waste City"

Construction Pilot Work in 2019

02 / BC Implementation

China Shenzhen Housing and Construction

Bureau Issued "Emission Limit Standard for

Construction Waste of Construction Projects"

Indonesia Sets Plan to Reduce Marine Waste by

2025

Singapore NEA Invites Proposals For Waste-To-

Energy (WTE) Test-Bedding And Demonstration

Projects

New EU Environmental Standards for the Waste

Incineration Sector Was Published

EPA Adds Aerosol Cans to Universal Waste Regs

Zero Waste Scotland Partners with NBF to Boost

Mattress Recycling

New UN Project Tackles Plastic Pollution in

Mountainous and Remote Regions

03 / Science Updates

Prediction of Industrial Hazardous Waste

Production Based on Different Models

Research on Current Industry Synergy Disposal

and Utilization of Hazardous Waste

04 / International Viewpoint

New Global Commitment Report Reveals

Progress towards Eliminating Plastic Pollution

05 / Calling for Articles

BCRC China/SCRCAP Held the First Face-to-Face Meeting of the Expert Working

Group (EWG) on the E-waste Technical Guidelines

11

Issue No. 106

BCRC China Fully

Supports on "Zero-waste

City" Construction Pilot

Work in 2019

From December 10th to 11th, the

2019 Promotion Conference of

"Zero-waste City" Construction

Pilot was held in Sanya, Hainan

Province. The meeting was guided

by the Ministry of Ecology and

Environment, hosted by the

People's Government of Sanya

City and the Ecological

Environment Department of

Hainan Province, and organized by

the Ecological Environment

Bureau of Sanya, with strong

support from the Solid Waste and

Chemicals Department of Ministry

of Ecology and Environment, the

Environmental Development

Center of Ministry of Ecology and

Environment, the Solid Waste and

Chemicals Management

Technology Center of Ministry

ofEcology and Environment,

China Environmental Publishing

Group, and the Basel Convention

Regional Center for Asia and the

Pacific (hereinafter referred to as

"BCRC China"). Zhuang Guotai,

the Deputy Minister of Ministry of

Ecology and Environment, Deng

Xiaogang, the Director of

Ecological Environment

Department of Hainan Province, A

Dong, the Mayor of Sanya

Government, Zhou Yanhua, the

Vice Mayor of Sanya Government

attended the meeting. Nearly 200

representatives from the Ministry

of Ecology and Environment and

its direct units, cities or regions of

"Zero-waste City" Construction

Pilot, relevant experts and

scholars, enterprises and

associations, and the medias

gathered in Sanya to discuss the

construction path of "Zero-waste

City".

At the meeting, experts, scholars

and city representatives of "Zero-

waste City" Construction Pilot

provided opinions and suggestions

for "Zero-waste City" Construction

Pilot. The Executive Director of

BCRC China, Professor Li Jinhui

and the Assistant Director of

BCRC China, Researcher Liu Lili

were invited to introduce the

"Appropriate Technologies for

Pollution Prevention and Control

of Industry Solid Waste in 'Zero-

waste City' Construction" and the

"'Zero-waste City' Standard

System".

On November 21, 2019, the

"Implementation Plan of ‘Zero-

waste City’ Construction Pilot in

Sanya City" prepared by the Asia-

Pacific Center was officially issued

by the Office of the People's

Government of Sanya, marking the

start of the "Zero-waste City"

Construction Pilot in Sanya.

Among the pilot tasks for Sanya

City ’ s “ Zero-waste City ”

Construction, BCRC China has

undertaken the tasks of compiling

guidelines for residents and

visitors，and the tasks of “Zero-

waste ” cells engineering

construction, including “Zero-

waste Airport” “Zero-waste

Island” “Zero-waste Scenic Area”

and “Zero-waste Science and

Technology Park”. In the next

stage, BCRC China will further

support the "Zero-waste City"

construction work in Sanya City,

advance the pilot work smoothly

and orderly, and strive to achieve

good outcomes.

market players, fostering a new

model of industrial development,

proving policy effectiveness.

More...

New EU regime for safer

and greener ship

recycling enters into force

From 31 December 2018, new EU

regime for safer and greener ship

recycling enters into force. Under

the revised EU Ship Recycling

Regulation, the recycling of all

large sea-going vessels sailing

under an EU flag can only take

place in yards included in the

European List of ship recycling

facilities. The regulation is the only

legally binding and comprehensive

instrument on ship recycling in

force in the world today, which

aims to make ship recycling

greener and safer. More...

Singapore set aside $2

million for the zero waste

programme

On 22 January 2019, Dr. Amy

Khor, Senior Minister of State for

the Environment and Water

Resources of Singapore announced

that $2 million will be made

available to support zero waste

projects. A ‘Towards Zero Waste

Grant’ will support zero waste

ground-up initiatives by

individuals, interest groups, non-

governmental organizations

(NGOs), Grassroots organizations

and corporations. By encouraging

such initiatives, the aim is to

increase awareness of the large

amounts of waste Singapore is

generating and garner the active

participation of various partners to

build a strong 3R (Reduce, Reuse

and Recycle) culture in Singapore.

This is to conserve our precious

resources, extend the lifespan of

Semakau Landfill, and pave the

way towards a Zero Waste Nation

through a circular economy

approach.. More...

Philippines Returns Tons

of Trash to South Korea

The Philippines over the weekend

shipped back to South Korea tons

of garbage stored in 51 container

vans, officials said Monday, six

months after the trash arrived in

the port of Tagoloan, in southern

Misamis Oriental province.Seoul

had agreed to pay the U.S.

$47,000 (2.5 million pesos) cost

of shipping the container vans to

the port of Pyeongtaek, South

Korea. The South Korean

government had also agreed to

shoulder the expense for shipping

5,100 tons of remaining waste in

Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental.

Earlier this month, Korean media

reported that the country would

cover the cost of returning the

waste. More...

Samoa joins the fight

against plastic pollution

Samoa has become the latest

Pacific island country to enforce a

ban on single-use plastics in a bid

to address the growing issue of

plastic pollution. The Waste

(Plastic Ban) Management

Regulation 2018 was officially

endorsed by Cabinet of the

Government of Samoa in 2018 to

manage the plastic problem in

Samoa with commitment to protect

the country’s oceans and marine

environment. The ban prohibits the

import, manufacture, export, sale

and distribution of plastic

shopping bags, packing bags and

straws effective from 30 January

2019.“plastic shopping bags”

under the regulation means a bag

made in whole or partly of thin

plastic film and contains starch

(such as biodegradable bags) or

full petroleum, or additive used as

shopping bags. “Packing bags”

means packing bags used for re-

packing and storage of products.

Also included in the regulations is

a fine for those who fail to comply

with the plastic ban. The fine is set

at SAT $10,000. More...

Morocco Amends Law on

Banned Plastic Bags,

Adds Measures for

Seizure

The Government Council of Rabat

adopted Bill 57.18 amending and

modifying Law

Issue No. 106

BC Implementation

China Shenzhen Housing

and Construction Bureau

Issued "Emission Limit

Standard for

Construction Waste of

Construction Projects"

In order to further strengthen the

management of construction

waste, reduce emissions, protect

and improve the ecological

environment, according to

"Several Measures for Further

Strengthening the Construction

Waste Disposal of Our City",

“Shenzhen Construction Project

Emission Limit Standard for

Construction Projects” will be

implemented on January 1, 2020.

The standard puts forward specific

emission limit requirements for

construction waste generated by

various construction projects, and

provide technical guidelines for

construction waste emission

reduction and comprehensive

utilization from construction

projects planning, scheme design,

construction drawing design,

engineering construction to

engineering inspection and

acceptance.More...

Indonesia Sets Plan to

Reduce Marine Waste by

2025

An Indonesian government official

has announced that the government

plans to implement a measure to

limit single-use plastics in order to

reduce ocean pollution by 70

percent by 2025, according to the

Hurriyet Daily News reports. The

announcement was initially made

at the 2017 World Oceans Summit

in Nusa Dua, Bali. At the time,

Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister

for Maritime Affairs pledged to

spend up to $1 billion annually to

reduce marine waste by 70 percent

by 2025. In addition, on December

13, Indonesia’s Ministry of

Environment and Forestry

announced that the government

established five strategies for

handling marine waste. The five

strategies that will be applied in the

National Action Plan for the

Management of Marine Waste are:

the national movement to increase

stakeholder awareness; land-based

waste management; prevention of

waste on the coast and sea; funding

mechanisms, institutional

strengthening, supervision and law

enforcement; and research and

development.More...

Singapore NEA Invites

Proposals For Waste-To-

Energy (WTE) Test-

Bedding And

Demonstration Projects

The National Environment Agency

(NEA) of Singapore invites

industry, academia and researchers

to submit proposals for Waste-to-

Energy (WTE) test-bedding and

demonstration projects. This call is

to support trials on technologies

related to the thermal waste

treatment processes that can

potentially be deployed in, or be

used to complement large-scale

WTE plants in Singapore, to

enhance WTE conversion

efficiency and resource recovery.

The call for proposals will close at

11.00 am on 10 March 2020. The

result of the call for proposals is

expected to be announced by

August 2020.More...

New EU Environmental

Standards for the Waste

Incineration Sector Was

Published

On 3 December 2019, the

Commission published the Best

Available Techniques (BAT)

conclusions for Waste Incineration

(WI). New standards will help

national authorities to lower the

environmental impact from the

waste incineration sector in more

than 500 installations which treat

around 30% of the EU's municipal

waste as well as other types of

waste such as hazardous waste or

sewage sludge. The new standards

stem from a review of the Best

Available Techniques (BAT)

reference Document (BREF) for

Waste Incineration. Compared

with the existing standards, the

new BAT conclsions deliver a

Issue No. 106

reinforced level of protection, with

particular emphasis on toxic and

persistent organic pollutants such

as mercury, polychlorinated

dioxins and furans. The BAT

conclusions include BAT-

associated emission levels (BAT-

AELs) which have the potential,

through their translation into

emission limits, to drive a sizeable

reduction in emissions from the

waste incineration sector. More...

EPA Adds Aerosol Cans

to Universal Waste Regs

The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) is adding hazardous

waste aerosol cans to the universal

waste program under the federal

Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act (RCRA)

regulations.“This change will

benefit the wide variety of

establishments generating and

managing hazardous waste aerosol

cans, including the retail sector, by

providing a clear, protective

system for managing discarded

aerosol cans,” said EPA in a

December 9 final ruling in the

Federal Register. “The streamlined

universal waste regulations are

expected to ease regulatory

burdens on retail stores and others

that discard hazardous waste

aerosol cans; promote the

collection and recycling of these

cans; and encourage the

development of municipal and

commercial programs to reduce the

quantity of these wastes going to

municipal solid waste landfills or

combustors.”The final rule is

effective on February 7,

2020.More...

Zero Waste Scotland

Partners with NBF to

Boost Mattress Recycling

Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) has

teamed up with the National Bed

Federation (NBF) on a three-year

research partnership to increase

mattress recycling and encourage

more sustainable design.The

partnership will see the

organizations design a proposed

Extended Producer Responsibility

(EPR) scheme for mattresses in

Scotland, under which

manufacturers and retailers are

responsible for the stewardship of

their product in a way that

discourages wasteful disposal.

Such schemes encourage

producers to design products that

last longer, are easy to repair, and

are recyclable when they reach the

end of their usable life.More...

New UN Project Tackles

Plastic Pollution in

Mountainous and

Remote Regions

Representatives from

governments, international

organizations, business and

industry, and civil society gathered

in Geneva on December 11, 2019

to launch a new UN project on

plastic waste in mountainous and

remote regions. The project aims

to collect best practices of the

environmentally sound

management of plastic waste and

raise awareness for the problem

within the tourism sector and

outdoor recreation industry.

Subsequently, the project seeks to

apply the collected best practices

to mountainous and remote areas

in a developing country setting

through pilot testing of the

outcomes. Envisaged partners

include UN Environment

Programme, ski and

mountaineering organizations, and

the private sector including

tourism and sports equipment

manufacturers.More...

Science Updates

Prediction of Industrial

Hazardous Waste

Production Based on

Different Models

Based on national hazardous waste

production data from 2008 to 2011,

GM (1,1) grey model, unit

industrial output value model and

average annual growth rate model

are used for prediction studies of

which the prediction results were

compared with the actual values of

hazardous waste from 2012 to

2016. Under the selected

background data, all the three

widely-used models have large

Issue No. 106

deviations. The model with the

smallest deviation range is the

annual growth rate model of which

the prediction result is 1.25-2.05

times the actual value. The model

with the second small deviation

range is the unit output value

model of which the prediction

result is 1.36-3.63 times the actual

value. GM (1,1) has the largest

deviation range, of which the

prediction result is 1.46-7.58 times

the actual value. The causes of

deviation are analyzed, and the

results show that, due to the

influence of different factors, the

background data significantly

rocketed in 2011 and 2016,

resulting in the instability of the

model prediction. Based on the

application of the models, the

applicability of different models is

analyzed. It is suggested that the

grey model should be preferred

when there are a few data; and the

easy-to-operate unit output value

model and annual growth rate

model shall be preferred when

there are sufficient historical

data.Meanwhile, the influence of

industry and policy factors should

be comprehensively considered to

improve and optimize the

prediction methods and parameters

of the models, so as to provide

reference for quantitative

prediction of hazardous wastes.

Citation:Liu S, Cheng L, Chen P, et al.

Prediction of Industrial Hazardous

Waste Production Based on Different

Models[C]//IOP Conference Series:

Earth and Environmental Science. IOP

Publishing, 2019, 384(1): 012026.

Research on Current

Industry Synergy

Disposal and Utilization

of Hazardous Waste

The potential and technological

route of synergistic disposal and

utilization of hazardous wastes by

utilizing the characteristics of high

temperature, long time and melting

in metallurgical, cement, coal

chemical and coal-electricity

industries were studied. The

technology feasibility through

industrial collaborative disposal

hazardous wastes was discussed.

In order to promote the

development of solid waste

industry, it was necessary to

strengthen the technology research

of hazardous waste system, focus

on the emission of flue gas

pollution, improve relevant

standards and policy, and establish

a trans-regional industrial

cooperative disposal base. It was

of great importance to improve the

risk control and management level

of the whole process of hazardous

wastes, promote the development

of hazardous wastes as resources

and support the pilot construction

of “waste-free cities”.

Citation:Liu H, Jia J, Zhang Z, et al.

Research on Current Industry Synergy

Disposal and Utilization of Hazardous

Waste[J]. 2019.

International Viewpoint

New Global Commitment

Report Reveals Progress

towards Eliminating

Plastic Pollution

The positive scale of global efforts to

prevent plastic pollution has been

revealed in a new report published by

the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in

collaboration with the UN

Environment Programme (UNEP) on

24 October 2019. It sets a clear

baseline for measuring progress by

leading businesses and governments

towards creating a circular economy

for plastics.

In this report, for the first time, 176

businesses across the global plastics

value chain and 14 governments

across five continents have reported

progress against public targets to

help build a circular economy for

plastics.12 They all share a common

set of commitments and use common

definitions. This report therefore

creates unprecedented transparency

and consistency in data sharing on

plastics across a significant group of

businesses and governments. This

first progress report sets a quantitative

baseline against which to measure

progress over the period to 2025 and

lays out initial actions signatories

have taken to realize their

commitments. Due to the timing of

reporting cycles, most quantitative

data provided by business signatories

is for 2018.

The report is divided into two parts -

the first part provides a summary of

progress across the signatory group

and is divided into three sub- sections:

Section 1 provides a high-level

summary of progress to date and the

perspective of the Ellen MacArthur

Foundation and the UN Environment

Programme on where we are on the

journey towards a circular economy

for plastics. Section 2 provides an

update on the signatory group.

Section 3 provides insights into the

collective progress of the signatory

group to date and highlights examples

that can serve as inspiration for

others.Part 2 of the report contains the

individual progress reports of

business and government signatories.

The six themes of elimination; reuse;

reusable, recyclable or compostable

by design and in practice;

decoupling;and transparency below

run through Part 1 of the report and

provide the structure for the

presentation of findings. The first

five of these are drawn from the New

Plastics Economy vision.. The last is

to highlight disclosure and

transparency.

Citation: New global commitment

report reveals progress towards

eliminating plastic pollution, 2019,

UN Environment.