Prevention and management of household waste in Flanders

Helen Versluys, PhD

OVAM (Flemish Public Waste Agency)

21.02.2009

21.02.2009Helen Versluys3

Overview

Responsibility for household waste management

Household waste treatment in Flanders 1992-2007

Flemish household waste management according to the waste hierarchy

prevention and re-useselective collection and recycling residual waste treatment: incineration and landfilling

21.02.2009Helen Versluys4

Responsibility for household waste management

Flanders: one of the three Belgian regions Waste management = regional competence OVAM is the regional authority responsible for making policy

on waste in Flanders Municipalities are responsible for the collection and treatment

of household waste

21.02.2009Helen Versluys5

Household waste treatment in Flanders 1995-2007

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

year

kg p

er i

nh

abit

ant

landfilled MBT incinerated recycled

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Prevention and re-use: Flemish initiatives

Re-use centres and shops 99 shops and 33 centres 7.19 kg/inhabitant collected in 2007 almost half of the collected goods are resold furniture, EEE, toys, clothes, etc. susidies for re-use centres and shops

21.02.2009Helen Versluys7

Prevention and re-use: Flemish initiatives (continued)

Home composting 25% of the Flemish households (mainly in rural areas) 5 compost masters per 10,000 inhabitants communication campaigns, training and household waste charging

are crucial

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Prevention and re-use: Flemish initiatives (continued)

‘Please no publicity’ stickers Communication campaigns on waste prevention Financial support for local authorities which launch waste

prevention initiatives (e.g. re-usable diapers, drinking fountains, lunch boxes)

Cooperation agreements containing prevention measures between local authorities and the OVAM

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Prevention and re-use: Flemish initiatives (continued)

Promotion of ecodesign ecodesign awards for students and professionals ecolizer

Eco-efficiency scan

Green procurement (office supplies and cleaning products)

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Prevention and re-use: future objectives

Increase sustainable production and consumption in absolute and relative terms more innovation retail sector offers and sells more sustainable products by

2015 more sustainable products consumed by 2015 central role of the government in sustainable consumption

via green public procurement

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Prevention and re-use: future objectives (continued)

Far-reaching decoupling between economic growth and household waste production by 2010

i.e. stabilisation of household waste generation compared to 2000 at 560 kg/inhabitant (150 kg/inhabitant residual waste) 2% prevention (dry fraction) per year 10 kg/inhabitant is collected for re-use and 5 kg/inhabitant is

effectively re-used stabilisation of the number of households and increase in the

number of companies participating in selective collection

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Selective collection and recycling

Selective collection schemes to allow for separation at the source kerbside collection municipal recycling yards collection via retailers

Polluter pays principle household waste charging based on volume or weight recycling fees extended producer responsibility

Differentiated tarification = mixed household waste is more expensive to discard than

selectively collected waste

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Selective collection and recycling: kerbside collection

Kerbside collection mixed waste (charged) plastic bottles, metal packaging and drinking cartons (€ 0.125 per

60 l bag) paper and cardboard (free) glass bottles (free) vegetable, fruit and garden waste (charged) bulky waste (free or charged)

Others bottle banks (free) textile containers (free)

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Selective collection and recycling: charges for mixed household waste collection

Bag (60 l): between € 0 and € 2.5

Container (120 l) taxation per volume: € 2.5 - € 3.76 taxation per weight: € 0.15 - € 0.2/kg taxation per offer: € 0.25 - € 1

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Selective collection and recycling: correlation between price and amount of waste generated

116107

102 9382

101

76

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

€ 0 - 0,99 bag

€ 1 - 1,24 bag

€ 1,25 - 1,49 bag

€ 1,50 bag

> € 1,50 bag

volume chip

weight chip

kg/inhabitant

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Selective collection and recycling: illegal and evasive behaviour

5 to 10 % of the population is responsible for illegal behaviour (dumping, burning waste at home, producing street litter, pollution of selectively offered waste, discarding waste in other municipalities or at the work place, etc.)

75 % of the illegally disposed waste consists of waste without municipal taxation => no link between ‘expensive’ waste bag or container and illegal behaviour

Municipalities need to punish illegal behaviour ‘Waste tourism’ can be avoided by using the same tariffs in

neighbouring municipalities

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Selective collection and recycling: recycling yards

337 recycling yards that collect 50% of the household waste

A wide range of waste streams are separately collected in those yards: construction and demolition waste, cooking oils, batteries and accumulators, polystyrene, WEEE, paper and cardboard, PE foils, metals, fluorescent tubes, light bulbs, wood, green waste, car tyres, bicycle tyres, asbestos, gypsum, bitumen, hazardous waste and non-recyclable combustible wastes

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Selective collection and recycling: collection at retailers

WEEE batteries and accumulators pharmaceuticals car tyres

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Selective collection and recycling: extended producer responsibility

Producers are financially responsible for the collection and treatment of their products once they have become waste

Printed paper, batteries and accumulators, waste pharmaceuticals, end-of-life vehicles, waste tyres, waste electrical and electronic appliances, lighting equipment, waste industrial and cooking oils

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Composition of mixed waste bag

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

1995

2006

biowaste paper/carboard glass metals plastics textiles hazardous mixed fraction inert fraction others

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Selective collection and recycling: future objectives

Limit residual household waste to 150 kg/inhabitant/year for the whole of Flanders

Each individual municipality has less than 180 kg residual waste per year per inhabitant

By 2010 75% of the household waste is collected selectively for the purpose of re-use and recycling

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Residual waste treatment: landfill ban

It is prohibited to landfill:

unsorted household (and industrial) waste wastes that were selectively collected for the purpose of recovery combustible residues from the sorting of household waste (or

comparable industrial waste) waste pharmaceuticals

Motivated derogation possible

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Residual waste treatment: incineration ban

It is prohibited to incinerate:

selectively collected wastes that can be recycled with the exception of some high calorific wastes for renewable energy purposes

unsorted household waste (unsorted industrial waste)

Motivated derogation possible

21.02.2009Helen Versluys24

Residual waste treatment: steering of landfill and incineration costs

‘Smart’ taxes

make landfilling more expensive than incineration make (co)incineration more expensive than recycling steer the market towards the treatment option with the lowest

environmental impact

Restrictive permitting policy for landfills increases landfilling costs

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Residual waste treatment: examples of landfilling and incineration costs

Tariff Tax Total

Landfilling municipalwaste

60 75 135

Incineration ofmunicipal waste

70 - 130 7 77 - 137

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Conclusions

Flanders ‘champion’ with regard to selective collection

Prevention of waste is the main challenge for the coming years

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Conclusions (continued)

Lessons from the Flemish experience: Work on all levels of the waste hierarchy Source separation of crucial importance

communication campaigns selective collection schemes polluter pays principle

Limit residual waste treatment capacity to the minimum

Make landfilling expensive and ban it for as many wastes as possible

21.02.2009Helen Versluys28

Thank you for your attention

Helen Versluys

OVAM

++32 15 284 237

helen.versluys@ovam.be

www.ovam.be