How to make plastics part of the Circular Economy NRK Recycling "plastics gone circular"

Prof. Dr. jur. Helmut Maurer European Commission, DG ENV, Amsterdam 10.06.2016

what is behind circular economy? Risks to manage and timeline

"demography and exponential growth" 1950-1985 2%p.a.

Exponential growth in all parameters all around 1950

"The Climate Bubble"  European Central Bank, Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) and  Bank of England (Gouverneur Mark Carney) acknowledge "Stranded Carbon"  Financial markets see new risks from stranded carbon. This should radically change product and waste policy. https://www.esrb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/asc/Reports_ASC_6_1602.pdf

Don't use known fossil fuel reserves

 Ekins/Mc Glade : "until 2050 only 1000 billion tons more Co2 allowed to hit the 2° C target"  Energy firm's booked assets are equivalent to 2900 billion tons of Co2  Consequence: (University College London)

 Explored world energy reserves to leave in the ground

= 33% Oil = 49% Gas = 82% Coal

Business as usual no option • 1975

(only 35 years)

2010

 225% increase in world GDP  64% population growth

 120% increase in material consumption Source: Lacy et.al, Wertschöpfung statt Verschwendung, München, 2015 (Waste to Wealth)

What do we use fossil fuel for?

A function of linear economy?

Production, Packaging, Transport, Consumption

Global Temperature Increase more growth in the north – less in the south

http://web.stanford.edu/~mburke/climate/map.php

what can we do to mitigate climate change ?

Operational tool: waste policy watch out for incineration !! Quelle: UBA 2015

Obviously we have to do things fundamentally different Simply Change the

Perspecti

ve

product policy

waste policy

Waste Prevention–incl. re-use Preparing for re-use

RECYCLING

Is the future of plastic energy recovery ? Statistics, RDF and recycling Recovery

Disposal

Tools to move up the waste hierarchy • Design for recycling • Extended producer responsibility • Separate waste collection • Recycling targets

http://www.fccenvironment.co.uk/fcc-environmentchallenges-helmut-mauers-view-on-plastics-recycling.html

Linear Plastic we have  Treated as cheap disposable material litter  Ruthless marketing without pointing to harm to the environment if not properly handled  Disposed in landfills = in the oceans  Incineration looks clever for the naive  Invites to design for early obsolescence no repair, no upgrade, short life, hazardous additives, not recycling friendly

 Radically expansive production (cosmetics/irrational and ignorant uses)

Circular plastic we want  Plastic not by all means, but where it makes sense (no abuse of LCA)  Non-toxic plastic. Precautionary principle against risk based approach  Only recyclable plastic, no cynical products like oxo-degradable plastic  Plastic that is too valuable to be burnt  Plastic requires responsible producers who:  Warn  Inform  Collect and enable recycling not burning

The reality of our linear plastic age Municipal waste full of plastic Confusion about what is recycling and what is energy recovery (statistical distortion) Stone age landfill – a widely (ab)-used option Oceans and Sea Food suffer from the plastic pest

Linear Austria:

Collect, sort and incinerate ?

A Circular Economy looks first at products and then at waste

Focusses first on waste prevention (Products / the "other half of the circle") Focusses secondly on preparation for re-use and recycling (Waste)

Too much plastic ends up in landfills Landfill ban on recyclable plastic What are the most Important drivers for circular economy from the waste side ?

STOP LANDFILLING

landfill rate and energy recovery still today close to 80%, collection for recycling 20%

 New Art. 5, 3f Landfill Directive  No Landfill of separately collected waste, Art. 11(1) und Art. 22 WFD  Plastic, Glass, Metal, Paper (and Biowaste)

 See for separate collection:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/studies/pdf/Separate%20collection_Final%20Report.pdf

 New Art. 22 WFD  Obligation to separately collect Biowaste

Economic rationale of a landfill ban  Increase of recyclable municipal waste, in particular plastic waste from packaging economy of scale. E.g.: FR would recycle more plastic but the material is not there.

 Boost for manufacturers of sorting and recycling machines. In particular for plastics.  Saving of virgin raw materials and the externalized costs of extraction.

Circular Economy through

Target Review ? and other politically relevant elements

Relevant targets for plastic Municipal waste 70% 60% 50%

2 0 2 0

40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2013

2025 target

2030 target

% preparation for reuse and recycling (1 method)

PPWD: Plastic recycling target radically increased from 23% today to 55% until 2025

Operational Tool number “1” separate collection  Co-mingled versus separate ? • Separate collection defined: Art. 3 (11) and 11(1), 10(2),22 WFD

 on average, only 19 % of generated municipal waste is collected separately in EU-28 capitals: in other words, 80% of the waste still ends up in the residual waste bin.  Overall objective:  go for the highest possible yield and choose process accordingly  PAYT has proven to give the highest yield boost to sorting technology  Don’t give incineration of recyclables any chance

Pay as you throw is the most effective flat rate charge the worst Table: Fixed or PAYT funding schemes for the collection schemes implemented by the 28 EU capital cities PAYT

Fixed fee + PAYT

Flat rate

N/A Athens, Bratislava, Bucharest, Madrid, Nicosia, Prague, Riga, Rome, Sofia, Valetta, Zagreb

10 %

Berlin, Budapest, Dublin, Helsinki, Ljubljana, Tallinn, Vienna

Copenhagen, Stockholm, Warsaw

Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Luxembourg, Paris, Vilnius

35 %

17 %

17 %

Table: Fixed or PAYT funding schemes for the collection schemes implemented by the 28 EU capital cities

Average collection rate (separate collected/generated MSW quantities)

Implications of judgment C-323/13 of 15 October 2014  No acceptance of waste in situ at landfills  "Sorting" considered as treatment  "effet utile":reduce volume, reduce hazardousness, enhance recovery, stabilise bio-waste  Consequence for waste management practice:  Collect separately as much as you can Automatic sorting where necessary  The rest undergoes treatment Automatic sorting usually necessary

Big boost for sorting technology in EU

a few close ups

calculation methods for recycling

What counts for statistics ?  Principle: Input to the final Recycling process + what is prepared for re-use (Logic ?)  Exception: also output of sorting if rejects are below 10%  Calculation of exports

Extended Producer Responsibility

 New Art 8a, formulating new requirements for PROs, such as:  Producers pay less if marketing sustainable products. Much potential for plastics  Adequate financial solidity  Self-control and internal audit on financial management and data control  Publication of info about owners and members , contributions and selection procedure for waste operators  Full cost coverage of waste management by producers

Action Plan Circular Economy – the plastics strategy • Process: DG ENV and DG GROW coresponsible, DG SG in the lead • Content to be discussed: • Is the Ellen McArthur approach a blueprint for a plastic strategy? • Feedstock for plastic a relevant strategic decision? • Product design, what are the priorities ? • Developing recycling markets through quality criteria for recyclates? (EoW or similar) • Recycling legacy additives? Traceability !!! • how to prevent leakage to the environment? • Biodegradable plastics a long term substitution ? • The role of consumers, GPP, informed choices • The international dimension

Thank you for your attention ! Additional sources of information: DG ENV “waste” website: http://ec.europa.eu/environment//waste/index.htm Green paper on Plastic Waste:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/pdf/green_paper/green_paper_en.pdf

Fitness Check 2014:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52014SC0209&from=EN

Study on separate collection

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/studies/index.htm

Eurostat Databases:

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/waste/introduction

EEA: http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/waste