Circular Waste Management in Africa, France and EU

South Africa

·?????? The City of Cape Town’s Directorate for Urban Waste Management is calling on households in the metro to explore composting and food gardening in 2024 to help divert food waste from landfills. Urban Waste Management Mayco member announced that the directorate was implementing the initiative to urge residents to embark on a journey of self-sufficiency in 2024 by implementing home composting systems and using the compost to grow food. More to read: https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/city-of-cape-town-calls-on-residents-to-get-on-trend-with-composting/ar-BB1hsY6C

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France

From January 1, 2025, packaging made entirely or in part of styrenic polymers or copolymers/expanded polystyrene, non-recyclable and incapable of entering a recycling channel, will be prohibited in France according to climate law 2021. The Federation of Electrical, Electronic and Communication Industries (FIEEC), which brings together 27 professional organizations in the electro-technological industries has announced its commitment to the development of the collection and recycling of industrial, commercial and household packaging in expanded polystyrene (PES). FIEEC signed the Créa-Styr project roadmap prepared by Elipso, the professional association representing manufacturers of plastic packaging and flexible packaging. More to read: https://www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news/recylage-polystyrene-expanse-emballages-produits-electriques-electroniques-43371.php4. For recall, in 2021, the fresh dairy products sector, several companies using polystyrene packaging and other stakeholders together with CITEO PRO announced the formation of the “Consortium PS25” dedicated to investigating the establishment of a polystyrene recycling scheme in France.

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Training Finance Professionals for the Ecological Transition organized by French Institutes. Training for a finance serving the transition" presented the English version of its final report. The objective of this seminar was to accelerate the integration of ecological issues into finance education through peer-to-peer experience sharing. Three professors in finance and economics, who have adapted their teachings in light of planetary boundaries, each share a course or a program outline. The courses presented include asset management and ecological macroeconomics. More to read: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyaWdLeIM68&t=794s and more https://theshiftproject.org/en/article/training-for-a-finance-serving-the-transition/

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Plastic pollution control?: the new government wants to target the 50 industrial sites that put the most plastic on the market, modelled on the decarbonisation commitments of the 50 most CO2-emitting sites. Plastic packaging is mainly used for the packaging, transport and protection of products consumed daily by the French. They account for one third of the plastic used but nearly 60 per cent of that found in the wild and ocean. France had already launched a national strategy in April 2022 for the reduction, reuse and recycling of single-use plastic packaging, with the aim of reducing by 20% by the end of 2025. More to read: https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/pollution-le-gouvernement-veut-cibler-les-50-sites-industriels-qui-mettent-le-plus-de-plastique-sur-le-marche_AV-202401300697.html

·In order to speed up the #involvement of the legislative power within States, an international #coalition of parliamentarians has been created on the initiative of French deputy. More to read: Georges GASSITA ???? sur?X?: "In order to speed up the #involvement of the legislative power within States, an international #coalition of parliamentarians has been created on the initiative of @phbolo, French MP. Together, we can make a greater impact against #plasticpollution. https://t.co/RRkrZ4a0la" / X (twitter.com)

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·The French government outlines the contours of a body that would be responsible for regulating, controlling and sanctioning PROs and individual systems if necessary. The sectors will have to be more environmentally efficient. The interministerial mission is undertaken by the Ministries of Ecological Transition and the Economy. The mission will be entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the Environment and Sustainable Development (IGEDD) at the ministry of environment, the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) and the General Council of the Economy (CGE) both from the ministry of finance. Several observers see this as a possible desire on the part of the Ministry of the Economy to have more influence than at present in the management of EPR schemes. More to learn: https://dechets-infos.com/inspection-des-rep-vers-une-instance-de-regulation-et-de-controle-4930553.html

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The economic equation of reuse in the construction industry. Is the price signal enough to prompt action? The anti-waste law for a circular economy has led to the creation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) sector applied to PMCB (Construction Products and Materials in the Building sector). France has thus acquired a powerful tool to promote the circularity of building materials. Will EPR give a price signal on reuse? An ambitious target of 4% reuse of materials has been set by 2027. At the end of 2023, PROs are just beginning to roll out their action plan in favor of reuse at the very time when all emerging sectors (often from the SSE) need support to develop. Does reuse have an economic advantage giving a price signal? Understand the economic equation of reuse and question the levers of massification. IFPEB conducted a study in partnership with Cycle Up, A4MT (Booster du Réemploi) and Alliance économie to decipher the economic equation of reuse and identify the levers to scale up. More to read: ?https://www.ifpeb.fr/webinaire-equation-economique-du-reemploi-dans-le-batiment/

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The agri-food sector will reuse its wastewater. A decree authorizing the reuse of treated wastewater in the agri-food sector has just been published in the Official Journal, marking a significant step forward for French industry. This measure, which has been welcomed by stakeholders in the field, opens up new perspectives in the face of the growing challenges related to water scarcity. Until now, food factories could only reuse wastewater for off-site uses, without bringing it into contact with food. This was limited, for example, to cleaning the product reception docks or the exterior walls of the trucks. Thanks to this new decree, food professionals in France will now be allowed to reuse their treated wastewater for cleaning the inside of factories, including production lines, and even food. For food manufacturers, 43% of whose water volumes are used for cleaning, this decision paves the way for a more sustainable management of water resources. "This should make it possible, in the long term, to reduce our water withdrawals by 20% to 25%. However, the reuse of this water, even after treatment, in the direct manufacture of food (beer, beverages, etc.) remains prohibited and subject to health issues that have not yet been decided. More to read: https://leshorizons.net/agroalimentaire-reutiliser-eaux-usees/?utm_source=brevo&utm_campaign=greennewsletter&utm_medium=email

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EU & Other countries

The Indian Government introduced amendments to the Battery Waste Management Rules and the Plastic Waste Management Rules:? the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is empowered to extend the annual reporting deadline up to a maximum period of nine months beyond the yearly deadline of June 30th and EPR registration remains valid until it is canceled or withdrawn, eliminating the need for periodic renewals. The amendment updates the definition of ‘Producer’ to exclude scenarios involving imports, focusing on entities directly involved in the production of plstic packaging within the country. Additionally, all obligated entities and all categories of plastic packaging are now subject to specific marking and labeling requirements, such as including the name of the entity and producer registration number on packaging that contains plastic. More to read: https://accerio.com/january-2024-newsletter/#INPWM

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A joint industry statement?has expressed concern about the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation’s references to ‘state-run producer responsibility organizations’, which are feared to open legal loopholes and threaten the EU’s recycling targets and decarbonization goals. The European Council’s General Approach now references ‘state-run producer responsibility organizations’ in recital 97a, Article 39.7b, and Article 42.6. The signatories state their unease that such organizations will have “no represented producer mandate”, according to recital 97a, and fear that these circumstances would reduce a producer responsibility organization (PRO)’s role to collecting taxes for a State’s Treasury and helping to fulfil the Member State’s reporting obligations. More to read: ?https://packagingeurope.com/news/packaging-industry-condemns-ppwrs-state-run-producer-responsibility-organizations-in-joint-statement/10912.article

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The two contracts signed by Suez and the Azura Group consist of the implementation of several platforms for the transformation of organic waste into compost. The Azura Group and Suez join forces for the recovery of organic waste in the south of Morocco. In this sense, the two parties have recently signed contracts for the operation of several platforms for the recovery, by composting, of organic waste from Azura's activities in the regions of Agadir. More to read: https://aujourdhui.ma/economie/deux-contrats-de-six-ans-chacun-viennent-detre-conclus-azura-et-suez-valorisent-les-dechets-organiques-au-sud-du-maroc

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The new European regulation on ecodesign will ban the destruction of unsold textiles. The lines of the European Ecodesign Regulation are becoming clearer after a trilogue agreement between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. This text, eagerly awaited by industrialists, should make European products more sustainable. Ban on certain substances, ban on the destruction of unsold products in certain sectors, requirement for repairability. Details for each product category will be further developed in the coming months. More to read: https://www.novethic.fr/actualite/environnement/economie-circulaire/isr-rse/ecoconception-le-parlement-europeen-et-le-conseil-s-accordent-sur-un-nouveau-texte-151984.html