Weekly Bulletin on Circular Waste Management in Africa, France and EU #04-2024

South Africa

Twelve national and regional Plastics Pacts meet in-person to ensure voluntary action sets the groundwork for forthcoming changes under the Global Plastics Treaty?to end plastic pollution. Public/private plastics partnerships, including more than 800 major business, are driving practical action towards a plastics circular economy in 18 countries with a combined population of nearly 2.4 billion people (30% of the world’s population). More to read: https://wrap.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/south-africa-hosts-first-person-meeting-plastics-pacts-network

?

By converting 1 000 tons of food waste into animal feed over the past six months, the Shoprite Group is providing enough fodder for up to 3 000 cattle daily as part of its commitment to environmental sustainability and advancing the circular economy. More to read: https://www.sagoodnews.co.za/transforming-food-waste-into-animal-nutrition-how-the-shoprite-group-feeds-3-000-cattle-a-day/

?

France

Sorting household packaging waste: ‘France Strategy’ (FS) the office attached to the prime minister published an analysis questioning the organizational framework for the treatment of household packaging waste. According to FS,? the production of household packaging, its sorting and its recycling once it has become waste form two sides of the same industrial system, the many players of which carry heavy investments. For a better coherence of the means deployed, FS considers it possible to entrust the responsibility of industrial sorting centers, which is currently the responsibility of the municipalities, to PROs, provided that their control is strengthened. The study reviews?other existing levers to reduce the volume of household packaging waste. The first of these is bulk, which benefited from a development with a growth of 41% between 2018 and 2019 even though bulk does not seem to be generalizable to all products (mainly grocery sector); another lever is the development of paper and cardboard packaging as an alternative to single-use plastic, even if "the extent of such a replacement, which is based on innovations to be successful and then industrialized on a large scale, remains uncertain. As for reuse, it avoids the uncertainties of technical innovation but its development will only take place "at the cost of a change in consumption patterns. For FS "only the development of reusable plastic packaging seems to make it possible to move towards the end of single-use plastic while reducing the tonnage of materials produced and waste". But even in this ambitious scenario, the tonnage of household packaging waste will remain substantial. More to read: https://www.banquedesterritoires.fr/tri-des-dechets-demballages-menagers-france-strategie-propose-de-confier-plus-de-responsabilites?pk_campaign=newsletter_hebdo&pk_kwd=2024-01-26&pk_source=Actualit%C3%A9s_Localtis&pk_medium=newsletter_hebdo

?

Webinar organized on 7/2/2024 at 9 am UTC + 1 by The?National Institute of the Circular Economy,?Toulouse Metro?and?‘France urbaine’?on the theme ‘Territorial circular economy approaches in the construction sector’. The aim is to encourage the scaling up of the circular economy by giving local authorities the keys to understanding. This series of webinars is based on the lessons learned from the LIFE Waste2Build project led by the Metro of Toulouse, a European project that aims to optimize resources and recover materials and waste from building and public works (BTP) at the local and regional level. More to read: https://www.cycl-op.org/articles/h/webinaire-demarches-territoriales-d-economie-circulaire-dans-le-secteur-du-btp.html?from-notification=20240126 ?

?

ADEME has studied the impacts of incentive pricing on incivility in waste management. The two existing methods of financing the public waste prevention and management service are the household waste removal fee and the household waste removal tax. The first is billing of users based on the service provided (flat rate per user, number of people per household, etc.) while the second is an additional tax on built land owned by the owners (contribution proportional to the basis of the built land of the premises). Incentive pricing (IP) makes it possible to reduce users’ waste production and improve separate collection performance. Indeed, it is observed on average, after implementation of an IP, a reduction of 30% in residual household waste collected and a reduction of 5% in assimilated household waste. Many obstacles still block its implementation in France, including incivility on the part of citizens and more particularly those associated with the emergence of illegal waste dumps. Although the issue of illegal dumping is often mentioned in the literature and also in the press, the results of the different studies are contradictory or inconclusive and the studies carried out to date do not clearly demonstrate the link that may exist between the presence of incentive pricing in a territory and the emergence of illegal dumping. In this context, ADEME carried out a study in mainland France based on the observation of 18 communities that have implemented IP and 10 control communities. In collaboration with stakeholders from the different territories, an observation circuit of illegal waste deposits was carried out twice within each community in order to count and quantify these deposits. Field measurements have shown that incentive pricing does not systematize the emergence of wild deposits. What is influencing the phenomenon of illegal dumping is the absence of voluntary drop-off points in the territory. More to read: https://presse.ademe.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Tarification-incitative-incivilites-TIDS-synthese.pdf

?

ADEME is proposing a new contractual agreement between waste services operators and municipalities and the scope of the revised agreement is to improve the reduction in waste production. To date, waste collection and treatment operators are mainly paid on the basis of total volume of waste produced and managed by them on behalf of the municipalities. Thus, their remuneration will be even more important that the overall volume of waste is high. The performance contracts for household and similar waste which bind the actors must integrate two new dimensions: (i) prevention objectives and (ii) effective collaboration between all stakeholders. Waste Management Service Providers are asked to develop further the Household and Similar Waste Performance Contract (CPDMA) with a focus on waste prevention and reduction. More to read: https://www.suez.fr/fr-fr/actualites/communiques-de-presse/reduction-des-dechets-1ers-resultats-positifs-du-contrat-de-performance-pionnier-entre-le-grand-montauban-communaute-agglomeration-et-suez

?

EU & Other countries

A DRS company?and the municipality of Aarhus are piloting the ‘world’s first’ open-managed system for reusable takeaway packaging – a solution expected to help entire cities transition away from single-use packaging. The three-year pilot project enables packaging from different food and drinks providers to be returned to a shared infrastructure of automated collection points throughout a city. These are accessible 24/7 and hope to incentivize high return rates by reimbursing deposits paid by consumers when purchasing their products. More to read:? https://packagingeurope.com/news/open-managed-reusable-takeaway-packaging-system-makes-debut-in-aarhus/10889.article

?

?

In 2025, it will become mandatory for coffee sellers to recycle fibre-based cups in UK. Early this obligation BIFFA is launching a separate collection of single use coffee packaging. More than 62 million single-use tea, coffee and cold drinks cups are discarded in the UK every week. Although many contain cardboard that can be easily recycled into new products and packaging, millions still end up in general waste.? From October 2025, all businesses with 10 or more full-time staff that sell takeaway drinks in fibre-based single-use cups will have to recycle them by law. Earlier in 2018, A street solution to recycle coffee cups was launched by Veolia, in partnership with Westminster city council and the Heart of London Business Alliance. More to read: ?https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/biffa-launches-takeaway-cup-recycling-scheme/?utm_campaign=letsrecycle.com%20newsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=291572268&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8T7BPO2F3U-J6WkP6tbM-UcuXah1BBD_5S0RFyaACEk8Ak1gYmPBSb4ICCE9upGTYpKG1kESwYy6ADUy3xdE3npkB9qA&utm_content=291572268&utm_source=hs_email

?

Several issues are going to be important as international policymakers try to come to a consensus on a plastics treaty in 2024. Probably the biggest and most contentious matter is defining the life cycle of plastics. Where participants decide that it starts will have huge significance when assigning responsibility for financing the cleanup of plastic pollution. Members of the plastics and chemical industries argue that the life cycle of plastic begins when people discard it and that it shouldn’t be called waste and propose to reframe as ‘recyclable plastic materials’. Advocacy groups say the life cycle starts when the sources of plastic feedstock—oil and gas—come out of the ground. If plastic isn’t made, it doesn’t become waste.?More to read: https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/Negotiations-international-plastic-pollution-treaty-to-wrap-up-this-year/102/i2?s=09

?

What is the difference between a national implementation plan (NIP), national action plan (NAP) and national determined contribution? These are the three implementation models available identified until now under the negotiation for an international treaty against plastic pollution. NAPs are policy documents in which a State articulates its priorities, policies, and plans for action to facilitate the implementation of international, regional, or national obligations or commitments. The elaboration of a NAP gives a government the opportunity to review the past and current extent of its implementation on a specific topic at the national level (and, where appropriate, at the sub-national level) and identify gaps and reforms needed to improve coherence with existing commitments and policy frameworks. NAPs tend to be broad, not legally binding, and may be adopted in connection with a particular treaty requirement (as a separate national undertaking that reflects relevant treaty obligations on the topic or that originates in a specific MEA). NAPs limitations include (i) lack of performance because they are not necessarily legally binding; (ii) frequent insufficient ambition, potentially reflecting their status as political priority statements; (iii) being too broad in scope, vague, or open-ended, potentially leading to difficulties in justifying funding for their implementation; (iv) lack of effective monitoring and evaluation; and (v) lack of compliance. NIPs are requirements under MEAs that are intended to outline how a country will meet its obligations under the treaty, including the policies, legislation and regulation, and resources it will use to do so. NIPs seek to identify gaps and actions needed to comply with treaty obligations in a deliberate and proactive manner by articulating a State’s plans to fulfill its obligations under an MEA. NIPs usually identify sources of non-compliance (e.g., laws, institutions, lack of capacity, social norms, public and private sector considerations, etc.), and encompass (i) methods for addressing these gaps, (ii) monitoring the implementation of these methods, and (iii) identifying resources available to implement the actions identified in NIPs. NIPs are usually revised periodically to incorporate new findings and adapt to policy successes or failures. The preparation of NIPs provides State Parties with an opportunity to consult with national stakeholders, including civil society organizations, local authorities, municipalities, and licensing agencies and entities. NIPs can also provide for the establishment or designation of a national implementation agency or organization that works with the MEA Secretariat to ensure implementation. However, NIPs provisions may be silent on such issues, in which case they can be amplified in subsequent meetings of the Conference of the Parties (COP) or similar entities established for treaty governance. The brief concludes that far from being mutually exclusive, NIPs and NAPs should be seen as complementary forms of implementation of the future plastics treaty. More to read: https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/National-Implementation-Plans-and-National-Action-Plans-Key-Elements-to-Consider-in-the-Context-of-a-Treaty-to-End-Plastic-Pollution_August-2023.pdf

?

A new report on non-mechanical plastic processes. The three main non-mechanical processes can broadly be described as: Feedstock Recycling (Pyrolysis, Hydrothermal treatment and Gasification), ?Depolymerisation ?and Solvent-based Purification (also known as Dissolution). More to read: https://wrap.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-10/Plastic%20Recycling%20Reimagined%20-%20Overview%20of%20Non-mechanical%20Recycling%20%28003%29.pdf . Another study showed that Plastic Pollution: New study finds at least €6.7 billion investment gap to meet Europe’s plastics recycling targets. More to read: https://www.eib.org/en/press/all/2023-084-plastic-pollution-new-study-finds-at-least-6-7-billion-investment-gap-to-meet-europe-plastics-recycling-targets

?

the global circularity rate falling from 9.1% to 7.2%. This is according to the Circularity Gap Report 2024, launched by Circle Economy Foundation. More to read: https://www.circularity-gap.world/

?

RecyClass revises recyclability evaluation protocols and design for recycling guidelines. More to read: https://www.recycling-magazine.com/2024/01/25/recyclass-revises-recyclability-evaluation-protocols-and-design-for-recycling-guidelines/?utm_source=RMNL%5F240126%5FEN and https://recyclass.eu/recyclability/test-methods/

?

Sorting mixed waste before incineration is a swift and cost-effective strategy for achieving substantial reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from waste incineration, a new study by Zero Waste Europe and Equanimator finds. More to read: https://zerowasteeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/25Jan2024_EN_Full-Report_ZWE_Materials-or-gases-how-to-capture-carbon.pdf

?

?