Weekly Bulletin on Circular Waste Management in Africa and G20 countries #47-2024
Nadine Laurence Dulac √
Expertise France Low-Carbon/ Circular Economy/Circular Waste Management/EPR
South Africa
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·?????? The Stellenbosch team designed and built a containerized demonstration plant housing a 1 000-litre bioreactor and key utilities that can ferment approximately 100 kg of paper sludge per day to ethanol. Please click below to know more about this South African-first solution. More to read: https://www.crown.co.za/latest-news/mechchem-africa-latest-news/29307-sa-first-solution-for-converting-paper-sludge-into-bioethanol
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·?????? The 2024 Southern Africa summit will be held on the 05-06 December 2024 in Cape Town and will address critical and necessary interventions that investors, asset owners and managers, regulators and policymakers will need to deploy towards achieving the UN sustainable development goals as well as to mitigate against climate related risks. The summit will also explore the role of Institutional Investors, Financial services providers, Foundations, and charities plus NPOs, regulators, asset owners and managers in impact investing across the African continent and will examine critical approaches and strategies towards climate action and social impact. More to read: https://circularsouthafrica.co.za/csa_events/africa-esg-impact-investing-and-sustainable-finance-summit-and-expo-2024/
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·?????? The South African automotive industry is thriving, recording the highest number of vehicle exports on record during 2023. Yet many valuable materials are still wasted during vehicle production and throughout a car’s life. Today, we explore automotive waste and what major carmakers are doing to reduce their environmental impact. More to read: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/what-automotive-waste-we-doing-ewasa-s1kbf/?trackingId=LD9PQsiaQOOjJ%2BBGJ63%2B7w%3D%3D
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·?????? Biodegradable and Compostable Packaging: A review of the South African landscape. More to read: https://mossgroup.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/As-Is-Biodegradable-Packaging-Context-Paper_final_20March2020.pdf
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·?????? The South African paper recycling industry is facing a critical shortage of various grades of waste paper, in particular pre-consumer (K3) and post-consumer (K4) brown/kraft cardboard. The Paper Manufacturers Association of South Africa (PAMSA) believes that this trend will continue, putting further pressure on domestic paper mills in the run up to annual year-end shuts. The K3 and K4 paper grades are used in the production of paper packaging such as corrugated cases for the export market and transit of domestic goods. With the citrus season now complete and less cardboard boxes in circulation, there is less available to recover. On average, 1.2 million tonnes of waste paper are recovered in South Africa annually, with more than 90% of this being locally recycled into new paper, packaging, and tissue. More to read: https://thepaperstory.co.za/critical-waste-paper-shortages-in-south-africa/
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·?????? Opening remarks during national stakeholder consultation ahead of Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) on the international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. ?South Africa has a significant plastics industry that sustains approximately 60,000 formal jobs so there is a need to work in consultation with the plastics industry and organized labor. As a developing country, it is necessary that the Rio principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) as provided for in the founding UNEA 5/14 decision that mandates this INC work is upheld and it must aligns with a just transition which contributes to the goals of decent work for all, social inclusion, and the eradication of poverty. A just transition puts people at the center of decision making, especially those most impacted, the poor, women, people with disabilities, and the youth - empowering and equipping them for new opportunities of the future. On the domestic front ?there are three aspects: (i) Supporting and strengthening municipal waste management services to prevent plastic leaking into the environment, (ii) Developing EPR and (iii) Promoting public awareness and clean up campaigns to remove plastic waste from rivers, wetlands, and beaches. More to read: https://www.dffe.gov.za/node/4049
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·?????? Silicomanganese slag testing support confirms a circular economy opportunity. The National Cleaner Production Centre supported risk management SMME, Tailor-Made Risk Solutions, to get one step closer to a circular economy business opportunity through the testing of silicomanganese slag generated through the steel manufacturing process for potential use as construction material. Tailor-Made Risk Solutions focuses on identifying, assessing and mitigating environmental, health, safety and regulatory compliance risks across various industries. The company identified silicomanganese (SiMn) slag stockpiles on a steel mining client’s site that posed a major risk yet could potentially turn into circular economy opportunities. This led Tailor-Made Risk Solutions to approach the NCPC for technical assistance to establish if the slag could be repurposed for construction. More to read: https://www.industrialefficiency.co.za/2024/10/28/silicomanganese-slag-testing-support-confirms-a-circular-economy-opportunity/
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·?????? Jail time mooted for CEOs and municipal managers who commit environmental?crimes. Jail time, rather than monetary fines, may be necessary to deter corporate and municipal leaders from committing environmental crimes with impunity. That was the warning from Narend Singh, the deputy minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, on November 18 at the biennial conference of the Green Scorpions, the government inspectorate charged with enforcing environmental protection laws. More to read: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-11-18-jail-time-mooted-for-ceos-and-municipal-managers-who-commit-environmental-crimes/
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France
·?????? Launch of the recycling channel for used fishing nets: Two European directives and a French law provide for the recovery of used fishing nets for recycling.?The AGEC law?thus makes the management of end-of-life fishing gear mandatory from 2025 (Directive 2019/883, Directive 2019/904; Law No. 2020-105 on the circular economy and anti-waste known as the AGEC law). This project was born from an approach carried out by the Marine Natural Park with WWF France to support and accompany small-scale fishermen. More to read: https://parc-marin-golfe-lion.fr/actualites/lancement-de-la-filiere-de-recyclage-des-filets-de-peche-usages and https://www.cls.fr/en/
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·?????? Waste Management to Address the Climate Crisis: “By improving waste management, we can prevent up to 20% of the total anthropogenic GHG emissions in the world—one of the most significant opportunities for climate mitigation available today.” (ISWA, 2024, COP29 Declaration) This publication uncovers the pivotal role waste management can play in addressing the climate crisis, exploring 3 crucial levers of GHG emissions reduction: technical, regulatory and financial. More to read: https://www.pfd-fswp.fr/waste-management-to-address-the-climate-crisis?lang=en
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·?????? EPR?for building waste:?a decree on the possibility of collection points located no more than 5 km from the point of sale. Decree No TECP2415007D. 2024-1046 of 19 November 2024 was published in this morning's Official Journal on the conditions for the implementation of the obligation to take back waste from construction products or materials in the building sector free of charge and without obligation to purchase, by distributors. Given the particular nature of construction products or materials in the construction sector, the decree aims to facilitate the implementation of this obligation by allowing distributors who wish to do so to derogate from the principle of take-back on site or in the immediate vicinity, and to organise this take-back through collection points located no more than 5 km from the point of sale. More to read: https://blog.landot-avocats.net/2024/11/21/rep-dechets-du-batiment-un-decret-la-possibilite-de-points-de-collecte-situes-au-plus-a-5-km-du-lieu-de-vente/
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·?????? Congress of Mayors – For elected officials, environmental crime is first and foremost illegal dumping. More to read: https://www.banquedesterritoires.fr/congres-des-maires-pour-les-elus-la-delinquance-environnementale-cest-dabord-et-surtout-les-depots?pk_campaign=newsletter_quotidienne&pk_kwd=2024-11-20&pk_source=Actualit%C3%A9s_Localtis&pk_medium=newsletter_quotidienne
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·?????? In the Paris region, Who pays for the sorting in 2022? Taxpayers at 53%. This is the average share financed by the Ile-de-France local authorities for the collection and processing of paper and packaging sorted in the region (excluding glass). Producer support under the EPR accounts for 25% and resale of materials for 21% of the total cost.? and the share borne by the inhabitants is now well over 53% because the reference year of this graph is 2022, a year when the prices of material sales were very high. The revenue from the sale of materials expected for 2024 is almost halved compared to 2022. More to read: https://www.ordif.fr/nos-ressources/publications/referentiel-regional-des-couts-du-service-public-de-prevention-et-de-gestion-des-dechets-en-ile-de-france/
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·?????? Draft order laying down specifications for PROs, individual systems and coordinating bodies in the extended producer responsibility sector for single-use sanitary textiles. The draft decree on single-use sanitary textiles has just been put out for consultation: only wipes are concerned... They represent less than 10% of the sanitary textile deposits counted in the ADEME prefiguration study of this EPR. Diapers, exempt. Historic, correct me if I'm wrong, this is the first time that a target for reducing the number of products has been proposed: 15% less between 2025 and 2030. Nothing is specified if it is in unit or weight. France seems to have wanted to avoid an over-transposition of the 2019 EU directive by sticking only to wipes. The EPR therefore misses out on the largest deposits. More to read: https://www.consultations-publiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/spip.php?page=article&id_article=3101&lang=fr
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·?????? Summary of contributions based on the public consultation on the draft decree amending the decree of December 12, 2022, regarding data for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes (in more details data Transmission Procedures from Waste Management Operators to PROs). In general, two federations representing waste management operators have requested modifications to the text to allow sensitive and confidential data held by waste operators to be transmitted directly to ADEME, the national agency responsible to the EPR registry management and without going through the PROs. This request aims to prevent any potential misuse of the data by PROs, which are seen as competitors in the materials recovery market, thus mitigating the risk of anti-competitive practices. They also propose the creation of a unified platform for tracking EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) data, to simplify the transmission of data related to EPR schemes and ensure the confidentiality of the transmitted information. More to read: https://www.consultations-publiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/20241008_synthese_consultation_am_donnees_.pdf
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·?????? Adoption of the opinion on the development and securing of the functional economy. As part of ecological planning, the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) has been asked to reflect on the methods of developing and securing the functional economy, with the support of the National Consumer Council (CNC). The Functional and Cooperation Economy (CFE) is a new business model that is part of the circular economy. It is based on the provision of a use rather than the possession of an asset. It is no longer a question of buying a good or owning it, but of paying for a service rendered with the help of the good, which remains the property of the company offering the service. This implies in particular an alternative contracting method to acquisition, and, in the most comprehensive models, an integrated offer of services. In its opinion, the CNC proposes no less than 10 recommendations relating in particular to the protection and information of the consumer-user of the EFC. More to read: https://www.economie.gouv.fr/cnc/adoption-de-lavis-developpement-et-securisation-de-leconomie-de-la-fonctionnalite
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领英推荐
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?EU & Other countries
·?????? Partnership to drive refillable solutions from Costa Rica to South Africa. A series of studies led by Searious Business examines the barriers and levers for reusable packaging systems across five countries in Africa and North America – uplifting reusable shopping bags, refillable home care products, and refillable beverage bottles as the next solutions. More to read: https://packagingeurope.com/news/partnership-to-drive-refillable-solutions-from-costa-rica-to-south-africa/12164.article
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·?????? EPA calls for developing national EPR framework: The agency released the finalized?National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution as the?international community seeks to finish negotiating a?global agreement on plastic pollution. With an increased emphasis on the environmental and health impacts for communities near plastics plants and a more thorough accounting of plastics that end up in waterways. More to read: https://www.wastedive.com/news/epa-finalizes-national-strategy-prevent-plastic-pollution/733767/
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·?????? To enhance traceability of vehicles treated abroad, the EU Commission proposes establishing an EU-wide system ‘the Move Hub’ to track the movement of vehicles when they are exported within the EU, and ensure that fees paid in the initial country can be transferred with the vehicle. In addition, the proposal clarifies that only treatment facilities authorized by national authorities can receive the fees set aside by producers, and ensures that the net costs for all collection and treatment operations that exceed the revenues generated by the reuse of parts and the selling of recycled materials from the waste vehicles will be covered. ?Another clear step forward is the Commission’s proposal to modulate the EPR fees based on common criteria at the EU level, including vehicle weight, drivetrain type, recyclability and reusability rates, as well as the time required to dismantle the vehicle, among others. Essentially, this means that more material-intensive and less circular vehicles will pay more. The Move-Hub system will allow tracking the export of vehicles within the EU to ensure that EPR fees set aside for proper waste management reach the receiving country. However, this system does not extend beyond EU borders. Consequently, for importing countries outside the EU, the end-of-life management costs will not be covered by EPR fees collected for that purpose: the EU will delegate the waste management of the exported vehicles while retaining the fees meant to pay for it. This is particularly unfair for low- and medium-income countries that may lack the infrastructure to handle the environmental hazards associated with managing such complex products. A recent report from EEB?attempted to estimate the financial losses for receiving countries due to forgone EPR fees for end-of-life vehicles: assuming a total of 6.4 to 8.9 million exported vehicles and a conservative estimate of a € 46 EPR fee per vehicle, the total fees that do not accompany vehicles to African countries could range between € 294.6 million and € 409.4 million. More to read: https://meta.eeb.org/2024/09/03/on-the-road-to-effective-producer-responsibility-for-vehicles/
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·?????? The US association of plastic recyclers?has upgraded the APR PCR certification program in response to the growing demand for more accountability in recycling from government regulators, brand companies, and in the broader media. APR's updated program stands out for being straightforward and aligned with international standards, as well as anticipated domestic requirements such as California and Oregon EPR legislation. The APR PCR certification program provides stronger accountability and transparency to prepare companies for requirements on recycled plastic resin that are emerging in laws across North America and globally, particularly in minimum content mandates and EPR for packaging laws. More to read: https://www.recyclingproductnews.com/article/42570/apr-enhances-pcr-certification-program-to-meet-growing-demand-for-accountability-in-recycling
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·?????? Learnings from the Global South: A Philippine PRO case study”, will take place on Thursday, December 05, from 12:00 – 12:45 CET?; More to know: https://greentechknowledgehub.de/events/pioneer-epr-green-dot-lessons-learned-30-years-operation-pro-germany
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·?????? Designing more sustainable products: 18 categories with high potential. A new JRC report?has assessed the potential of various products to be regulated?under the new EU Ecodesign regulation, aimed at making sustainable products the norm in Europe. The legislation could improve environmental and market sustainability. More to read: https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/designing-more-sustainable-products-18-categories-high-potential-2024-11-22_en
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·?????? What is the Holistic Resource System (HRS), mixed waste sorting (MWS) can recover plastics from one-bin systems as well as plastics that were not separated correctly by consumers, and therefore not collected for recycling. Depending on the local context, including infrastructure, policy, and the eco nomics of recycling, MWS can also be utilized to recover paper, glass, metals, and organic waste. In most cases, the overall system costs are reduced due to revenues from material sales and tipping floor fees, savings on residual treatment, as well as other financial implications (landfill bans, plastic tax, etc.).. More to read: https://media.licdn.com/dms/document/media/v2/D4E10AQHIaky8rUbtcQ/ads-document-pdf-analyzed/ads-document-pdf-analyzed/0/1729760232434/Mixedwastesorting_3pdf?e=1732590000&v=beta&t=cKr2Dud5mgCOx3hU57Nf3ZsEiVJ1Ll92tDtRmtZIQPs
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·?????? Successful commissioning of a second chemical PET recycling plant in India. The new plant has a capacity of 120 tons/day and together with the existing plant, we are now recycling over 20 million used PET bottles each day, transforming them into 160 tons/day of high-quality PET chips and PET polymer on the site. ?This achievement brings us closer to our vision of a sustainable future, where PET plastic is continuously recycled and reused. More to read: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/ugcPost-7262678331492384768-O69M/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android
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·?????? Policies and standards for plastic reduction and management in East and West Africa. To support the implementation of appropriate policies and legislation to reduce plastics pollution and promote circular systems in East and West Africa, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has partnered with the Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS)?to evaluate the current status of the policy and legislative framework of plastic products, including circularity, biodegradability and compostability, as well as accompanying standards. More to read: https://unctad.org/meeting/workshop-policies-and-standards-plastic-reduction-and-management-east-and-west-africa
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·?????? Many households segregate organic waste, yet often bag it in conventional plastics, complicating value recovery. Similarly, reforestation efforts often rely on plastic seedling pots, overlooking their environmental footprint. With INC-5, let’s focus on key principles for responsible plastic alternatives. Plastics labeled as biodegradable or compostable should go beyond claims, and follow clear standards for credible biodegradation and compostability. Targeted Use: Allow biodegradable/compostable plastics only where reusable or natural substitutes are unfeasible. Defined Performance: Be marketed under strict biodegradability and compostability standards to fit existing (not theoretical) waste management systems. Clarity in Definitions: Standardize terms like "reusable," "recyclable," and "compostable" to guide regulation and consumer awareness Robust Testing: Mandate rigorous standards for biodegradation, disintegration, and safety in specific environments (e.g. soils, ocean).Better Labelling: Ensure transparent, clear B2B and B2C disposal guidance to avoid consumer misinformation and environmental harm. Adopting or nationalizing international standards like ISO 17088:2021 and EN 17427:2022 can drive progress. Those summary recommendations follow a recent event in Nairobi, which brought together representatives of Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana EPAs and their National Standard Bodies, supported by UN Trade. More to know: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/henrique-pacini-3baa0a6_inc-sustainability-plastics-activity-7265537346459111424-G1fB/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android
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·?????? Opportunities for plastic substitution in critical economic sectors of developing countries. This is a summary of a longer report exploring potential alternatives to conventional plastics in three sectors central to the economies of many developing nations: food export packaging, fishing gear, and agricultural applications. Through case studies in Ghana, Nigeria, Fiji, and Kenya, this analysis identifies promising substitutes and alternatives, from natural fibres to biobased polymers, which may offer reduced environmental impact while supporting economic growth and diversification in these regions. However, the adoption of these substitutes or alternatives is hindered by infrastructural limitations and the lack of standardized definitions and material standards. Recommendations emphasise sector-specific interventions to promote the shift away from plastic reliance, grounded especially in local resources and innovations. More to read: https://unctad.org/system/files/information-document/plastic-substitution-in-critical-sectors.pdf
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·?????? Analysis of MSW landfill tipping fees in 2023 in USA. In the 2023 study, 515 landfills were surveyed. MSW tip fee information was obtained from a total of 342 of those facilities. EREF has calculated a national average tip fee using two methodologies. One method estimates an unweighted national average by averaging fees of all observations or the number of reporting landfills for each year. In this method, each landfill is equally weighted regardless of its size or the quantity of tonnage received annually. The other method is calculated by weighting fees based on the relative amount of MSW disposed via landfilling and the tip fee at each facility to create a ton-weighted average. The ton-weighted average is calculated to account for differences in how the amount of MSW landfilled in each state varies due to factors such as total waste generation, fraction recovered for recycling and/or composting, and interstate transport (i.e. import and export of MSW). Of the 342 landfills sampled, 103 landfills were privately owned and 239 were publicly owned. The average tip fee of privately owned facilities was greater compared to publicly owned facilities. Private facilities averaged $68.28, 32% greater than the $51.86 average for public facilities. In the Analysis of Landfill Tipping Fees, four economic indicators influence in addition to the landfill’s revenue and operational expenditures, which are (i) the Consumer Price Index (CPI), (ii) the national motor vehicle maintenance, (iii)motor vehicle manufacturing and (iv) wages and labor costs. More to read: https://erefdn.org/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2024/05/2023-EREF-Report-MSW-Tipping-Fees-xozqty.pdf
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·?????? Webinar on Global Action Partnership for EPR - Towards a common understanding of the potential of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the context of the Plastics Treaty on Nov 26, 2024. More to know: https://www.addevent.com/event/WJ23869558
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·?????? Case Study: Extended Producer Responsibility in the Philippines. Early Learnings and Insights for Emerging Markets Battling Plastic Pollution. More to know: https://www.pcxsolutions.org/post/case-study-extended-producer-responsibility-in-the-philippines
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·?????? Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Guidance on Ecomodulated Fees. The overall purpose of ecomodulated fees is to reduce the environmental and public health impacts of covered products. Among impacts of concern related to packaging are climate change, toxicity, and microplastic pollution. These factors contribute to two of six “planetary boundaries” for climate and novel entities that are currently beyond their limits and threatening human health and the environment. For the packaging sector, recycling alone is insufficient to deliver the needed magnitude of change. Even if recycling was conducted flawlessly throughout the nation (i.e., every single American recycles and materials are perfectly segregated from one another), it could only deliver 31% of the needed 90% greenhouse gas reduction from that sector. Strategies to reduce impacts of packaging It is primarily through other proven impact reduction solutions that the packaging sector will deliver the needed change, including: (i) transitioning to clean-energy production and reuse systems, (ii) minimizing packaging to the minimum necessary to protect the product, and (iii) design changes to reduce toxicity and releases to the environment. An ecomodulation formula should be designed to incentivize these types of solutions and point in the direction of the necessary system change overall. Therefore Oregon EPA recommends that PRO(s) develop ecomodulation formulas that: Incorporate rules for life cycle evaluation. The approach should verifiably deliver environmental benefits based on the normalized and weighted results calculated following rules of LCA. Grant, at a minimum, as many malus fees (penalties) as bonus fees rather than emphasizing bonuses over maluses, to communicate adequate urgency for system change. Increase the magnitude of fee adjustments over time to maximize effect. More to read: https://www.oregon.gov/deq/recycling/Documents/EcomodulationGuidance.pdf
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·?????? Pathways to reduce global plastic waste mismanagement and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. More to read: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adr3837
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·?????? Global Plastics AI Policy Tool. Countries are exploring ways to reduce the impact of plastic. This tool explores different policy interventions both regionally and globally. More to read: https://global-plastics-tool.org/
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International Affairs Professional
3 个月The 6Res