Weekly bulletin on Waste Management and Transition to a Circular Economy in Africa, France and OECD (Week 15-2024)

South Africa

·?????? The National Stakeholder Consultation session ahead of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) on the development of the international legally binding instrument on curbing plastic pollution took place on April 12, 2024. South Africa boasts a coastline that covers over 3 000 km, and it is in the interest of environmental sustainability that South Africa is actively engaged in the INC process. the South African negotiations rest on a firm base provided by our Constitution protecting the right to an environment that is not harmful to health, and to have our environment protected from plastic pollution. At the same time, the plastic industry has been targeted for growth as part of our industrial policy.?The negotiations’ priority obligatory measures include: Supporting and strengthening waste management services to prevent plastic leaking into the environment, emphazing on waste collection and improving recycling systems through the development amongst others of the EPR and promotion of a circular economy in the plastic industry and the promotion of public awareness and clean up campaigns to remove plastic waste from rivers, wetlands, and beaches.?In addition, more action is warranted to tackle plastic pollution. Building on the principles established from INC3 to guide our negotiations: The best available science is needed to guide the criteria to inform priority plastic products and their impact on our environment. This scientific information is needed to conclude the Annexes of this instrument; Information sharing on chemicals of concern that are used in plastic production needs to be managed in an open and transparent manner; the obligatory and regulatory measures to curb plastic pollution need to be supported by equally ambitious means of implementation as well as a financial mechanism that would ensure predictable and adequate financial resources in curbing plastic pollution in developing countries. More to read: https://www.dffe.gov.za/speeches/creecy_inc4

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·?????? An Interwaste/ Seche Environnement SA has opened South Africa’s first landfill water treatment plant as the water-scarce country looks to reuse more of the resource and improve its environmental standards. More to read: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/science/532077-south-africa-gets-first-landfill-water-treatment-plant.html

France

·?????? France has just unveiled its Ecobalyse tool to assess the environmental footprint of clothing and display their #ecoscore in order to facilitate consumers' sustainable choices and fight against #fastfashion. If the initiative is well intentioned, it nevertheless competes with the "Product Environmental Footprint" #PEF approach supported by the European Commission which will be imposed on all member countries with the directive on environmental labeling (ESPR). Ecobalyse therefore confronts French companies with a conflict of loyalty: should we follow the French rule or the European rule? In our opinion, France's great qualities in environmental matters give it great responsibilities; France must act in a spirit of cooperation rather than competition; In this common market that is Europe, only one rule must apply. ?France must therefore align itself with Europe and the PEF method, even if it means proposing improvements if it deems them necessary. More to read: https://www.journaldunet.com/retail/1529639-affichage-environnemental-la-france-ne-doit-pas-faire-cavalier-seul/

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·?????? Increase in EPR fees for 2024-2025 period. The AGEC law increases the specifications of PROs. As a result, EPR fees are increasing considerably. In some sectors, the increases are even exponential. PRO namd Ecosystem?for WEEE announces price increases on certain staggering household equipment. On?mobile phones, from 1 July 2024, due to the implementation of the repair fund and the coverage of screen breakage (a bonus of €25), provided for by the AGEC law, the?EPR fee will increase from €0.02 to €1.65 excluding VAT. In the case of hot water tanks, the increase is about between 103% and 138.4% and this increase is justified by the creation of 6 new waste treatment facilities at a cost of more than €50 million. The same applies to electric bicycles (e-bikes)?and?motorized personal mobility devices?due to the revision of the?repair fund?envelope for the financing of the bonus. The increase in the contribution will be 648.5% and 60% respectively as of July 1, 2024. Refashion, for the textile sector has applied an?increase in contributions of 23% on average?for 2023 marketing this year. The scale remains unchanged for the 2024 marketing lists, but the PRO warns that the increase in its prices will continue until 2028. It explains this increase by the increase in the objectives of collection, recycling, repair and reuse, in particular, which are set out in the sector's specifications:?the achievement of 60% of the TLC placed on the market collected annually by 202,?80% of recycling in 2027?compared to 13% effective today, and only 1% in closed loop in textile form. In addition, there is a minimum of €44 million to be allocated annually to the repair fund, and a?rate of at least 15% of used textiles reused by 2027. In a similar vein,?Citeo Papiers PRO is abolishing the?exemption from contribution for marketers of less than 5 tons of paper. From now on, all producers of paper with a grammage of less than 224 g/m2 must contribute and make a declaration, regardless of the tonnage placed on the market. The requirements in terms of?recycling,?repair?and?reuse?in accordance with the logic of?the circular economy?and?the fight against waste?supported by legislation inevitably lead to increasing management costs and impact all sectors. In all sectors, producers must therefore expect high contributions this year and in the years to come that the bonuses will not be able to compensate, especially since today a part of the bonuses goes back to the consumer and weighs on the producers' budgets. The?obligations of PROs to take back?waste such as in the building sector, has lead PRO Ecomaison to announce the revision of its scale on 1 May, as well as Valobat and Ecominéro, the investments in Research and Development to which?PROs?are subject are all elements that augur well for the growth of expenditure in?waste management. Not to mention the obligations that fall directly on producers/marketers such as the?Prevention and Eco-Design Plan (PPE)?and?consumer information ?which also has a cost. On the citizen side, it is urgent to sort waste correctly in the dedicated sector because, otherwise, it is the?local household waste collection tax (TEOM)?that increases in addition to the?EPR fees(?passed on in the cost price of the products). More to read: https://www.e3conseil.com/en/blog/hausse-des-eco-contributions-2024-2025-ca-va-piquer

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EU & Other countries

·?????? Local and Subnational Governments Coalition to end Plastic Pollution issued its last statement towards INC-4 of the Global Plastics Treaty as they are key partners for shaping the instrument and playing a critical role in the delivery of the Plastic Pollution Treaty. It is calling that the Treaty will ensure that pollution is minimised through the improvement of waste management and other measures to limit pollution (but no mention of the EPR) and the availability of funds for the environmentally sound management and disposal of plastic waste that could not be eliminated in a safe way. More to read; https://circulars.iclei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/EN_Statement-LNSG-coalition_plastic-pollution.pdf

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·?????? Onboarding finance to beat plastic pollution: during this webinar and ahead of INC-4, UNEP FI, PRI, Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty (Ellen MacArthur Foundation/WWF), the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development and the Carbon Disclosure Project are opening the Finance Statement on Plastic Pollution for signatures. All financial institutions including investors, asset managers, asset owners, banks, and insurance companies, as well as financial industry associations and other finance-related initiatives are invited to sign the statement to call on governments for an ambitious plastics treaty that creates the mandatory framework and the enabling environment for the private finance sector to fully play its role in ending plastic pollution https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/17290/606639?utm_source=UNEnvironmentFinanceInitiative&utm_medium=brighttalk&utm_campaign=606639 and https://www.unepfi.org/pollution-and-circular-economy/pollution/the-finance-statement-on-plastic-pollution/

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·?????? Reducing plastic production: Economic loss or environmental gain? We reviewed economic and environmental studies on global plastic pollution and we estimate the global cost of actions toward zero plastic pollution in all countries by 2040 to be US$ 18.3–158.4 trillion (cost of a 47% reduction of plastic production included). If no actions are undertaken, we estimate the cost of damages caused by plastic pollution from 2016 to 2040 to be US$ 13.7–281.8 trillion. These ranges suggest it is possible that the costs of inaction are significantly higher than those of action. More to read: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-prisms-plastics/article/reducing-plastic-production-economic-loss-or-environmental-gain/99BEE1E1A6C185B79CD2735B02C59AC6

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·?????? EPA cites emissions ‘above target cancer risk level' at Westlake plant. A Westlake Vinyls PVC plant in Kentucky is under pressure from EPA and state officials to reduce emissions of ethylene. Regulators say a risk factor of 1 cancer case per million people should trigger emission cuts. Here, EPA says risk factors are 60 to 1,000 per million at monitoring stations, including an elementary school. Westlake says it's committed to working with EPA and Kentucky regulators. Some regulators see a new EPA emissions rule, which includes monitoring of fenceline emissions of EDC and vinyl chloride used in making PVC, as tools they can use. More to read: https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/epa-wants-westlake-pvc-plant-cut-emissions-cites-above-target-cancer-risk-level?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=LinkedIn

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·?????? A new report show that California’s plastic bag regulation isn’t working as intended and legislators introduced bills to strengthen California’s ban on single-use plastic grocery bags. The bills would address California’s plastic waste crisis by closing a loophole that allows grocery stores to provide thick plastic bags for a fee.? Shoppers often treat thicker “reusable” plastic bags as single-use. Most people still aren't taking those bags back to grocery stores. The thicker bags also are just about impossible to recycle, since they need to go to special facilities. So while Californians are using fewer plastic bags, and those bags aren't showing up as often during coastal cleanup days, data shows residents are actually producing more plastic bag by weight per person now than they did before the ban took effect. More to read: https://environmentamerica.org/california/media-center/new-report-californias-plastic-bag-regulation-isnt-working-as-intended/

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·?????? PFAS (per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) are a group of man-made chemicals used globally for many purposes, including water resistance, stain resistance, non-stick coatings in textiles, apparel, and cookware, as well as in semiconductors, circuit boards, and electrical wiring, amongst others.? We find them in some PEHD packaging through fluorinated coated. Countries are limiting them. This paper presents the USA, EU and UK positions. More to read: ??https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-za/knowledge/publications/4ef321ae/pfas-a-global-perspective

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·?????? UK DEFRA hits the pause button on permits for new energy from waste development. The Government has announced a moratorium on environmental permits for certain types of waste incineration facilities in England and it covers approximately 5.2 million tons of incineration capacity that has been granted planning permission but has yet to secure an environmental permit to operate. This includes sites such as the 102 MW RDF Boston Alternative Energy Facility. Exempt from the moratorium are hazardous or clinical waste incineration facilities, small waste incineration plants, incinerators seeking a permit variation for an existing environmental permit, significant permit variations for incinerators seeking to develop carbon capture and storage provision, and facilities whose primary purpose is the recycling of materials. This follows similar moves in Wales and Scotland. Wales banned new incineration capacity three years ago and is now achieving 66 per cent recycling. Scotland’s recycling rate rose to more than 62 per cent since introducing their moratorium. However, England still directs millions of tons of residual waste to landfill and a further 1.5 million tons abroad each year. More to read: https://resource.co/article/defra-hits-pause-button-permits-new-energy-waste-development

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·?????? The UK Tire Recovery Association (TRA) has called on the Government to tighten waste regulations, fearing the UK may become a dumping ground for end-of-life tires (ELTs) from EU nations. In February, the EU Parliament voted to update the EU’s? Waste Shipment Regulations and that EU nations cannot send waste including end-of-life tires to non-OECD countries unless that country can demonstrate the environmentally sound management of waste through auditing by independent bodies and monitoring by the European Commission. This means for UK,? to become the only major European nation legally able to export baled [whole] end-of-life tyres to non-OECD countries.? The TRA and other professional recyclers fear that negligent European operators may turn to Britain to dump their tire waste, and irresponsible British operators may facilitate this due to inadequate UK waste legislation. India’s Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) claimed that India imported around 800,000 tons of waste tires in only few months in 2023. TRA is calling to only export shredded tires and ban the export of whole end of life tires?as Australia did, as recycling and disposing of shredded tires is significantly easier. More to read: https://tyrerecovery.org.uk/2024/02/21/2390/

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·?????? Evaluation of Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). ?The open public consultation (OPC) was carried out to support the evaluation of the Directive and stakeholder consultation raised questions about the current weight-based target approach to recovery as well as failing to prevent illegal exports of e-waste, recycling of critical raw materials and the reuse of electronic components, suggesting a need for revising the target system to better capture the qualitative aspects of electronic waste recycling and recovery. More to read: https://resource.co/article/industry-concerns-eu-weee-directive-emerge-polling

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·?????? There two groups of nations at the negotiation table on the treaty on plastic pollution: the group of the ‘High Ambition Coalition’ (most African countries and EU countries) that wants an end to plastic pollution by 2040 and there is the ‘Global Coalition for Plastics Sustainability’ that has positioned itself as the counterbalance to the High Ambition Coalition and is pushing for a larger focus on addressing plastic waste (via chemical and mechanical recycling and other means) rather than plastic bans or production limits. Until now the USA is not part of any however with the new presidential election in 2024, environmental and health groups are pushing the ?Biden administration to take leadership role at upcoming plastic treaty talks. More to read: https://www.ehn.org/un-plastic-treaty-ottawa-2667695606.html?s=09

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