Draft outline of the overall guidance document on the ESM of household waste

Proposed by GRID-Arendal

April 2018

Table of Contents

Module 1 Policy and regulatory framework.............................................................................3Inventories of the wastes streams generated, including detailed characterization of waste.............................3Environmental impact assessments...................................................................................................................3Health and safety aspects (including reuse of food waste)................................................................................4Policy approaches...............................................................................................................................................5Regulatory frameworks (model legislation, etc.) ...............................................................................................6Socio-economic instruments and financing models ..........................................................................................7Job creation (including green jobs) ....................................................................................................................7

Module 2. Prevention..............................................................................................................8Reduce the harmfulness of wastes, to get clean uncontaminated materials to use as resources......................8Separation of components at source to consider redistribution if possible (e.g. food, textiles) ........................9Direct reuse .....................................................................................................................................................10

Module 3. Source separation, collection and transport..........................................................10Sorting of the waste streams and utilization of the waste resources...............................................................10

Module 4. Reuse (except direct reuse)...................................................................................12Preparation for reuse through repair or refurbishment ..................................................................................12Repair items .....................................................................................................................................................12Mechanical and biological treatment ..............................................................................................................13

Module 5. Recycling..............................................................................................................13Recycling processes for different waste streams including emerging recycling technologies .........................13Emerging recycling technologies......................................................................................................................14

Module 6. Energy recovery....................................................................................................14Electricity production - heating........................................................................................................................15Biofuels.............................................................................................................................................................15Anaerobic digestion..........................................................................................................................................15

Module 7. Environmentally sound final disposal of household waste.....................................16Environmentally sound incineration for final disposal of household waste .....................................................17Environmentally sound landfill.........................................................................................................................17

Assessment and decision making..........................................................................................18

Guidance for assessment of current waste management systems.........................................18Avoidance and design issues............................................................................................................................18Economic and other instruments.....................................................................................................................19Socio-economic aspects...................................................................................................................................21Understanding of value chains.........................................................................................................................21

Guidance for ensuring ESM of household waste....................................................................23Decision tree for evaluating and selecting appropriate options related to prevention, minimization, best available techniques (BAT)/best environmental practice (BEP) and emerging technologies for recovery and disposal of household waste in an environmentally sound manner.................................................................23

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Module 1 Policy and regulatory framework Introduction

The Module will examine the policy and regulation framework required for ESM of household waste. Local authorities generally have responsibility for waste management within their local areas in accordance with a regulatory framework. Local governments play an important role in providing household waste collection and recycling services, managing and operating landfill sites, delivering education and awareness programs, and providing and maintaining litter infrastructure. The choice of policy and regulatory framework will depend on many factors including political, institutional, social, environmental, and economic aspects (McAllister 2015).

Inventories of the wastes streams generated, including detailed characterization of waste

Understanding the amount and type of waste generated is essential for planning management collection, disposal and reduction strategies. Using a consistent methodology may allow useful comparison to other municipalities and the determination of successful strategies for waste processing and reduction.

Example Case Study: Kerbside Audit South Australia Zero Waste South Australia A comprehensive guide to kerbside waste auditing and analysis of waste streams.

Environmental impact assessments

EIA methodology can be used for the assessment of municipal solid waste management including waste generation, collection, transportation, treatment/disposal technologies, and savings obtained by energy and material recovery. Both current environmental and socio-economic impacts of waste management systems and future alternative scenarios can be assessed.

Example Case Study: Life Cycle Assessment Lebanon Includes the evaluation of the environmental impacts of Lebanon's current waste disposal to understand serious threats, followed by the evaluation of 30 alternative waste management systems. These systems were assessed for their environmental and economic benefits to demonstrate the proposed approach of developing waste management systems and selecting alternatives (Ikhleyel 2018).

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from Ikheyel 2018.

A number of tools and techniques have been developed for EIA of municipal waste disposal options, including scoping, checklists, matrices, qualitative and quantitative models and decision-support systems.

Example Case Study: Assessment of waste disposal site Utilising a Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) in Iran. The RIAM technique provides a method to systematically and quantitatively evaluate the socio-economic and environmental impacts of waste disposal facilities (Aliakbari-Beidokhti et al 2017).

Health and safety aspects (including reuse of food waste)

There are a number of health and safety aspects in the household waste management including:

OHS of workers involved in waste collection, transport and disposal (see example of Collection of domestic waste code of practice).

Resuse of waste organics for animal feed including the use of swill. Swill is the term used for food scrapes that contain animal products. Many countries have banned the feeding of swill to animals, due to the possible transmission of disease. However, there are methods to process food waste, such as lactic fermentation that effectively eliminate pathogens.

See examples: Food waste recycling into animal feeding in Vietnam and Environmental and health impacts of using food waste as animal feed: a comparative analysis of food waste management options (Salemdeeb et al 2017).

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Policy approaches

Policy approaches (including EPR, minimizing dependence on disposal and end-of-pipe technologies, strategies for maximizing in-country recycling processing (vs. exporting recyclable materials) and increasing demand for recyclable feedstock from manufacturing sectors.)

The increasing amount of waste has made governments and local authorities examine policy options to reduce waste. Policies that are being adopted include:

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), a policy approach that makes producers take some responsibility for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products. This also provides manufactures with incentives to prevent wastes at the source, promote product design for the environment and support the achievement of public recycling and materials management goals (OECD 2018). Examples include Dell reuse and recycling programme that collects end-of-life computer equipment.

Replacement of end-of pipe solutions with clean technology and green solutions. End-of-pipe solutions are treatments that try to solve a problem at the final stage of its cycle of causes and effects. In the case of household waste, this means focussing on waste disposal rather than recycling or minimization.

Maximizing in-country recycling – minimizing landfill by maximizing recycling is the motto of many municipalities. For example, in the United Kingdom, all local authorities have been set statutory performance standards for the recycling and composting of household waste. Pro-active techniques to encourage recycling include provision of recycling containers, establishment of recycling centres for non-kurbside disposal (toxic substances, electrical appliances, carpets etc.), publicity campaigns and closing the recycling loop by offering recycled products for sale, e.g., soil improver made from composted green waste.

Example Case Study: A study of recycling in Malaysia recognised the advertisement of constant material consumption, the perception of waste as dirty and undesirable (how to dispose rather than utilize), the lack of appropriate legislation, limited coordination between stakeholders and lack of accurate data on waste generation and composition as major challenges in improving waste minimisation and recycling (Moh and Manaf 2014).

Example Case Study: In Sweden, more than 99 per cent of all household waste is recycled (c.f. 38 per cent of household waste was recycled in 1975). Recyclables are separated in the home and collected. Newspapers are turned into paper mass, bottles are reused or melted into new items, plastic containers become plastic raw material and food and other organic waste is composted and becomes soil or biogas. Rubbish trucks are often run on recycled electricity or biogas. Sweden is making major efforts to be at the top of the waste hierarchy by avoiding and reducing waste (Fredén 2017). Example Case Study: Municipalities trying to develop effective strategies to change waste reduction and recycling behaviour need to understand the barriers that inhibit individuals from engaging in the activity, as well as what would motivate them to act (the benefits they derive from the right behaviour) (WA Waste Authority). One way to do this is with SWOT analysis:

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from WA Waste Authority http://www.wasteauthority.wa.gov.au/programs/communication-guidelines/3-tools-techniques/2-barriers-benefits-swot-analysis/

Regulatory frameworks (model legislation, etc.)

Legislation creates a framework for proper management of waste including the protection of human health and the environment, and provides a platform for an effective waste industry. Laws pertaining to waste are many and varied and are dealt with under numerous state, federal and international laws, regulations and codes of conduct, depending upon the type of waste and the stage it is at in its lifecycle.

Waste legislation is generally changing from being focused on the public health and environmental protection, to minimising waste and instituting reuse and recycling. Modern frameworks emphasise waste avoidance, minimisation, resource recovery and use a risk-based approach to manage safety and environmental concerns. This change has been in line with a growing shift in community attitudes and expectations.

Example case study: A Scandinavian study examined the legislation regarding Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and how it is practically and administratively managed in Sweden, Norway and Denmark in order to determine best practice for this waste stream (Ivert et al 2015).

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Socio-economic instruments and financing models

Economic instruments in solid waste management have two major objectives: to cover costs and thus improve service delivery; to influence behaviour by means of the pricing mechanism in order to minimise waste, avoid negative impacts (e.g. from landfill) or to strengthen resource recovery and recycling. See GIZ Economic Instruments.

Authorities have introduced regulatory and economic measures in an attempt to minimize household waste. In countries including the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and China ‘Pay-as-you-throw’ (PAYT) schemes are implemented (Herszenhorn et al 2014). These schemes involve a fee for the amount of waste collected, designed as a monetary incentive to reduce this waste. The challenges most cited with regards to establishing PAYT schemes are cost of establishment - as charging models increase the complexity of the waste management service and technological solutions often need to be adopted to determine waste volume.

Example Case Study: Establishing the willingness to pay (WTP) for improved household waste services is an important step in planning services. A study in Ethiopia for example found that the fee for service was far below the resident’s wiliness to pay (Hagos et al 2012). The authors found that the mean WTP could be used as a guide for municipal officials to set a more appropriate fee that could be used to finance improvements in waste management, where all households receive collection services, waste is disposed of properly, and recycling and composting features are added.

Job creation (including green jobs)

The growth of prevention, reuse, recycling and recovery of waste can create economic opportunities. Job creation estimates vary but the US EPA in 2012 estimated that for 10,000 tonnes of waste products and materials, 1 job could be created if incinerated, 6 jobs if landfilled, 36 jobs if recycled, and up to 296 if refurbished and re-used. A recent OECD report states that the EU27 recycling industry employs about 1.8 million people. By increasing the recycling rate from 50% to 70%, up to 322 thousand direct jobs could be created. Taking into account the indirect and induced jobs, up to 550 thousand total jobs could be created in the EU27 (OECD 2017).

The challenge in developing countries includes integrating informal waste collectors into formal waste management programmes. Currently informal recycling systems can bring significant economic benefits to developing countries. The informal system reduces the cost of formal waste management systems by reducing the quantity of waste for collection. One step towards integration is to support the informal sector in adding value to recycled materials (Wilson et al 2006).

A review of the informal waste sector by GIZ (2012) found several conditions important for integration, including inclusion of informal waste workers contribution in public policies,

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regulations, and procedures, the organisation of informal workers, the technical and managerial capacity these workers have as economic actors, and the networks they establish with formal companies and other institutions like providers of business or financing services.

Module 2. Prevention Introduction

This Module should consider the draft guidelines to assist Parties in developing efficient strategies for achieving the prevention and minimization of the generation of hazardous and other wastes and their disposal (UNEP/CHW.13/INF/11). Managing waste is not just the responsibility of governments. A range of industries (consumption and production) and businesses, as well as communities, households and individuals are involved in waste management, prevention and resource recovery.

Prevention of waste can be also realized by designing products: Eco-design Promoting alternative materials: biodegradable plastic, compostable plastic, bio-based

plastic Developing new materials considering sustainability of it such as thermoset plastic

(Recyclable new thermoset plastic Source: Economic Forum, Emerging technologies)

Reduce the harmfulness of wastes, to get clean uncontaminated materials to use as resources

Households generate both hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams although in various propositions. Some examples of waste stream generation. The goal is to prevent the disposal and mismanagement of recyclable waste streams such as paper, plastic and metal. Uncontaminated paper, plastic or metal can be reused to manufacture new products.

Hazardous material often makes its way into household waste. Keeping potentially hazardous household waste such as electronic and electric devices (WEEE), motor oil, batteries, pesticides and paint out of landfill sites requires that they are separated from other waste. Local authorities can provide hazardous waste collection programmes. These often involve a periodic collection event, when residents can take hazardous materials to a collection centre. Some hazardous waste can be recycled such as used WEEE, motor oil, antifreeze and some batteries. Non-recyclable materials such as solvents, cleaners, pesticides, mercury containing domestic devices and oil-based paints require special management.

Replacing hazardous materials with non-hazardous alternatives is a better long-term solution, but buying the least toxic product available, only purchasing the amount needed for the task and using all the product help to reduce hazardous waste volumes.

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Example Case Study: Household hazardous waste management. The Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency in US developed a handout to educate the public about battery recycling and measured the impact. From 2015 to 2016 the volume of batteries recycled increased by 10,000 lbs and continues to increase.

Separation of components at source to consider redistribution if possible (e.g. food, textiles)

Separating recyclables such as glass, plastic, paper and metal from other rubbish provides clean, sorted material that can be more easily and cost-effectively recycled. Pre-sorting ensures more marketable material that will be recycled rather than discarded or used for less beneficial, one-time applications. Mixed recyclables can lead to increased cross contamination and result in a higher percentage of material going to landfill. Example Case Study: A food waste sorting programme in Shanghai achieved an initial 70% of wood waste correctly segregated. Over one year later 45% of food waste was still being successfully sorted with very little contamination (capture rates of over 10% with less than 30% contamination would have been considered ‘successful’, and capture rates over 20% and with contamination levels of less than 10% ‘very successful’). The success was attributed to a number of factors, which included effective collaboration between a Community Committee, and NGO and residents (Xu et al 2016). Key elements of the success according to the stakeholders were:

Numerous meetings to understand the project Effective use of volunteers and educational material Development of a sense of civic duty

Example Case Study: Retailer clothing collection. A 2012 study of textile waste in Nordic Countries found that half of the textile products used by consumers are discarded as waste. As the consumption of textile products is growing the Nordic governments started to investigate policies to reduce textile waste. The report suggests pathways for textile waste reduction including policy measures based on the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) for waste prevention, reduction of hazardous substances (eco labels), reduced consumption of new textiles (education), prolongation of lifespan of products and recycling of textiles that are no longer fit for purpose. Since the report was released, the Swedish retailer H&M lunched a worldwide clothing collection initiative. They include clothes of any brand and condition and also home textiles in the scheme. The H&M website states that 95% of clothes thrown away could be re-worn or recycled. Since the scheme was launched in 2013, the company has collected more than 50,000 tonnes of material (the equivalent of more than 270 million t-shirts).

The European Union provides Best Practice fact sheets with examples for waste prevention.

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Direct reuse

One person’s waste may be a useful item for someone else – toys, kitchen ware, clothes, eye glasses, household textiles, phones, working electrical appliances – can all be directly reused. Charities take items in good condition for resale and donation. Example Case Study: Formalising informal solid waste recycling. Looks at the challenges of formalising solid waste recycling at a dumpsite in Zimbabwe (Nemadire Et al 2017).

Module 3. Source separation, collection and transportIntroduction

This Module should consider the options for source separation, collection and transport of waste. Source separation involves separating waste into common material streams or categories for separate collection.

Sorting of the waste streams and utilization of the waste resources

Source sorting can be done in a number of ways: separate bins for roadside collection (separate contractors make collect different waste

streams) direct delivery of specific wastes to drop-off facilities.

Goods and materials commonly targeted for source separation include: organic matter (such as food waste and garden waste) packaging and paper (such as cardboard, glass, plastics and aluminium cans) hazardous wastes (such as paint, batteries, chemicals and biomedical items) construction and demolition waste (such as concrete, bricks and timber) reusable items (such as clothes and accessories, household items and appliances)

What are the waste sorting systems? What are tailored options for source separation? diligent separation at household level by paper, plastic, food waste, residual waste,

metal, glass, hazardous waste (electronics, batteries etc.). dry waste separation at household level by the main recyclables e.g., paper, cardboard,

glass etc. wet waste separation at household level. It includes all waste which cannot be recycled

e.g., residual waste, contaminated paper, tissues, etc. deposit refund systems. formalizing informal system. For instance, door step waste pickers collect recyclable

waste as part of door-to-door selective waste collection schemes. These schemes can be run in partnership with municipalities.

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Example Case Study: Citizens get awarded for recycling efforts by receiving a “free” metro ride. Beijing has introduced a collection system at source by giving a possibility to pay for subway ride by recycling a plastic bottle. This case study can provide lessons learned.

Example Case Study: Citizens get rewarded for recycling and ultimately waste collection becomes a community effort. Citizens in city of Ethereum in Netherlands, are rewarded for recycling with tokens (a digital asset). They can exchange that asset for another public service (e.g., transportation). Source: Agora Tech Lab.

What are the benefits of source separation? Waste separation as close as possible at source are beneficial because of the share of recycling is higher and it reduces waste dumping; the cost savings at waste management facilities; getting better (cleaner) secondary materials.

What are the needs to be considered for source separation? Political will and support; Actors (private and public structures); Infrastructure at all phases – collection, transportation and recycling; It should be convenient for residents (e.g., available bins, colour-coding of bins, bags

etc.) Awareness at household level, education.

What are the main barriers? What are the main errors of source separation? Lack of appropriate infrastructure; Low awareness and unclarity of household involvement;

Example case study: Oslo´s colourful solution to waste management. Oslo introduced using free of charge bags that colour-code the waste by type before delivering to the waste handling system. Source: The city of Oslo.

Separate collection and transport

Collection is the most important part of the waste management. Waste collection will reduce littering in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Example Case Study (tailored solutions): Doorstepping in China

Example Case Study (tailored solutions): About 1 per cent of the world´s population is living off collecting and recycling waste. Waste salvagers are usually organized informally. India has recognized the informal sector as core of its recycling system. Doorstep collection system can promote formalisation of this activity and increase recycling rates. Source: Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing.

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Module 4. Reuse (except direct reuse) Introduction

This Module should consider repairs and refurbishment of objects before they are discarded. Not everything what is broken is waste, it can be repaired or refurbished – a concept that has been practiced by years. Repair culture and trends differs from region to region. In the US, consumer electronic repair and maintenance has decreased by more than 50 per cent from 1998 to 2015 (Sabbaghi et al 2015). Many producers remove the option of independent repair from customers by controlling the parts, tools, documentation, diagnostics and firmware.

Preparation for reuse through repair or refurbishment Reuse are refurbishment is a choice which, in a bigger scale, needs a support from political level. What are the needs to simulate repair and refurbishment? Legal support (e.g., laws requiring companies to allow consumers to fix their own electronics, sell parts which are needed to repair, publish manuals, make available tools tec.) Supporting systems, which makes products more durableA culture of repair (repair cafes, training opportunities etc. to expand the repair workforce). Subsidies, in cases, where economic values of repair are higher than purchases of new goods.

Example Case Study: In 2015, France adopted a law which requires manufactures to tell customers for how long repair parts will be available. Source: World Changing Ideas

Repair items

What are the benefits of repair and refurbishment?

An object has a longer timespan prolonging product-life-cycle. Less resource extraction, less energy consumption etc. This is an opportunity to create more jobs and occupations.

What are the barriers? Economical barriers – high costs of labour Limited access to spare parts, repair tools etc.

Example Case Study: Rethink waste is a project by the Environmental Center of Oregon State providing guidance on the repair and refurbishment of products

Example Case Study: Criteria system that makes products more durable and makes them more repair friendly such as IFIXIT in US and ÖNORM Standards published by Austrian Standard Organization.

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Mechanical and biological treatment

<to be developed based on discussions>

Module 5. Recycling Introduction

This Module should consider recycling offering sustainable waste management solutions. The Module would benefit from streamlining with other Modules (e.g., Module 3) and definition recycling and scope of recycling. Recycling could derive from any kind of waste collection systems (e.g., source separation, deposits, mechanical separation at treatment plants, informal collection for recycling etc.). Waste streams: metals, plastic, paper. Recycling of different waste streams has specific requirements and technologies.

Recycling processes for different waste streams including emerging recycling technologies

Organic matter such as food waste and garden waste can be sustainably treated by following methods: organic waste composting; material recovery; and bio-methanisation. If these methods can´t be implemented, organic waste stream is mixed other residues in landfills. However, it is possible to develop environmentally sound waste management systems with collecting landfill gas, remediation and landfill rehabilitation systems.

Paper and cardboard recycling. Paper recycling goes through the following steps: separation from other waste streams either at source or in a recycling center; paper is graded; remove contaminants (e.g., glass, plastic, metal, residues); bale and transfer to processing mill.

Plastic recycling. In general, plastic recycling involves sorting to remove unwanted components such as metals, glass and paper before it moves to washing, drying, further sorting, shredding and final granulation.

Metals is one of the valuable waste streams which can be recycled numerous times without degrading quality. There are two principal categories: ferrous (e.g., steel, iron) and non-ferrous (e.g., aluminum, copper, zinc). Main recycling steps are: collection, sorting, processing, melting, purifying, and solidifying. Hazardous wastes (such as paint, WEEE, batteries, chemicals and biomedical items). The first step is sound hazardous waste collection and storage. Peculiarities in processing, and recycling.

Construction and demolition waste (such as concrete, bricks and timber) – to be checked if it is waste of household category. Difficult waste stream, maybe highly contaminated.

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Reusable items (such as clothes and accessories, household items and appliances). Basic textile recycling: collection, sorting and processing textiles. Processing procedure depends on the type of the textile, whether it is natural or synthetic fibers.

What are the main barriers to recycling at early phase of waste management? Citizens attitude towards recycling. Citizens are not willing to participate because it

requires diligence and extra efforts. Low political priority. Etc.

Example case study: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Centre in Kenya offers recycling services to the general public, business, learning institutions, government and NGOs. Source: Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Centre

Emerging recycling technologies.

PET - non-biodegradable polymer that is used for wide range packaging solutions can be recycled by ionic magnetic catalyst into a new monomer. Test in 2012. Source: Ioniqa Technologies

Capturing methane gas from landfills (there is a vast amount of scientific papers on this issue).

Example case study: Unilever is working to recycle PET by ionic magnetic catalyst into a pure monomer. As per September 2017, Unilever is building a pilot plant in Indonesia. Source: Chemistry World.

Best practices: Landfills generate a lot of methane gas; uncaptured methane gas is emitted to the atmosphere contributing to the green house effect. However, modern regulated landfills incorporates a system which captures with gas and utilizes this biogas as a rewable energy source. Nisargruna in Mumbai is one of such bioplants in India. This plant can process biodegradable waste such as kitchen waste, paper, grass, gobar and dry leaves. It offers “Zero garbage and Zero effluent“ and provides high quality manure and methane gas. Source: Bhabha Atomic Reseach Centre.

Module 6. Energy recovery Introduction

This Module should consider the opportunities, costs and impacts of waste to energy systems. Waste to energy is considered a renewable technology as the fuel source is sustainable. The energy is generated either by combustion (heat) or using newer technologies that involve the production of fuels like ethanol, methane, syngas and char.

Electricity production - heating

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Waste to energy incineration plants have been operating for decades. Municipal solid waste incineration is commonly accompanied by the recovery of energy (“waste to energy”) in the form of steam and/or the generation of electricity. However, municipal waste incinerators have the potential to be significant sources of environmental pollution. Burning plastics produces toxins. The exhaust needs to be treated with filters (to capture toxic ash), scrubbers (to remove toxics like mercury, furans and dioxin) and alkalizes (to neutralise acid gases).

The main benefits of incineration, are the destruction of organic material that would otherwise go into landfill and the concentration of pollutants into comparatively small quantities of ashes which can be safely disposed of. The recovered energy can be an important additional benefit. Municipal waste incinerators have a lower performance than conventional energy plants – average efficiency of large plants is around 30% (maximum of around 24% in small to medium plants) c.f. approximately 40% for a modern coal fired plant (Lombardi et al 2015).

What are the challenges with incinerating waste to energy? A constant waste stream is required which may undermine waste minimisation and the

recycling industry Plants have the potential to release toxic chemicals into the environment Incineration produces greenhouse gases which are not captured by most plants Investing in source separation creates more jobs than the incinerator sector and

provides opportunity to remove recyclables and organics from the waste stream (NTN 2017).

Example Case Study: Waste to energy in Serbia – barriers in development (Vujic et al 2017). Biofuels

There are a number of ways of converting waste into biofuel that include high temperature low-oxygen gasification, acidification and anaerobic digestion.

Gasification is a more complex process than waste incineration but the gasification process produces simpler molecules and substances like dioxins, and furans are generally destroyed. However, gasification plants generally process smaller volumes of waste compared to conventional incineration plants (Cho 2016).

Anaerobic digestion

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process that breaks down organic matter to produce biogas – a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide and water, which can be used to produce heat and electricity. Organic waste, like food scraps are processed in an oxygen free environment with anaerobic bacteria, which break down the waste. The process produces a valuable bi-product called digestate that can be used like compost. AD is a relatively low-cost technology that can divert waste from landfill and incineration.

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Example Case Study: The Enerkem Plant in Edmonton Canada is the first commercial installation producing ethanol from municipal waste. The plant uses the non-recyclable waste fraction as the feedstock. This includes wood, plastic, textiles and Styrofoam which is dried before processing. The waste is first heated in a low oxygen environment to produce a gas. Contaminants are removed from the gas by scrubbers, then the cleaned gas is converted in a number of steps, into ethanol. The conversion to biofuel costs US $127 per tonne compared to the slightly lower $111 for disposal in landfill. When operating at full capacity the plant will produce 38 million litres of ethanol per year (Edmonton Journal 2018).

Waste-to-Energy technologies based on applied conversion process (from Malinauskaite Et al 2017).

Module 7. Environmentally sound final disposal of household wasteIntroduction

The Module covers the least preferable waste management option – incineration with or without low energy recovery and landfill disposal of residue. Poorly managed and unorganized landfills are wide spread. They cause direct risks to humans and the environment. Regularly,

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there are local accidents where poorly managed landfills collapse or leak. Improvement in management and operation of landfills is crucial.

Environmentally sound incineration for final disposal of household waste

Example case study: New Horizons Energy in Cape Town, South Africa produces gas and fuel from non-hazardous garbage collected from households and municipalities. The plant consumes about 7 per cent of total waste produced in Cape Town. Source: New Horizons Energy

Environmentally sound landfill

Landfill planning and construction (ref.: Basel technical guidelines, ISWA working groups, guidelines e.g., Guidelines for Design and Operation of Municipal Solid Waste Landfills in Tropical Climates etc.):

Site selection, permitted and planed (land ownership, geology, risk against flooding, seismicity, neighbourhood etc.)

Landfill gas collection Applying environmental standards Site construction (e.g., drainage system, mechanical stability)

Landfill operation (ref. ISWA landfill operation guidelines)

It is very important to provide good vehicle access at any landfill site. Road infrastructure to access the site and good communication infrastructure in the area will facilitate well organized operations of waste management. Quality of infrastructure and later maintenance of roads is fundamental.

Securing supply and choices of daily cover. Daily cover of the landfill is fundamental to control effects of the landfills such as odour, windblown litter, scavenging humans, animals, and birds, or avoiding landfill fires. Daily cover can be soil, sand or even quarry waste.

Managing the “working face” – area where waste is disposed by trucks. Waste layers. Waste compaction. Managing risks.

Controls and monitoring

Example case study: The Vlakfontein landfill was constructed in 2016 in South Africa and it is the first environmentally sound landfill in the area. Source: Averda Never Stop

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Assessment and decision making Guidance for assessment of current waste management systems Introduction

The Module will examine current waste management from a perspective of waste minimisation in a circular economy. This includes product design, economic instruments that encourage waste minimisation, changing consumer behaviour towards zero waste, rethinking formal and informal waste structures, innovative enterprise, The goal of sustainable waste management is to simultaneously protect human health and the environment and to conserve resources. There are numerous methods of assessing waste, including life cycle assessments, multi-criteria-decision-making, cost-benefit analysis, risk assessments, and benchmarking. To achieve affordable effective waste management, decision makers apply integrated strategies that consist of a multitude of connected processes, such as collection, transportation, treatment, recycling, and disposal (Al Sabbagh et al., 2012).

Avoidance and design issues

Avoidance and design issues, including packaging, engagement of manufacturers of plastic products including packaging materials, circular economy, sustainable materials management, EPR (link to Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) group and reference to the Cartagena Declaration)

Sustainable design can play a critical role in reducing our impact on the environment. Considering the whole life cycle of products is necessary in reducing waste. Eco design principles, that minimise waste impact, evaluate all aspects of production from extraction of the resources necessary to make the product, the manufacturing process, transportation and waste disposal at the end of life. The scientific literature clearly indicates that current consumption practices are unsustainable and we need to drastically reduce CO2 emissions, however there is barely acknowledges in the current initiatives employed by designers, manufactures the general public to reduce their ecological impact.

Eco considerations in product manufacture include: Eco- material: choose materials with a low environmental foot print (local, sustainable

etc). Make it last: select materials and design styles that will promote durability and longer

use. Enhance recyclability: select materials that can be easily recycled.

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Reduce VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds): VOCs can come from dyes and inks and are potent greenhouse gases.

The Dogwood Alliance, a forest conservation NGO has produced a guide to paper packaging reduction that includes design, materials, sourcing, logistics, recycling, end-of-life strategies. Examples of small changes in product design that have impacts in paper consumption include a reduction in the size of bun tray liners by 10cm which saved 84 tons of paper in 2010 (McDonald’s UK). Changes in packaging composition can increase recyclability, such as using soy and vegetable inks and glues. Organisations like the Sustainable Packaging Coalition an industry coalition, which works to develop more sustainable packaging - defined as:

Is beneficial, safe and healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle Meets market criteria for performance and cost Is sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewable energy Optimizes the use of renewable or recycled source materials Is manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices Is made from materials healthy throughout the life cycle Is physically designed to optimize materials and energy Is effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial closed loop cycles

The Cartagena Declaration on the Prevention, Minimization and Recovery of Hazardous Wastes and Other Wastes was adopted in 2011 by the Parties to the Basel Convention. It commits the Parties to actively promote and implement more efficient waste prevention and minimization strategies, to take measures to decouple economic growth and environmental impacts, and to encourage more systematic and comprehensive global and regional efforts for improved access to cleaner production methods, including through capacity building and technology transfer. What are the challenges in implementing sustainable packaging and eco product design?

Upfront costs are generally higher The public is not educated or conditioned to consider life cycle costs Benefits take time to be recognised

Economic and other instruments

Economic and other instruments, considering capacity barriers and enabling activities, rules and regulations, enforcement, administrative structures (public and private sectors) and the infrastructure that is to be put in place

There are costs involved in manging waste – economic instruments are used to cover costs and thus improve service delivery. Pricing can influence behaviour, encouraging people to minimise waste and strengthen resource recovery and recycling. A number of market-based instruments have been introduced to tackle waste management and encourage waste reduction. These include:

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Unit-based pricing measures for waste collections, eg payments for waste management services per bag or per bin.

Deposit-refund schemes, in which the purchase price of a product (eg a bottle of soft drink) includes a deposit amount that is repaid when the bottle is returned after use.

Landfill charges used to ensure that the costs of disposal reflect the full costs of landfills over the long term, including environmental and social costs.

Producer responsibility schemes which allocate obligations for achieving recycling targets to industry and can lead to the establishment of markets for fulfilling these obligations.

Tradable permit systems, including cap and trade schemes (e.g. for landfilling biodegradable waste) in which the total quantity that can be landfilled is capped nationally and individual allowances to landfill tonnes of biodegradable waste are allocated and subsequently traded; credit-based schemes (for packaging waste) which allocate targets for recycling to industry and require proof of target achievement through holding of tradable certificates that are produced when a tonne of waste is recycled.

Waste levies including charges on individual products (Covec 2005)

Example Case Study: Does a levy work? New Zealand waste disposal levy. The New Zealand Government introduced a disposal levy in 2009 on household waste sent to land fill. Currently the levy is NZ $10.00 tonne. Half of the levy money goes to territorial authorities (city and district councils) to spend on promoting or achieving the waste minimisation activities set out in their waste management and minimisation plans. The other half is put into a Waste Minimisation Fund. Despite the efforts of the Government, the amount of waste sent to landfill is increasing. The levy scheme was reviewed in 2017 and recommendations were made to improve the operation and outcomes of the scheme with the view decreasing the flow of waste to landfill.

Example Case Study: Toronto’s plastic bag levy. In 2009 the Toronto City Council introduced a requirement that retailers impose a $0.05 levy on each disposable bag given to customers. This is called a nudging policy - a policy that seeks to encourage behavioural change through small measures. A study by Rivers et al 2017 into the effectiveness of the policy, found that the levy increased the use of reusable shopping bags by a small amount (3.4 %) However this increase was mostly seen in people who already used reusable bags and were encouraged to use them more frequently, while there was no effect on infrequent users. The reusable bags users were from households with high socio-economic status (as measured by income, educational attainment, and housing situation). This suggests important limitations for nudging policy more generally, as people with lower socio-economic status appear to have been unaffected by this behavioural prompt.

What are the challenges and capacity barriers? Covering the full-service costs solely through user charges may result in user charges that are not affordable for the majority of the population. Therefore, the full range of economic

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instruments need to be considered, including other taxes, user charges, landfill fees or taxes, product taxes and deposit-refund systems, as well as economic incentives for improved solid waste management like subsidies, tax exemptions or feed-in tariffs for energy from waste (GIZ 2015).

It’s hard to change behaviours. There is a recognised potential for unauthorised disposal (e.g. roadside dumping) as a result of increased disposal costs. Calculating costs, collecting fees and taxes requires a methodology and system. Needs to be efficient use of revenue from waste taxes to improve service and sustainability.

Socio-economic aspects

Socio-economic aspects (formal and informal sectors) of household waste management, including mainstreaming of the informal sector, public education and awareness raising, training, business cases development, promoting micro-enterprises or cooperatives. [Text to be added]

Understanding of value chains

Understanding of value chains, creation of networks in the value chain, and providing tools on how to move forward (practical implementation tools)

There are opportunities to create value from waste through sustainable enterprise. Thelken and de Jong (2017) found that these enterprises generally operate within a core-group network that is tied together by bonding social capital (the desire to minimise waste). This social capital can be used to obtain resources, knowledge and financial support from other related networks.

From Thelken and de Jong 2017

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Toolkit for data gathering (including technical, operational, economic and social data).

Gathering data for the development of sustainable waste management strategies is often expensive and time consuming. GPOBA and the Wold Bank, have developed a data collection tool kit for solid waste management. It is a spreadsheet based system that aims to collect municipal solid waste data in a consistent manner to serve the following purposes: 1. Facilitate the development of municipal solid waste master plans for cities 2. Facilitate the preparation and implementation of investment projects, including those using Result-based financing (RBF) approaches3. Explore potential opportunities for reducing short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) emissions from the municipal solid waste sector

In some places technology is being used to collect waste data, especially where variable charging is conducted. Waste is identified with a household (tagged bins), weighed (usually by the collection vehicle) and charges calculated.

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Guidance for ensuring ESM of household waste Introduction

This Module should provide a decision support tool/s in the form of a decision tree, that contains alternative options and outcomes for problem solving and decision making. The decision tree/s can include options for waste management in general or individual components of the waste management system, such as recycling.

Decision tree for evaluating and selecting appropriate options related to prevention, minimization, best available techniques (BAT)/best environmental practice (BEP) and emerging technologies for recovery and disposal of household waste in an environmentally sound manner.

A decision tree can be used to support the evaluation and selection of management strategies. The decision tree can focus on various criteria, such as environmental performance and cost to evaluate strategies. Factors that can be considered in the analysis might include state and local regulations, key targets, waste stream volume and composition, storage space, labour availability, community expectations and other synergistic programmes (e.g. extended producer responsibility, green dot, bans etc).

Example of a food waste decision tree used to determine the best management option for different food waste products (from Garcia-Garcia et al 2017).

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