Hazardous household waste and the polluter pays principle – Implementation in Flanders RTP 33399, Kocaeli (Turkey), 14-

1. Hazardous household waste and the polluter pays principle – Implementation in FlandersRTP 33399, Kocaeli (Turkey), 14-15.07.2009 Christof Delatter Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (Vereniging van Vlaamse Steden en Gemeenten – VVSG) www.vvsg.be Tel. +32 2 211.55.99 E-mail: christof.delatter@vvsg.be

2. This Presentation • Results Flemish policy • Competences • Hazardous household waste: • What • Historical approach • Collection and treatment • Experiences • Actual status • Financing

3. Flemish waste management: Results (1) • Very successful separate collection: • results at the top • doorstep collection of lots of recyclables • bring system (>340 civic amenity sites) • Very high recycling rate • 2002: first year in which the growth in waste production stopped • Nevertheless: amongst lowest cost for final disposal of waste • Since 2007: no more landfilling of household waste in Flanders

4. Flemish waste management: Results (2)

5. Flemish waste management: Results (3)

6. Competences (1)

7. Competences (2) • Regions: considerable political autonomy • Region fully responsible for environmental matters (incl. spatial planning), except: • Nuclear waste • Waste transit through Belgium • Product Policy • European and International Policy (joint decisionmaking) • Cooperation mechanisms between regions

8. Competences (3) • One public waste authorityonFlemish (regional) level, established in 1981 (OVAM), responsibleforworking out regional waste management plans • Provinces: verylimitedenvironmentalcompetencies • Municipalities are responsiblefor the collection and treatment of household waste • Own (inter)municipal services; Tendering; Public-private partnerships • Producer responsibilityforcertain waste streams

9. Hazardous Household Waste: what? What?  detailed list in legislation • Rests of paints, inks, glues • Oils and fats • Solvents • Acids • Bases • Packagesthatcontainedhazardoussubstances • Injectionneedles • Cleaningproducts • Batteries • Productscontainingmercury (like fluorescent lightbulbs) • Mixed fraction (pesticides, cosmetics, firework, smoke detectors,…)

11. Hazardous household waste: approach (1) • End of the 80’ies • Only 1/3 of local authorities had some collection of hazardous household waste on municipal sites • Hazardous household waste ended up in: • Sewers (ex. liquids) • Soils • Through residual waste to below standard landfilling or incineration • Small scale incineration for heating (motor oils) • Pollution, chemical reactions • 1989: pilot projects for separate collection of small hazardous household waste

12. Hazardous household waste: approach (2) • Flemish Waste Management Plan 1991-1995 • Hazardous Household Waste considered to be one of the priorities in the plan • Specific actions: • Obligation for municipalities to have a ‘civic amenity site’ with amongst others collection of HHW by 31.12.1992 • Municipalities had to suggest a system for separate collection of HHW by 31.12.1991; had to implement the system before 31.12.1992 • Municipalities were supported financially: • Voluntary environmental cooperation agreements: commitment to achieve a series of environmental goals in exchange for subsidies • Subsidies for specific investments concerning prevention and separate collection of waste

13. Hazardous household waste: collection and treatment (1) 1990’ies: three collection systems were implemented (1) Collection only at civic amenity sites

14. Hazardous household waste: collection and treatment (2) (2) Door to door with the ‘chemocar’ (3) Specific collection moments per ‘neighbourhood’ (2) And (3) often combined with (1)

15. Hazardous household waste: collection and treatment (3) • After collection, most of the HHW was treated by Indaver NV • Created in 1985 • Flemish authorities were majority shareholder • Approx. 20 other shareholders, mainly industrial companies producing significant quantities of industrial and/or hazardous waste • Indaver had to build the necessary capacities for treatment of hazardous waste

16. Indaver NV: treatment hazardous wastes

17. Hazardous household waste: experiences • Doorstep collection • Veryexpensive (up to 750 euro / tonne) • HHW has to bepresentedpersonallyforcollectionforsecurityreasons • Up to 90% is collectedthroughcivicamenity sites, notthrough doorstep collection • 2004: • all civicamenity sites accept HHW • 87 (out of 308) municipalitiescollect in the neighbourhoods • 16 municipalitiesstill have doorstep collection • 2 municipalitiescollect ‘ondemand’

18. Hazardous household waste: actual situation

19. Hazardous household waste: actual situation • Treatment: more competitive markets • Frying fats/oils: biofuel • Motor oil: regeneration • Car batteries: positieve value on the market • Other companies often pretreat chemical wastes for further incineration in cement kilns • Dedicated hazardous waste treatment • Flanders sold large part of shares in Indaver

20. Hazards… Dioxin-emissions State of the art WtE Plant for 90.000 tonnes/year 15 families doing this =

21. Financing (1) • Citizen paying the municipalities: • In the past: all costs financed from either the general budget of from a fixed waste tax • Now: • Fixed costs financed from either the general budget or from a fixed waste tax (or mix of both), but fixed waste taxes will disappear the next years • Variable costs financed from a variable fee, to stimulate waste prevention and waste seperation = P-A-Y-T (Pay as you throw)

22. Financing (2) • Systems for PAYT: • Compulsory use of a household waste bag of a given volume; sold at a certain price • To weigh and register the household waste container when emptied • To count the number of times that a container is emptied • Now also weighing systems on collection sites • Waste for disposal: average 1,3 EUR/bag; plastics: 0,25 EUR/bag; VFG: 1 EUR/bag; paper and glass: free

23. Financing (3) • Producers paying the municipalities: • Packaging waste: total cost of collection, sorting and recycling + extra fee for coordination and communication • Other take-back responsibilities: industrial sectors will have to pay a lump sum per inhabitant per year and per ton collected on municipal civic amenity sites

24. Financing (4)

25. Financing (5) • Specific for hazardous household waste: municipalities have to accept it from the citizens free of charge… • Producer responsibility for (amongst others) • (car)batteries • Old medication • WEEE • Motoroils • Frying oils

26. Producer responsibility in Flanders • 1994: introduction of principle of producer responsibility in our legislation • Shops  distributors  producers/importers – in proportion to the share on the market: REVERSE LOGISTICS • Individual obligation but can be organised through cooperation between producers in a ‘recognised organism’, which signs a voluntary agreement with government • Since 1997: decision for gradual introduction of PR for magazines and newspapers, printed publicity, batteries & accumulators, expired medicines, tyres, WEEE, motor-oil, frying fat and oil, photochemicals and agricultural plastic foil • Separate legislation for PR on packaging waste

27. PR-Financing - General (1) • Who is responsible for organising, who for financing? • Integrated waste management • Transparancy • Market distortions • Use of civic amenity sites for free? • In Flanders: producer responsibility means that the real and total cost of collection, recycling, disposal should be integrated in the product cost • This includes municipal costs ! • What is the management cost of a waste stream on a municipal civic amenity site?

28. PR-Financing – General (2) • Civic amenity site cost calculation model

29. PR-Financing - General (3) • Civic amenity site cost calculation model • Allocation based on 4 different methods: Weight (cost / tonne); Time spent on each waste stream; (equally…); Frequency of presentation (based on real data); Surface taken by each waste stream;

30. PR-Financing – General (4) • Flemish municipalities receive lump sum based on decision by Flemish minister • Basis was our cost calculation model • Total cost is calculated and divided over all waste streams • Infrastructure: proportional to the surface taken • Personnel: allocated based on workload per waste stream and frequency with which people bring a certain waste stream to the containerpark • Overhead-cost of 10% is added • Calculation leads to: • Lump sum per inhabitant per year • Lump sum per tonne collected

31. PR-Financing – General (5) • Compensations: • WEEE: 69 euro per tonne for collection on sites + 100 euro per tonne for logistics • Oils: (50 euro per tonne – return) + 0,05 euro per inhabitant • Batteries: discussions going on • Medication: organised ‘completely’ through the pharmacies

32. Conclusions • Hazardous household waste • Small fraction (so expensive per tonne) • But might have important environmental consequences • Separate collection • Works well in integrated local system • Civic amenity sites • Specific streams • Financing through producer responsibility is good option • But then FULL COST principle !

33. You are welcome !!! • In Flanders • Visit plants, projects,… • Share data on policy and on practical implementation methods • Long-term cooperation on waste management policy • Contact: Christof Delatter christof.delatter@vvsg.be – www.vvsg.be

34. Additional information

35. Short introduction to Flanders (1) • 3 Belgian regions: Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia • Land area Flanders: ± 13.500 km² (45% of Belgium) • Flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills • Population: just over 6 million • Population density: ± 440 inh./km² • Intense pressures from human activities: densely populated, dense transportation network, industry, intensive cattle breeding (millions of porcs, chickens, cows) and crop cultivation • High quantities of waste ↔ pressure on land use

36. Short introduction to Flanders (2) • 5 provinces • 308 municipalities • Average population: ± 18.000 inh/municipality • Smallest municipality: 84 inhabitants • Largest city: 452.474 inhabitants • Rural municipalities as well as densely populated cities • All are member of VVSG