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Learn about successful waste management practices in Flanders, including collection, reuse, and producer responsibility. Discover how the region handles its household waste and WEEE.
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Waste and WEEE management in FlandersTechnical Assistance for the EU-India APSFEnvironment ComponentGeel, 25.05.2011 Christof Delatter Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities www.vvsg.be Tel. +32 2 211.55.99 E-mail: christof.delatter@vvsg.be
This Presentation • Flanders • Results of Flemish household waste management • Competences • Collection of household waste • Reuse • Producer’s responsibility • WEEE
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
Flanders (2) • 308 municipalities • Average population: ± 18.000 inh/municipality • Smallest municipality: 84 inhabitants • Largest city: 472.071 inhabitants • Rural municipalities as well as densely populated cities • All are member of VVSG • Waste management largely organized through intermunicipal cooperation
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 • Since 2006: no more landfilling of household waste • Commercial waste…?
Flemish waste management: results (3) *all of it incinerated with energy recovery
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
Competences (3) • One public waste authority on Flemish (regional) level, established in 1981 (OVAM), responsible for working out regional waste management plans • Municipalities are responsible for the collection and treatment of household waste • Own (inter)municipal services; Tendering; Public-private partnerships • Producer responsibility for certain waste streams, WEEE amongst others • Commercial waste: ‘free market’
Competences (4) • We strongly believe in the importance of integrated waste management on municipal level because: • good waste management demands close contact with and full participation by the citizens; • this allows optimal community service; • creation of ‘market conditions’ on the local level: access for small companies = more players on the market; • public utilities and private waste management companies push each other to more efficiency and more effectiveness; • pure free market?: it is doubtful that private waste management companies would stimulate waste prevention
Separate collection of waste (1) • Paper and cardboard: monthly • In some regions: VFG (at least every two weeks) • Glass: monthly or in bottle banks • Packaging waste: at least monthly (mostly every two weeks) • Textile: 4 times a year or containers • Garden waste: at least four times a year • Metals: at least two times a year • Re-usable materials: on demand • Residual – not-recyclable waste: weekly Carried out by municipality, intermunicipal organisation or in cooperation with private waste management companies
Separate collection of waste (2) • Bring system: >340 collection sites (1/17.500 inh.) for paper and cardboard, glass, packaging waste, textile, construction and demolition waste, garden waste, metals, wood, specific dangerous waste from households, batteries, WEEE, large refuse
Reuse centers (1) • Not for profit organisations • Three objectives: • Waste reduction through reuse of discarded products • Selling reusable goods at discount prices • Creating jobs for the poorly skilled • In Flanders: over 100 selling points for reusable goods • Contract with the municipalities • Reuse centers receive a fee just below regular disposal cost for the collected goods • Communication • Reuse centers have a network of repair shops
Reuse centers (2) • 2009: • 2.976 employees in Flemish reuse centers (FTE) • Strong engagement in social employment: specific training of people with difficulties finding a regular job • Collect over 8 kg of reusable goods per inhabitant • Over 3,6 million costumers in reuse shops
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 • Separate legislation for PR on packaging waste
WEEE - legislation (1) • 1997: decision for gradual introduction of PR for WEEE: 1 for 1 take back obligation to start on 1st of July 1999 • But…… • Municipalities already collected WEEE on civic amenity sites (mostly as scrap metal) • Producers not very keen to start with own collection system • Hard negotiations about responsibilities and cost of collection • “Agreement” between producers and central government was reached in 2001 • Collection by the producers started on 1st of July 2001 (2 years later than required in legislation) • Only one recognized organism of WEEE-industry in Belgium (for household WEEE) : Recupel
WEEE - legislation (2) • Today: 1 for 0 obligation and deal covering costs for collection on civic amenity sites • Recupel: • “Umbrella” Not for profit organisation of producers and importers • Receives the environmental fees paid by consumers • Organises tenders for collection and treatment (is no collector of waste itself) • Has to agree on contracts with local authorities collecting WEEE • Reports on quantities put on the market and collected for recycling
WEEE - Financing (1) Consumer Reuse centers Recupel (producers) Municipalities Shops Waste companies Regional transfer stations (intermunicipal) Tax payer
WEEE - Collection (1) Consumer Municipality Reuse center Shop Waste transportation company Regional transfer station(intermunicipal organisation) Recycling/treatment companies
Financial compensations for local authorities (1) • Civicamenity sites: Flemishmunicipalitiesreceivelumpsumbased on decisionbyFlemish Minister • Basis was costcalculation model developedby VVSG (definition of a reference CAS) • Total cost is calculated and divided over all waste streams • Infrastructure: proportional to the surface taken • Personnel: allocatedbasedonworkload per waste stream and frequencywithwhichpeoplebring a certain waste stream to the containerpark • Overhead-cost of 10% is added • Calculationleads to (for WEEE): • Lumpsum per inhabitant per year - 0,2365 €/inh*year • Lumpsum per tonnecollected - 27,9 €/tonne • Coupled to inflation
Financial compensations for local authorities (2) Regional transfer stations: Negotiations have lead to • a compensation of 100 €/tonne • yearly indexation