This year’s ISWA World Congress will be held 17 – 20 October 2011 in Daegu, Korea.

"ISWA 2011" gives you an excellent opportunity to exchange your views, visions and experiences on sustainable waste management with other scientists, practitioners and policy makers from all over the world.

In this Call for Papers you will find some detailed information on the Congress and the possibility to register and to submit your abstracts online.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

The ISWA Beacon Conference on Waste Prevention and Recycling, which will take place on 23 – 24 May 2011 in Vienna, Austria aims to provide information and expertise on the current developments regarding prevention and recycling. Additionally, bringing experts together from all over the world to exchange knowledge and experience and enable them to establish new contacts in their network.

Conference of the Parties (COP 16) in Cancun, Mexico, which took place from 29 November to 10 December 2010.

Investments in Waste Management in developed countries can lead to net CO2 - emission savings of up to 20%. In most developing countries, the potential for net reductions is even larger. Nevertheless, until now Waste Management and Recycling is not mentioned as an area for investment in the UN declarations on climate change!

Therefore, ISWA’s main goals as an Observer Organisation at this and future UN Climate Change Conference(s) were/are to:

• Make sure Waste Management and Recycling is mentioned in the UN agreements on climate change when appropriate
• Raise awareness among those present of the positive impact of sustainable Waste Management and Recycling on our climate and environment
• Build links with stakeholders that are of importance to ISWA and its members

Although the first goal unfortunately was not met in Cancun, some encouraging progress was made on the other two.

ISWA will continue its efforts to make sustainable waste management – and its positive impact on our climate – an issue at the upcoming interim UNFCCC Conference in Bonn in June 2011 and at the next Conference of the Parties (COP 17) which will take place from 28 November to 9 December 2011 in Durban, South Africa.

All National Members are invoked to raise awareness on this subject at their national governments! (See also ISWA’s Cancun Press release.)

Over 250 participants, including 50 lecturers from 21 countries, attended the ISWA Beacon Conference on Public Private Partnership and Hazardous Waste in Developing Countries in SEE, Middle East and Mediterranean Region, which took place in Novi Sad, Serbia from 8 – 10 December 2010.

The conference was co-organised by SeSWA (Serbian Solid Waste Association) and the Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department for Environmental Engineering, University of Novi Sad.

Academic staff, researchers, professionals, landfill operators, municipal administration staff and the staff of public and utility companies found an excellent opportunity to get together, exchange experiences and adopt new ideas in the field of waste management.

The first SeSWA EXPO, organised within the ISWA Beacon Conference provided a chance for 15 companies to present their work and discover new business opportunities.

we are focusing on the renewal area. As part of this, we have enhanced the following procedures:

• Member Log-In
• Member Registration
• Member Record Structure
• Invoicing and Payment Procedures
• Appropriate Member-Info-Mailings

Our aim is to ensure a comprehensive and convenient tool for a state-of-the-art member administration.

As of now, members will receive reminders via e-mail in time to keep informed on any necessary action regarding membership. As a precaution, we recommend that members check their junk-e-mail-folder regularly and/or adjust junk-e-mail settings.

Though we aim to accelerate the online processing, the ISWA General Secretariat will additionally continue to offer personal assistance to our members. Hence, if you have any questions regarding the new features or suggestions to increase the usability, please do not hesitate to contact us:
T: +43 1 253 60 01
E: iswa@iswa.org).

Over the years, Peter has worked with different editors and publishers and secured continuity of the journal operation at times of institutional turbulence and amidst opposing editor opinions, meanwhile focusing on taking good care of authors. His love for new IT and its use in journal management was a great help during the transition from manual to electronic manuscript management. Now, when leaving his job with ISWA and WM&R, Peter can be proud of the state of affairs that allows new staff to take over a well-organised editorial office.

Many of you may also recognise Peter’s face from the past 12 Annual Congresses where he was very active behind the scenes, ensuring that the ISWA stand was looking tip-top and the technical matters involved in the running of the General Assembly were in order.

Capital Gains from Recycling, a new report published by Taylor Intelligence, highlights the considerable potential for improving recycling in high-rise buildings across London, using Taylor Node mini-recycling centres and Street housing units. The report is based upon research conducted by the respected LRS consultancy. It provides a roadmap for London borough councils to unlock the potential of high-rise and multi-occupancy dwellings, providing evidence that these dwellings are an untapped source for improving domestic recycling rates across the capital - and indeed any other areas in the UK where high density housing is prevalent.

The report summarises research conducted in summer 2010, across three London Boroughs: Lambeth, Hackney and Westminster. Over the 7- week trial period - which coincided with the summer holiday period, when recycling rates would reasonably expected to be lower - a total of 17.1 tonnes of recyclate were collected, equating to the diversion of 16.7 tonnes of CO2 from landfill.

The plastic might someday become a green alternative to petroleum-derived foam packaging blocks.

We already have plastics made from corn and sugar. Now, scientists have created a Styrofoam-like material using mostly milk proteins and clay.

Discovery News reports that ultra-light and largely biodegradable, the plastic might someday become a green alternative to petroleum-derived foam packaging blocks, among other applications.

A car that runs on methane gas produced by human waste has been launched and its makers claim drivers cannot tell the difference.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Bio-Bug has been converted by a team of British engineers to be powered by biogas, which is produced from human waste at sewage works across the country.

They believe the car is a viable alternative to electric vehicles.

Excrement flushed down the lavatories of just 70 homes is enough to power the car for 10,000 miles - the equivalent of one average motoring year.

This conversion technology has been used in the past but the Bio-Bug is Britain's first car to run on methane gas without its performance being reduced.

It can power a conventional two litre VW Beetle convertible to 114mph.

For the full story, please visit The Daily Telegraph

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has released its fourth Environment State and Outlook report – SOER 2010 – a comprehensive five-yearly assessment of how and why Europe's environment is changing, and what we are doing about it. SOER 2010 concludes that a fully integrated approach to transforming Europe to a resource-efficient green economy can not only result in a healthy environment, but also boost prosperity and social cohesion.

There are no quick fixes but regulators, businesses and citizens need to work together and find innovative ways to use resources more efficiently. The seeds for future action exist: the task ahead is to help them take root and flourish.

The EEA's new assessment shows that global demands for natural resources to feed, clothe, house and transport people are accelerating. These mounting demands on natural capital are exerting increased pressure to ecosystems, economies and social cohesion in Europe and elsewhere. However, SOER 2010 confirms that well-designed environmental policies continue to improve Europe's environment without undermining Europe's growth potential.

A complete shift to a resource-efficient green economy requires that all environmental resources – biodiversity, land, carbon, rivers, the seas and the air we breathe – be fully considered in production, consumption and global trade decisions.

All SOER assessments can be accessed online

A waste truck, which is fuelled by what you threw out last week has begun its rounds.

The truck, launched in Rodney by Auckland, NZ Mayor Len Brown, is the result of the first successful New Zealand project to turn landfill gas into a transport fuel.

The New Zealand Herald reports that the creators say the truck's performance is the same as its diesel-powered equivalent, but it is quieter and has far fewer emissions.

The founder of the project, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research engineer Stephan Heubeck, said the "sky was the limit" when it came to capturing the latent fuel in waste dumps.

He has a vision of 5 per cent of Auckland's transport being run on waste.

For the full story, please visit The New Zealand Herald

The European Patent Office (EPO) has created a free, easy-to-use online search tool that provides unrestricted access to all patent documents related to clean energy technologies (CETs) worldwide. The tool improves transparency in the sector by putting some 700 000 patent documents in the CET field at the public's fingertips. The new tool was launched alongside a patent-based study on the emergence and distribution of clean energy technologies (CET) across the globe, jointly conducted by the EPO, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD).

One of the objectives of both the study and information tool is to create transparency on ownership and dissemination of relevant climate change mitigation technologies, and enhance knowledge and understanding of decision makers on the principles and mechanisms of the patent system.

With each patent containing a disclosure describing the technology and the invention, the EPO's search tool represents a simplified gateway to the huge body of technical knowledge on CETs. The new tool formally re-classifies the existing data (some 60 million patent documents worldwide), dividing the CET-related patents into several main categories and hundreds of sub-categories, down to apparatus and component level.

Drohobych Mayor Oleksy Radzievsky is set to meet with representatives of a Chinese company involved in building garbage-recycling plants, Ukrainian news agency ZIK reports.

The Shanghai-based company has an extensive experience in this field. The government of China is ready to provide one billion dollars in investments for the project. Plants will be built in Ukraine's ten cities with one million residents.

Drohobych has a population of 100,000 but the Chinese have shown special interest in this spa area capital.

The plant will recycle garbage from nearby spa towns of Truskavets, Boryslav, Shidnytsia. Drohobych will allocate a land site for the plant. The future plant can be co-owned by Ukraine and China, the mayor said.

In the national action plan, the Swedish Chemicals Agency is to undertake special initiatives in six areas:

• action to improve knowledge, including of combination effects, whereby individually harmless chemicals can become hazardous when mixed
• streamlining EU efforts within REACH to accelerate the identification, restriction and phasing-out of hazardous chemicals
• intensifying efforts to remove chemicals in food that pose a hazard to health, such as pesticide residues and cadmium
• improved information to consumers on chemicals in products
• enhanced product monitoring and improved controls of hazardous substances in products
• initiating and supporting voluntary initiatives to restrict, phase out and replace hazardous chemical substances

For the full story, please click here

The Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water announced it is developing a project for a national construction and demolition waste management strategy. Publics.bg reports that the strategy is to guarantee a 70 per cent reduction of the construction and demolition waste volumes before 2020, which is the national target.

The aim of the first early phase of the project, which ended with a roundtable, was to bring in a discussion all relevant institutions and organizations. The Bulgarian environmental minister Nona Karadjova, Regional Development Ministry representatives as well The Bulgarian Industrial Association, The Bulgarian Construction Chamber, KRIB, The Bulgarian Institute for Standardization and The Bulgarian Municipal Ecologists all took part in the discussion.

The discussed key issues were the requirements and the regulations regarding the collection and treatment of the accumulated waste, and also the way old buildings are demolished so the recyclable content of the waste is increased. Possibilities to encourage the construction waste recycling and to create a stable market for standardized recycled materials were also discussed.

The final version of the strategy project document was to be given public access in the middle of January 2011.

Report warns focus on reducing waste from landfill is reducing commercial potential of reusable materials.

The government has been urged to overhaul its efforts to divert waste from landfill in a bid to prevent councils building up piles of low-quality reusable material with little commercial value.

Business Green reports that a new report – The state of the nation: waste and resource management – from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) analyses the current state of the UK's waste management sector and sets out a series of recommendations, based on the views of more than 50 organisations and firms from across the waste management industry.

It claims local authorities, under pressure to increase recycling rates in order to avoid exceeding their landfill allowance, are prioritising 'quantity over quality', leading to increasing levels of recycled material such as paper, glass and plastics that are in no state to be reused commercially.

ICE urged the government to revisit the current strategy, which has led to UK waste firms exporting large quantities of low-grade material for recycling overseas, and instead develop a "circular economy" for the sector where high grade recovered and recyclable materials are processed for reuse in the UK.

The report also recommends the government draws up a National Policy Statement underlining the national need for waste infrastructure in order to reduce planning delays and boost private investment in non-municipal waste management facilities.

In 2010, the Ministry of Environment of Lithuania finished the distribution of 450 million litas (130 million euros) intended for development of waste sorting and recycling capacities in the regional waste management centres.

Baltic Course reports that a decision taken by the Minister of Environment completed a long and complicated procedure of distribution of the EU funds.

Regional waste management centres submitted their applications to the Environmental Project Management Agency, specifying how the waste currently brought to the dumpsites is going to be sorted and recycled, as far back as in September. Within a couple of years capacities will be developed in ten regions that will not only solve the problem of smell of biodegradable substances, but will also enable recovery of secondary raw materials, as well as production of energy from volumes of waste.

The Beach Garbage Hotel in central Madrid, was built using 12 tonnes of garbage collected from the beaches, rubbish dumps and flea markets.

A new hotel has opened in the heart of Madrid proudly declaring that it is complete rubbish.

The Beach Garbage Hotel is more of a wooden shack than a five-star establishment with walls made of debris dragged up by the tide, recovered from landfills or snapped up at flea markets.

Among the wall decorations: plastic drums, wooden frames, musical instruments, striped socks, tyres and children's books.

Located in the city centre's Plaza de Callao, the hotel is the work of German artist Ha Schult timed to coincide with Madrid's hosting of the annual international tourism trade fair.

UK Government report calls for action. Food equivalent to a quarter of UK annual production could be saved by 2050 if annual global food waste is halved.

A new report, published today by Foresight, the UK Government's futures think tank, argues for fundamental change to the global food system, and beyond if a rapidly expanding global population is to be fed over the next 40 years.

The Foresight project Global Food and Farming Futures has examined how a rapidly expanding global population can be fed in a healthy and sustainable way. Multiple threats are converging on the food system, including changes in the climate, competition for resources such as water supply and energy, and changing consumption patterns provide considerable challenges to sustaining the world's food supply.

The report's main findings are:

• Threat of hunger could increase
• The global food system is living outside its means, consuming resources faster than are naturally replenished
• There is no quick fix
  

Three important areas for change include:

• Minimising waste in all areas of the food system
• Balancing future demand and supply in the food system
• Improving governance of the global food system

• The report The future of food and farming: challenges and choices for global sustainability is available from the Government's website
• Click here for the report summary
• There are also 13 synthesis reports available from the BIS website

In Thailand, one order of Buddhist Monks has made use of old beer bottles in an inspiring form of recycling. The million-bottle temple has been built largely out of green and brown beer bottles supplied by people in the community over several years.

You can see a three minute video of the temple on Youtube

The Journal of Industrial Ecology invites submission of articles for a special issue on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) by June 1, 2011. A more detailed version of this call for papers can be found by clicking here

How to Submit
Manuscripts should be original, previously unpublished, in English and between 3,500 and 7,000 words in length including references. Submission implies that the manuscript has not been submitted for publication elsewhere and that it will not be submitted elsewhere while the review process is underway.

Papers should be submitted electronically via Manuscript Central at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jie indicating that they are intended for the special issue on EPR.

All submissions will be peer-reviewed in a single blind process using at least two single reviewers.

Send inquiries to:
Reid Lifset
Editor, Journal of Industrial Ecology
Yale University
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
195 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT, 06511-2189 USA
E: indecol@yale.edu
W: www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jie