Members of the ISWA delegation (ISWA Vice President David Newman, Past-President Atilio Savino, Board Member Erik de Baedts, Freek van Eijk, Director Strategy & Public Affairs from SITA, and ISWA Communications Manager Gerfried Habenicht), endeavoured to make sustainable waste management and its positive impact on our climate an issue at the summit and in the UNFCCC process. Somehow, they brought home the bacon.

Mission accomplished! Now “waste” — for the first time — is laid down (as a sector for reporting on climate mitigation actions) in a final UNFCCC document!

The waste sector was identified in the final text of the AWG-LCA (Ad Hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperative Action). This text referenced the waste sector, describing how developed countries should report process in the achievement of mitigation targets. In effect, the text directed developing country Parties, to the extent where appropriate, to organise the reporting of mitigation actions by sector and by gas.

Waste was identified as one of the sectors, along with energy, industrial processes and product use, agriculture, and land use. This is important in terms of drawing attention to the waste sector and in encouraging developed country Parties to account for waste (and sectors more generally) as they report mitigation activity and, importantly, financial assistance to developing countries.

The Durban outcomes can be assessed as strongly positive for the waste management sector in terms of gaining greater recognition as a mitigation strategy, attracting new streams of public and private financial assistance, and supporting domestic regulatory reform efforts.

A more detailed analysis of ISWA’s Durban mission will be provided soon in a separate email bulletin.

More than 200 participants from the region and experts from Germany, Austria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Greece and the United Kingdom attended the event.

The main goals of the conference were to promote exchange of knowledge and experience from the field of strategic waste management planning and enhancement of communication between target groups in identifying and solving current environmental problems.

The first workshop took place at the Croatian Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction (MEPPPC) on 25 November 2011 in Zagreb. Sixteen participants representing eight different organisations involved in waste management and recycling attended the event.

The Serbian Ministry of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning (MEMSP) hosted the second workshop on 28 November in Belgrade, with 28 participants attending from 20 different organisations.

The workshops form part of a UNEP/ISWA project, stemming from a UNEP initiative to address packaging waste through the promotion of reuse and recycling, with the aim to lead to the creation of jobs, economic return, rural tourism and the reduction of negative environmental impacts in South East Europe. This initiative is a subpart of a larger Programme on Resource Efficiency/Sustainable Consumption and Production.

The abstract submission deadline is closed now and 600 abstracts have been received! In the following weeks the Scientific Steering Committee will review these abstracts and by mid-January notifications of acceptance/rejection will be issued.

It is already possible to register for the Congress and to book your hotel. Please remember Florence in September is a busy period, so be quick!

Please visit www.iswa2012.org for more information.

The ISWA/DAKOFA Conference on Waste and Climate, Copenhagen, Denmark
19 – 20 April 2011

It is now time to follow up on the conclusions from the first edition of this conference held in connection with the COP 15 in Copenhagen.

The overall conclusion of this conference in 2009 was: Waste management is part of the solution and plays an important role in the effort to reduce climate change.

As an integrated part of the overall material flow through the economy, waste management has a tremendous potential for contributing to mitigating climate change.

The conference is dedicated to these issues with the goal of delivering a clear message from leading scientists and industries in the field of waste management to COP 18 in Qatar.

At the third edition of this conference, an exclusive panel of speakers will assess policy instruments and practices for waste prevention, contemplate environmental impacts of production and consumption, and take an in-depth look into strategies on resource management and new recycling technologies.

Emphasis will be placed on the topics of food waste, planned obsolescence, communication & behavioural change, monitoring of waste prevention and producer responsibility.

The ISWA Job Exchange Platform provides companies and organisations with a highly targeted opportunity to find the most qualified personnel in the waste management sector all over the world. Place your job ad on a website that is visited by 10,000 waste management professionals per month!

This service is free of charge for ISWA members!

As a member benefit, ISWA company/organisation members (National, Gold and Silver members) may publish a certain number of job advertisements for free for each year of membership:

• ISWA National Members:5
• ISWA Gold Members:5
• ISWA Silver Members:2

ISWA Individual and Student Members may upload an applicant profile for free.

This successful event themed “Increased Industry Responsibility in a Changing and Polluted World”, covered the current state of recycling in Turkey and recycling efforts in the world.

Many international guests followed ÇEVKO’s invitation to attend the Anniversary summit, among them representatives from ISWA, Packaging Recovery Organisation Europe (PRO EUROPE) and EUROPEN.

VINCI Environnement, France, provides its clients with expertise accumulated over 50 years in the waste treatment, flue gas treatment and water treatment sectors.

Part of the VINCI Group — the world leader in construction and concessions — VINCI Environment UK, designs unique solutions based on a variety of in-house process technologies to ensure an appropriate response to any specific problem brought to its attention.

Whether dealing with residual solid waste; food and green waste; biomass, commercial or hazardous industrial waste, the technologies developed by VINCI Environnement for Waste to Energy, Anaerobic Digestion and In Vessel Composting, combined with the processes for Flue Gas Treatment, Odour Control and Water treatment are among the most accomplished and effective on the market.

The in-house processes of VINCI Environnement and its savoir-faire in complex project management, allows them to deliver both traditional and technically advanced waste and water treatment plants that measure up to highest expectations. Both customer service through dedication, professionalism and attention to detail and eenvironnent protection are core values of the entreprise.

For more information, please visit www.vinci-environnement.com (French) or www.vinci-environment.co.uk (English)

The life cycle assessment report from PE International examined the impact of various food waste disposal systems. It found that food scraps put into a sink-based disposal unit and sent to wastewater treatment plants resulted in lower global warming potential than landfill, incineration and centralised composting.

According to the study, commissioned by US Company InSinkErator, if 30,000 households switched from sending food waste to landfill to a waste disposal unit instead, the reduction in global warming potential would be the equivalent of eliminating nearly 2,100 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

The study assessed the environmental impact of the four primary systems for managing food scraps - wastewater treatment, landfills, incineration and advanced composting. It analysed several critical environmental impacts: global warming potential; eutrophication potential; acidification potential; smog formation, and the energy demands associated with each system.

The company, which says it is the largest food-grade PET recycler in Europe, is investing €10m at its recycling plant in Beaune, France to increase food-grade rPET output by 40 percent. But, European Plastics News reported, further expansions could be constrained by low supply of post-consumer PET.

Frédéric Blanchard, plant director of the Beaune facility, said the lack of supply is causing the price of post-consumer PET bales to rise to record highs. He said recyclers' costs also include blending, process controls and changeovers. But he said brand owners think incorrectly that rPET should be cheaper than its virgin cousin.

In other packaging news, multi-national cosmetics company Lush has outsourced the recycling of its black polypropylene cosmetics pots from its shops in the north of England, to eco-manufacturer Remarkable, Edie.net reports. Lush packaging buyer Maria Feast said many local governments don't have a process in place to handle this material.

Lush has created an in-store takeback scheme for product containers, which either go back to the Lush pot manufacturer or to Remarkable's factory. There, the pots are washed, cut down into plastic chips and melted into new pots, which go back to Lush.

The process used at the new facility features four phases: the drying of the wood, gasification, gas cooling and depuration and finally combustion of the gases in two GE Jenbacher J316 gas engines.

According to GE, the technology deployed for the Villanova Mondovi plant evolved from a similar gasifier project in Grossenkneten, Germany, co-financed by the region of Lower Saxony, and is producing the highest net electrical efficiency ever reached by a syngas cogeneration plant in the 1 MW output range of between 27% and 29%.

The electrical efficiency achieved is dependent on the quality of the wood and the air used in the process. With an output of 995 kW, the project qualifies for the Italian government's incentive tariff, which encourages the development of smaller, geographically distributed power plants.

Alfagy was selected by the developer for the project as the combined heat and power (CHP) and gas conditioning supplier. Although the project faced funding challenges, its fast payback period was the deciding factor in getting investment backing.

The Ardstraw facility is only the second AD facility in Northern Ireland. More farmers in the region are now considering similar projects.

According to Press Association reports, Scottish Secretary for Infrastructure & Capital Investment, Alex Neil MSP, opened the £2m vacuum distillation unit in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, operated by Northburn Industrial Services (NiS).

The plant is designed to release no harmful emissions into the atmosphere, as the waste oil will be treated by vacuum distillation at reduced pressure. This will reduce the temperatures required to treat the oil, thus lowering the amount of energy needed to power the plant.

NiS company director Chris McLean said: "This is a major step forward for our company and a significant investment. It highlights our commitment to developing the latest waste oil recycling technology and will set us apart from our major competitors.

As part of the project, which aims to help the city divert 90% of its municipal waste from landfill, a mechanical biological treatment facility (MBT), anaerobic digestion (AD) and gasification solution facility will be built.

It is thought that the hub, which will have a total treatment capacity of 200,000 tonnes per annum, will enable the council to boost its municipal recycling rates and achieve a net carbon saving of about 89,457 tonnes a year.

Mr Hendry said he wanted to 'protect the taxpayer and provide investor certainty' as he set out statutory guidance for new nuclear operators to produce plans for funding the decommissioning of their power stations and managing their radioactive waste.

However, campaigners said the consultations on an updated waste transfer policy and revised funding for decommissioning will cost the public a 'fortune'.

Environmental group Greenpeace also claimed the Government tried to 'bury' the news on a busy news day with the water white paper, COP17 talks and European Union funding talks all hitting the headlines.

EcoSheet is made from waste plastic sourced from farms, businesses and homes and is increasingly being used in the farming industry as animal housing for a range of livestock including outdoor pig units.

From January 2012, 2K Manufacturing will double its production to 1,300 EcoSheet boards per week. Production is then expected to double again in spring 2012 with the installation of new machinery.

2K Manufacturing's Peter Ball said: "EcoSheet has a number of advantages over plywood in practical terms, including the fact it doesn't rot, doesn't contain adhesives and preservatives and is easier to clean which improves animal welfare.

"Plus it is more environmentally friendly than plywood, which usually ends up in landfill as part of the 25 million plywood sheets that are disposed of in the UK each year. EcoSheet on the other hand can be recycled again and again."

The deal will see food waste collected from Sainsbury's distribution centres across the UK, then processed to produce renewable energy to power homes and businesses. None of the food waste from Sainsbury's supermarkets is sent to landfill, but some of it goes to other waste from energy processes. This new deal will ensure all of it is sent for AD.

Neil Sachdev, Sainsbury's property director, said: "Anaerobic digestion is the most efficient way to create energy from waste, so this new contract means our food waste is being put to the best possible use.