With regard to the management of urban solid waste, recycling impacts the reduction of the need for primary raw materials and energy for its production, the amount of waste deposited in landfills and the environmental impact. The disposal of materials without proper recycling is also counterproductive when considering the complexity of the resource extraction processes and the energy expenditure for processing the obtained raw material.
“In Europe, 16 tons of material are consumed per person per year, of which 6 tons are transformed into waste, 36% of all waste generated is recycled, the rest goes to landfill or burned, in some countries, 80% of all household waste goes to landfills”
(Batista et al., 2020, p. 2).
In developing countries this situation is much worse, in Brazil, for example, in 2018, 79 million tons of waste were generated and, although 70% is collected by the Government, 40% of the collected waste is disposed of in landfills, part of that landfills do not receive adequate treatment to avoid environmental damage and health risks to the population (Batista et al., 2020). Beyond the environmental risks, when the waste is not reused, products that could be used as row material are lost.
In this sense, the World Economic Forum of the year 2019, held in Davos, Switzerland addressed, among urgent actions to the environment, the need for the rational use and recycling of materials to combat climate change. Graphic 1 shows the growth of recycled materials in the European Union (EU), compared to that produced from solid urban waste.
The waste and landfill Directives allows a better uniformity of EU law application and intends to minimize negative impacts on the environment and human health, according to the 7th Environmental Action Program, the priority objectives of European policy will be: to reduce the total waste generated; maximize recycling and reuse;
limit the burning of unused materials; gradually eliminate the landfill for non-recyclable products and non-recoverable waste; ensure the implementation of these objectives in
waste management in all Member States (EUROPEAN COMMISSION ENVIRONMENT, 2020).
Non-recyclable and thermally processed urban solid waste is disposed of in landfills, most of the time in open places, without impermeable protections, being the most harmful way of treating waste to the environment. In Europe, because of the actions of the European Union (EU), acting as a supra-national institution, the garbage sent to landfills has been decreasing in recent years in Europe, as shown in Graphic 3.
The EU “has been able to affect policies within the majority of its member countries. In the field of waste management, The Thematic Strategy on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste includes the main policies, general objectives and action principles. (Costa, Massard, & Agarwal, 2010, p. 7).
“The EU influences member countries through regulations (laws applied in full throughout the Community), directives (binds members to achieve objectives; however, they are free to address their local distinctiveness while incorporating the objectives into their legal system) and decisions (binds particular individuals, firms or member states, to perform or refrain from an action, confer rights or impose obligations)“ (Costa et al., 2010, p.
7).
Even with the EU policies application, as we can see in the graphics bellow, there is differences between countries. Where the percentage of recycled waste is high, such as Bulgaria, this can be explained by the financial interest in its commercial realization. Most metals, plastics, paper and cardboard are recycled, as they do not require specialized processing, and are sold directly as raw material. Other wastes such as wood and textiles are not as commercial, as they are not subject to direct use (Vitkov, 2019).
Another countries has a historical directives and regulations on environment and nowadays they have better efficiency on waste management, as graphic 6 shows with Denmark leads this ranking with more than 400 kilos per capita of urban waste destined for energy production, and as shown in Graphic 7, regarding the production of energy from solid urban waste with Germany leading the ranking.
In Portugal the EU directives and regulations are the base of Portuguese waste legislation, despite this, in 2019, 3 out of 5kg of urban waste were sent to landfills in Portugal. According to the EU goals, this year Portugal should recycle 50% of all the packaging and improve even further. Although, last year it recycled 41%, an increase of only 1% from the previous year. Another important goal is to reduce to 10% all waste destined to landfills until the year of 2035, nowadays Portugal sent 58% of all waste destined to landfills, as shown in Graph 8 (AGÊNCIA PORTUGUESA DO AMBIENTE, I.P. DEPARTAMENTO DE RESÍDUOS, ANA MARCAL, & CRISTINA FERREIRA, 2020, Jul.; Coentrão, 2020, Ago. 3).
The waste management legislation in Portugal follows the EU guidelines, the national waste management plans follow methodological guidelines for regional development adopted through European financing programs, with construction and operation in the municipalities of waste incineration facilities, including the use of the energy generated.
The development of waste legislation in Portugal takes place only at the national level, the two main documents that guide this regulation are: Law 11/87, National Law of the Environment that establishes the general principles of environmental protection having in its article 24 the disposal of waste and its reuse / recycling as raw material and energy; and Decree-Law no. 178/2006, which establishes the provisions for activities related to transportation, treatment, storage and disposal of waste (Costa et al., 2010).
“In policy terms, there is one national waste plan and four plans for specific waste flows (e.g. urban, industrial, medical, agricultural), covering targets and instruments. For urban waste, regional plans are also developed.
National recycling networks also exist, each dedicated to one of eight types of waste materials. Each system is managed by a not-for-profit entity, formed by representatives of producers and recyclers” (Costa et al., 2010, p. 12).
The graphic bellow shows some numbers in Europe, related to waste management, as we can see in some of them, Portugal occupied a bad position, being the 8th worst country in kilograms per capita sent to landfills, regarding the production of energy from solid urban waste, Portugal in 2016 produced 92 kilos per capita while Denmark leads this ranking with more than 400 kilos per capita of urban waste destined for energy production. It seems that in addition to legislation and public policies Portugal needs an innovative solution to achieve the EU goals.
Graphic 1 – Percentage of recycled waste originating from solid urban waste in the EU.
Own elaboration, adapted from Vitkov (2019).
High humidity biodegradable municipal waste is usually composted with energy recovery for the production of biogas and biofertilizer. The resulting biogas is used as a fuel with a slightly lower calorific value than methane in combustion plants. The waste from biogas production is used for composting. Composting without biogas recovery, only as a biofertilizer, is not advisable from an environmental point of view, since the methane produced is released into the atmosphere as gas greenhouse effect, in addition to the value not generated by energy production (Vitkov, 2019).
The economic viability of biogas conversion projects and the use of gas in combustion plants is determined by the value of the investment and the possibility of profitable realization of the energy produced. The average percentage of composted waste for the EU in the period from 2008 to 2017 is shown in Graphic 2, where there is stability with an increase from 14 to 17% during the period.
Graphic 2 – Average composted waste in the EU.
Own elaboration, adapted from Vitkov (2019).
Graphic 3 – Waste destined for landfill in the EU
Own elaboration, adapted from Vitkov (2019).
Graphic 4 shows the comparison of landfills in different EU countries, showing differences in absolute units, kilograms per capita, with major differences between the more developed and less developed countries. In 2016, Portugal occupied 8th place, behind only Cyprus, Malta, Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, Spain and Slovakia.
Graphic 4 – Waste destined for landfill in the EU kilogram per capita.
Own elaboration, adapted from Vitkov (2019).
A significant part of solid urban waste is used for energy generation. Over the period considered, the relative share of MSW for energy in the EU increased by around 10%, from 16 to 27%, as shows Graphic 5. Open burning of waste without energy recovery has not been practiced in the EU since 2014 (Vitkov, 2019).
Graphic 5 – Waste destined for energy production in the EU.
Own elaboration, adapted from Vitkov (2019).
Graphic 6 shows that Denmark leads this ranking with more than 400 kilos per capita of urban waste destined for energy production, Portugal in 2016 produced 92 kilos per capita.
Graphic 6 – Urban waste destined for energy production by countries in the EU per kilogram per capita.
Own elaboration, adapted from Vitkov (2019).
Regarding the production of energy from solid urban waste, Germany leads the ranking, as shown in Graphic 7, Portugal occupies the 14th position.
Graphic 7 – Energy generated from urban waste in the EU per Giga Watt hour.
Own elaboration, adapted from Vitkov (2019).
Graphic 8 – Europe Union goals to achieve in Portugal.
The authors.
The researched articles point out to the need to change the mentality in relation to urban solid waste at all levels, from ordinary citizens to responsible institutions. Citizens are becoming aware that waste cannot be disposed of irresponsibly, being an immediate threat to the environment and their own health.
On the other hand, waste is a potential raw material reused for products and for energy production. The implementation of financial instruments, incentives and sanctions are other measures little used by which the government has the opportunity to influence the population to maximize the use of waste and minimize its negative impact on public health and the environment.
When the waste is sent for recycling, that material generates considerable incomes. In Brazil, for example, “A single referral program for packaging recycling called Give a Hand to the Future, with the recovery of 22% of packaging that was placed on the market only by partner companies, handled around C 13.5 million” (Batista et al., 2020, p. 2).
Some actions that can be mentioned show that the practices are being adopted, the Netherlands has developed a blockchain-based platform for waste management and transportation. In Greece, special consideration is given to the use of innovative technologies for waste processing and energy recovery. In Sweden, burning waste helps to heat buildings, as a substitute for fossil fuels, every 4 tonnes of waste has energy equivalent to 1 ton of oil (Batista et al., 2020; Flinders, 2018; Ringhof, 2020; Yee, 2018).
According the papers, actions to have an effective impact on waste management
should consider the entire ecosystem with innovative actions bringing together different actors in a circular economy context. There are several forms to start the Ecosystem innovation, different technology organizations could form a consortium, for example, it is important to have policy organizations and research institutions.
Konietzko, Bocken, and Hultink (2020, p. 6) points out “ecosystem innovation can be initiated by bringing together new and previously unconnected actors, from business, research, policy and civil society. Involving new actors stimulates ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking: it ensures that the participants approach a problem from multiple and previously unrecognized angles“. In the next topic the theme is addressed in a broader view of Circular Economy.