A review of policy instruments used in the recycling area

Workshop on recycling of waste 20-21 September in Tirana

Birgitte Kjær, CRI

Outline

Overview of policy instruments in the waste area

Use of instruments for different waste types in EU

Best practice in the use of policy instruments to enhance recycling

Overview of policy instruments

Administrative (bans, target, etc)

Administrative/economic (producer take back requirements)

Economic (tax, deposit refund systems, etc)

Informative (information provision requirements, eco labels)

Voluntary instruments (agreements)

Administrative instruments

Landfill bans Incineration bans Material restrictions Eco-design requirements related to reuse/recycling Minimum recycled material content standards Source separation/collection requirements Collection targetsWaste prevention requirements Waste prevention targetsLandfill/incineration diversion targets Reuse targets, recycling targets, recovery targets

Economic Instruments

Deposit-refund systems

Taxes on virgin materials

Taxes on hazardous substances

Product taxes/charges

Landfill taxes/charges

Incineration taxes/charges

Waste disposal taxes/fees/charges

Recycling fees/charges

Tradable recycling credits

Use of different instruments

For packaging waste, batteries, WEEE, ELV, C&D waste, BMW, MSW: 36 policy instruments identified

Standardised measures for packaging, WEEE & ELV

Non existence of directives for BMW and C&D waste; help from target in landfill directive and WFD

Reduction of hazardous substances; mainly bans

Limit measures to enhance the use of recycled material

Instruments supporting high recycling rates

Packaging wasteSetting higher recycling targets tends to lead to better results

Material specific mandates for paper other than packaging gives higher results for paper packaging recycling

Instruments supporting high recycling rates

WEEEThe majority of countries that have achieved higher collection of WEEE share the following characteristics:

Longer experiences in collecting WEEE

Engaging municipalities, and to a large extent, distributors in collection activities

Instruments supporting high recycling rates

MSWBan of landfilling of specific parts of MSW, such as mixed waste, bio waste and combustible waste

Taxation on incineration

Setting recycling targets specific for MSW

Setting specific mandates for paper waste such as source separation, collection and recycling targets

Instruments supporting high recycling rates

BMWLandfill bans of all or part of BMW, and measures to enhance collection of paper waste are the policy interventions most commonly used by countries achieving a high level of BMW recycling Landfill diversion targets are commonly seen in less performing countriesOne third of countries use measures to enhance the collection of garden and green kitchen waste and the recycled amount per capita is generally quite high in these countries

Instruments supporting high recycling rates

Construction and demolition waste (including soil, dredging soil and track ballast)

Landfill tax in itself is a strong driver

Landfill tax in combination with other initiatives such as source separation mandates, specific recycling targets or landfill bans is an even stronger driver

Obligatory mandate of source separation seems to be a strong driver in countries without use of landfill tax

Sources

Two papers from the project: Europe as a Recycling Society

Recycling policies for selected waste streams in EEA member countries. ETC/SCP working paper 6/2010European Recycling Policies in relation to the actual recycling achieved. ETC/SCP working paper 2/2011http://scp.eionet.eu.int

Thank you - Questions