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Abstract by the authors: Since natural resources are finite, new policy instruments to sustain the most efficient processes of waste recycling are required in all countries. To this end, it is critical to explore all technology mechanisms underlying solid waste researchers and practitioners’ behaviors. The study focuses on to demonstrate the importance of knowledge diffusion between the source and destination of environmental innovations. This way, policymakers can elaborate opportune strategies to improve the efficiency of innovation activities. By analyzing a sample of 240 large international firms from the USA, Japan, and Europe, this paper discusses the extent to which innovation inputs, research and development, and relative technological spillovers affect environmental innovation—that is measured by the number of waste recycle and land fertilizers patents. The novelty of the study comes from introducing a knowledge production function approach to analyze the role of technological knowledge spillovers on waste recycling and land fertilizers efficiency at the firm level. The technological relatedness between the firms is computed through technological proximity, based on the construction of technological vectors for each firm. The results reveal a significant positive impact of external spillovers on firms’ environmental innovation levels. This finding is important particularly in terms of policy implications concerning industrial strategies; as in order to improve environmental innovation, incentives that favor industrial relatedness and establishing integration between firms are crucial.
Abstract by the authors: Increasing plastic waste recycling is a milestone of European environmental policy to reduce environmental impacts and dependency on foreign resources. This is particularly challenging for plastic packaging waste, consisting of very heterogeneous fractions and typically rather contaminated. In this study, we collected primary data from plants sorting and recycling plastic packaging waste to illustrate process efficiencies, material flows, and barriers. We observed that significant losses of target materials occurred both at sorting and recycling stages. These were higher for polymers such as films, polypropylene and polystyrene, and lower for polyethylene terephthalate and high-density polyethylene. Applying material flow analysis, we estimated an overall end-of-life recycling rate for post-consumer plastic packaging waste in EU27 in 2017 of 14% (not considering waste exported as recycled; 25% otherwise). An improved scenario for 2030 showed that achieving an overall end-of-life recycling rate of about 49% was possible when best available practices and technologies were implemented. To fulfil the ambitious recycling targets set at EU27 level (55% overall recycling rate), substantial improvements are necessary at the plants, product design, collection system, and market level. Our findings further indicate that films and other problematic contaminants in the input-waste considerably hamper the recovery rates, thus the improvement of the efficiency of the collection systems is imperative. In parallel, the development of markets for lower value fractions, e.g. polypropylene, could be a way forward to increase recycling, while improvements in the product design will considerably reduce the presence of impurities and contaminants in the input-waste.
Abstract by the authors: Plastic is valued for its versatility, but concerns have been raised over the environmental impacts of mismanaged plastic waste. A better understanding of plastic flows can help to identify areas of inefficiency and potential leakage to natural systems. This research provides an overview of plastic flows in the EU and discusses options to increase plastic circularity. The study conducted a comprehensive stationary material flow analysis covering over 400 categories of plastic-containing products with detailed analysis of the final destination of waste. The results show the relevance of the EU plastic sector with production of over 66 MT of plastic polymers/fibres and an estimated consumption for plastic products of 73 MT in 2016. Plastic waste arisings amounted to over 37 MT and, though increasing plastic recycling rates have been reported, the analysis shows that a significant amount of plastic waste was not returned to production in the EU. The uncertainty analysis highlights important data quality issues that need to be addressed, particularly: data on the plastic fraction in plastic-containing products, and data on the final destination of plastic waste. Building on the analysis, the paper discusses a number of strategies for re-directing the plastic system to more circular pathways.
Abstract by the authors: The Renewable Energy Directive delineates policies for energy production from renewable sources by at least 32% in European Union (EU) by 2030. All member states have established National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) for 2021–2030 to decipher how they will cover their energy needs from renewable sources. This work considers the targets set by each of the EU-27 countries to implement, in particular, solar photovoltaic (PV) modules to cover their energy needs. Then, the future PV waste amounts are assessed considering the widely used Early Loss and Regular Loss scenarios, as well as the noteworthy scenario proposed by the EU WEEE Directive. The study addresses the questions “when will large amounts of panel waste be generated in the EU countries and what will their composition be?” Also, a timescale for starting an economically viable recycling industry for PV panel waste in the EU is estimated based on the annual PV waste generated in each country. By 2050, 14.3–18.5 Mt PV waste will be generated in EU-27 while the profit of PV recovered materials will be 21.98–27.36 billion USD. The findings contribute to the efficient management of the forthcoming e-waste category, according to circular economy principles, ensuring the pathway to sustainability.
Abstract by the authors: Managing the waste stream of lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles is an emerging challenge. Therefore, a distribution delay forecasting model is developed considering multiple end-of-life options for battery applications; including replace, reuse, repurpose and recycle. This model is used to forecast the characteristics of the waste stream. Results of the presented model forecast a waste stream of 120 thousand and 1.8 million batteries to be recycled in 2030 and 2040 respectively. The results also demonstrate that retired batteries can potentially contribute to stationary energy storage markets by providing 8 GWh storage capacity in 2030, and 92 GWh in 2040.
Abstract by the authors: In light of the climate change, interdisciplinary solutions are needed to deal with end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that are used in Electric vehicles (EVs) in order to avoid a waste problem in the future. Building on both legal and technical perspectives, this paper criticises the current EU and UK frameworks and policies on batteries waste management which fail to address technological innovation, especially, in terms of the creation of a market for ‘second life’ of EV batteries which are subject to the electrochemical performance and durability and safety parameters, as well as LIB recycling in support of a circular economy. Most importantly, it also addresses recent developments in the EU in terms of a proposal for the EU new Batteries Regulation and the impact of Brexit in the UK for its future policy shape.
Abstract by the authors: With the burgeoning transition towards electrified vehicle fleets, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have come into focus for different stakeholders due to high costs, supply risks, production-related resource and energy demands and environmental concerns. Circular business models (CBMs) and Circular Economy (CE) strategies to slow and close resource loops are discussed as potential solutions. With a focus on circular business model elements and influencing factors, this research reviews literature on CE strategies for LIBs and benchmarks their current adoption amongst European vehicle manufacturers. These were identified by analysing companies’ websites and interviewing representatives from six companies. In addition, observation of a single manufacturer revealed further context-specific and internal factors. Finally, it reviews the external policy drivers and barriers for CE strategies for LIBs and discusses how policy can be further developed. The results demonstrate that many manufacturers are pursuing CE strategies, mostly focussed on repair, refurbishing, and repurposing. Variation in the operationalisation appears to be linked to the degree of manufacturer involvement, indicating that CBMs are context-specific and dependant on internal factors. All CBMs were found to require close collaboration between different stakeholders to build trust and reduce uncertainties. The necessity to design for disassembly and to build expertise to thoroughly diagnose the state of health of LIBs to enable life extending CBMs was highlighted. While the late 2020 proposal for new EU legislation for batteries contains ambitious new requirements that will incentivise CE strategies, there is still a need to consider further policy development to ensure adherence to the waste hierarchy.
Abstract by the authors: Faced with the widespread use of dismantling sites in Asia, whose processes present alarming health and environmental issues, the European Commission has raised the question of implementing a financial mechanism to encourage shipowners to use higher standards for ship recycling. This mechanism would take the form of a recycling licence applicable to any ship wanting to call at a port within EU territory, whether flying the flag of an EU Member State or of a third country. The present paper aims to critically assess the main features of the EU's proposed mechanism from a legal and economic perspective and to examine the criticisms the mechanism has received to date. Our study shows that reform is desirable but that the nature and success of the proposed licence remain uncertain, depending on whether the mechanism is able to provide sufficient incentives. In this light, the paper makes several suggestions designed to improve the project's economic and legal viability. It also shows that such a project could speed up the entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships adopted in May 2009, whose ratification process has been severely delayed.
Abstract by the authors: Innovation adoption and diffusion by firms are key pillars for the EU strategy on resource efficiency and the development of a circular economy. This paper presents new EU evidence regarding the role of environmental policy and green demand drivers to sustain the adoption of resource efficiency-oriented eco-innovations. Using a large cross-section dataset of EU firms and accounting for sample selection and endogeneity, the results strongly support the idea that environmental policy and demand-side factors are both significant in driving the adoption of innovations that promote recycling, reduce waste and decrease the use of materials. The paper provides a relevant piece of new, quantitative-based knowledge, which complements the large case study-based evidence on sound management and policy strategies for the circular economy.
Abstract by the authors: The scope of this research is to present a more holistic approach on measuring countries’ performance in managing and exploiting their Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Specifically, we argue that relying solely on criteria like the recycling and/or the cyclical material use rate, can lead to an overestimation or underestimation of countries’ true performance. That is because the level of waste generation is left unaccounted, despite the fact that low waste generation is an important environmental target, and so is the countries’ true potential, as it is reflected by their economic and social progress. Instead, we measure the environmental and circular economy performance of 26 European Union countries by implementing Data Envelopment Analysis and tackle the aforementioned problem by using the generated quantity of MSW per capita and the three dimensions of the Social Progress Index as inputs and the recycling and/or the cyclical material use rate as outputs. We do so, using a basic framework and a framework that imposes common weights to enforce a full ranking of the countries. Our study shows large disparities among European countries, with respect to their performance. Interestingly though, the borders between Western and Eastern Europe have fallen, but not those between the north and the south: old EU members, such as Spain or France, perform significantly worst, both from an environmental and a circular economy perspective, than newer members, such as Slovenia or Poland. Finally, Belgium has been revealed as the best performer, both from an environmental and a cyclical economy perspective.
Abstract by the author: Within the context of concurrent global waste and resource crises, there is significant interest in promoting circular economies. One of the identified ways to facilitate greater circularity is through replicable practices of industrial symbiosis, where industries and other organizations exchange waste and by-products resulting in economic, environmental, and social benefits. This paper investigates the role of a particular critical legal mechanism – property rights – in enabling industrial symbiosis by drawing on the experiences of waste and by-product exchanges within three industrial symbiosis case studies located in Kalundborg (Denmark), Peterborough (United Kingdom), and Rotterdam (the Netherlands). In order to determine whether property rights are incentives, facilitative mechanisms, barriers, or opportunities, the Schlager-Ostrom taxonomy is applied. Case findings evidence that different property regimes can have facilitative effects on circularity within industrial symbioses. There is thus no absolute support presumed in favor of one particular property rights regime over others; property regimes are flexible and hence allow for case specificity.
Abstract by the author: Reverse logistics represents a current research area, in both theoretical and empirical terms. In Polish practice, reverse logistics refers to a narrow approach within the framework of waste management. Enterprises perceive their success and the source of long-term economic and social benefits in introducing new, pro-ecological solutions at various stages of the supply chain through implementing reverse logistics. The purpose of the article is to present the potential of implementing reverse logistics in view of the growing threats resulting from waste. A multidimensional comparative analysis is used in the study, based on the indicators describing waste management as an important element of reverse logistics for the European Union Member States (the EUROSTAT data). As a result, the EU countries are divided into those placed at the forefront and the ones which cannot handle the level of reverse logistics implementation through waste management. Stemming from the conducted analysis, attention was drawn to the unfavourable position of Poland in the implementation of waste management, which is manifested in the level of reverse logistics implementation.
Abstract by the authors: Re-use and preparation for re-use are currently in sharp focus across the European Union's (EU) emerging legislation on waste management and the circular economy. Lifetime extension is of particular importance to electrical and electronic equipment due to the critical nature of many of the raw materials involved and their potential status as hazardous waste. During this research interviews were conducted with stakeholders in the preparation for re-use of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and Austria, where these systems are considered successful, and in Spain, the first country in the EU to have deemed preparation for re-use targets separate to those for recycling necessary. Similar interviews were conducted in Ireland, where the preparation for re-use system has not yet developed to a successful level, and factors reported to be facilitating or inhibiting the success of preparation for re-use were compared. Factors in successful preparation for re-use systems included involving social enterprise, requiring the use of quality standards, providing preparation for re-use organizations access to material at the point of end user surrender, and facilitating positive relationships between preparation for re-use organizations and the producer representative organizations organizing the waste streams. These factors were found to be largely absent in Ireland. This paper recommends these factors be supported in countries which are not yet reporting significant levels of preparation for re-use. Furthermore, where preparation for re-use had not been established practice prior to the WEEE directive, targets separate from those for recycling are recommended as necessary to align the interests of the Producer Representative Organisations and organisations which seek to promote it.
Abstract by the authors: It is estimated that 12000 tons of plastic waste is annually generated from the agricultural sector in Finland, and more than half of it comprises bale wrap films. Up to 70% of plastic film waste from the agricultural sector in Finland goes into landfills, and only around 10% is recycled. Recycling plastic material is desirable in order to close the loop in achieving a circular economy. This paper aims to assess the environmental and economic implications of bale wrap collection and recycling within the Finnish context. Two different collection scenarios, S1 (once a year collection) and S2 (twice a year collection), covering 179 farms, were assessed. The research applied vehicle routing problem and environmental life cycle costing to quantify the cost and environmental impact per ton of granulate recycled material produced. It took a consequential approach, where the system boundary was expanded, and product substitution was considered. Overall, S1 offers 27% more economic savings with 36% less global warming potential (GWP) than S2. The collection phase, which has not commonly been included in existing recycling studies, shows significance in both scenarios. Although it only contributed about 0.7-1.2% to GWP, collection accounted for 32-36% of the total economic cost. Critical parameters were primarily associated with the market substitution factor and material loss during the recycling process. This study demonstrates that recycling bale wrap can provide environmental and economic savings. Furthermore, it shows the importance of decision-makers in prioritizing goals to balance environmental and economic objectives.
Abstract by the authors: Resource effectiveness and the circular economy are crucial for the future of the construction sector. A number of initiatives in Brazil and France are examining how resource efficiency and circularity can be introduced in various construction stages. But there is no unifying arena where both countries can meet. The lack of financial resources and a proper management system for construction and demolition waste are the main challenges which developing countries need to stand. This could encourage the development of innovations mainly in specific areas such as concrete recycling, and also stimulate the society to become aware of the value of material waste in the production supply chain. This proposal follows a waste input-output model to compare recycling and non-recycling scenarios in two stages of the construction process; this approach provides a positive alternative for the analysis of environmental scenarios in the traditional construction process. This research proved that at the construction site, there is a decrease in the amount of waste, concrete, metal, and plastic. However, during demolition, the concrete is not decreasing in the recycling scenario, even with a considerable amount of plastic and metal, probably due to the lack of proper waste separation in the site. •Rapid growth of cities in Brazil is the sustainability challenge.•Circular economy has potential to improve the construction sector in Brazil.•Input-output model provides an analysis of the construction waste scenarios.•Recycling might be a key for mitigation actions in the construction sector.
Abstract by the author: Reverse logistics represents a current research area, in both theoretical and empirical terms. In Polish practice, reverse logistics refers to a narrow approach within the framework of waste management. Enterprises perceive their success and the source of long-term economic and social benefits in introducing new, pro-ecological solutions at various stages of the supply chain through implementing reverse logistics. The purpose of the article is to present the potential of implementing reverse logistics in view of the growing threats resulting from waste. A multidimensional comparative analysis is used in the study, based on the indicators describing waste management as an important element of reverse logistics for the European Union Member States (the EUROSTAT data). As a result, the EU countries are divided into those placed at the forefront and the ones which cannot handle the level of reverse logistics implementation through waste management. Stemming from the conducted analysis, attention was drawn to the unfavourable position of Poland in the implementation of waste manag
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