Indicators and targets for waste prevention in Nordic countries Waste Prevention Webinar 24. April David Watson, CRI

Background Project: Copenhagen Resource Institute and Lund University, Sweden commissioned by Nordic Council of Ministers, 2012 Objective: Aid Nordic countries in selection of targets and indicators for inclusion in waste prevention programmes for four waste fractions: C&D Food WEEE Textiles Indicators should be relevant and practicable 2

Methodology What exists already? What scope should be covered by indicators/targets for each stream? Which indicator types are most relevant to each stream? Data availability? RACER assessment for potential indicators Analysis of target/indicator pairs Final recommendation of target/indicator pairs 3 Input from Expert Group

Waste prevention definition “Measures taken before a substance, material or product has become waste that reduce: the quantity of waste, including through the reuse of products or the extension of life span of products: the adverse impacts of the generated waste on the environment and human health; or the content of harmful substances in materials and products” (Article 3 Paragraph 12). 4

Indicator Typology 1. Output-based indicator: waste generation indicator - absolute quantities or per capita or per household 2. Input-based indicator: changes in consumption of goods or resources which end up in this waste stream 3. Input-versus-output indicator: waste output per unit input (physical quantities) 4. Decoupling indicator: output or input per unit GDP or some other economic variable 5. Impacts indicator: changes in environmental impacts of generated waste 6. Hazardous content indicator: changes in the hazardous contents of products which end as waste 7. Response indicator: indicators measuring political actions taken to deliver waste prevention 5 Part 2 Part 3 All Part 1 of definition

Literature review Few indicators proposed, even fewer are operational. Most for C&D waste (5) fewest for textiles (2 general indicators; 0 textile specific) All but one indicator related to part a) of the waste prevention definition Indicators include : output, input versus output, decoupling and response indicators Few targets proposed for any waste stream apart from food: Food 11 targets; Textiles 1 one target All targets fall under part a) of waste prevention definition Most targets relate to output, input and input versus output type variables. A few response based targets. Some targets concrete and well-defined – others are vague No targets have been related to a corresponding indicator!!!!! 6

Scope of indicators/targets 7

Relevant indicator types 8 Material input Demolition waste output C&D Waste Construction waste output 40 years Material input Food waste Food Waste Waste output ~1-2 years Input-indicator √ Output-indicator √ Input-vs-output √ Decoupling √ Input-indicator √ Output-indicator ? Input-vs-output ? Decoupling √ Hazardous X Hazardous √

Data availability 9 CORE DATA ELEMENTS C&DW generation Hazardous C&DW generation Consumption of construction materials (preferably) Renovation economic output Domestic extraction of construction materials (proxy) PopulationC&DW / capita Hazardous C&DW / capita GDPC&DW /GDP Hazardous C&DW /GDP Construction sector ’ s economic output (or Gross Value Added) C&DW /Economic output Hazardous C&DW /Economic output Consumption of construction materials/Economic output Renovation economic output versus the total output of the sector Physical area of new buildings C&DW / Physical area of new buildings Hazardous C&W /area of new buildings Consumption of construction materials/ area of new dwellings C&DW generation Hazardous C&DW / C&DW Material consumption in the construction sector/waste generation Domestic extraction of construction materials/waste generation Average design life expectancy of buildings and roads Life cycle assessment data on construction materials

Proposals 10

Food waste Reduce avoidable food waste from households by x% or x tonnes by year y, compared to base year y0 best-needed indicator ‘Avoidable food waste generation per household (capita/food industry/hospitality sector)’ best-available indicator ‘food consumption in kg/capita/year’ Reduce the amount of food waste from households by x% or x tonnes by year y best-needed indicator ‘Amounts of food waste generated per household (capita/food industry/hospitality sector)’ best-available indicator ‘food consumption in kg/capita/year’ Reduce the cost of avoidable food waste to households by x% by year y best-needed indicator ‘Economic value of avoidable household food waste (Euro/capita/year)’ 11

Food waste Increase government budget used for waste prevention measures by x% by year y, best-needed indicator ‘Government (local authority, etc.) budget used on food waste prevention activities’ Increase the number of enterprises signing voluntary commitments on food waste prevention by x (number or %) by year y best-needed indicator ‘Number of enterprises signed (actively involved in) food waste prevention voluntary agreements’ 12

C&D waste Reduce waste generation from the construction sector by x% annually best-available indicator ‘“C&DW generation per unit Gross Value Added (GVA) in the construction sector Increase the material efficiency in construction with x% by year y best-needed indicator on ‘Material consumption in the construction of buildings versus the area of new construction’ best-available indicator the ‘Domestic extraction of construction materials per floor area of new buildings’ Reduce the hazardous content of construction materials by x% annually best-available response-based indicator ‘Number of new buildings and sales of building materials certified by labelling schemes which limit quantities of hazardous or harmful substances’ 13

C&D waste Increase life span of buildings with x years and roads with z years by year y best-needed indicator on ‘Average design life expectancy of buildings and roads’ 14

WEEE Reduce the consumption of EEE (in kg) by x% by year y best-available indicator “Amount of EEE put on the market (kg) per capita” Increase the re-use of EEE by x% by year y best-needed indicator ‘Amount of re-used EEE sold’ Reduce the WEEE generation by x% by year y best-needed indicator ‘WEEE generation (kg) per capita’ best-available indicator ‘Collection of WEEE (kg) per capita’ can be used as a proxy. 15

WEEE Reduce the content of hazardous substances in EEE by x% by year y best-needed indicator ‘Hazardous substances found in EEE (% weight/total weight of EEE)’ Increase the material efficiency in EEE by x% by year y best-needed indicator ‘WEEE generation (kg) versus EEE put on the market (euros) per capita’ 16

Textiles waste Reduce generation of waste from clothing and home textiles from households by x% or x tonnes by year y best-needed indicator “Textiles waste generation from households per capita per year” best-available indicator ‘New textile products (by weight) put on the market per capita per year’ as a proxy indicator Reduce consumption of new textiles by x% or x kg/capita by year y best-available indicator ‘New textile products (by weight) put on the market per capita per year’ Increase the purchase of high quality over budget low quality textiles products best-available indicator ‘Household expenditure on textile products per tonne of textile products put on the market’ 17

Textiles waste Increase the share of second-hand products in total sales of textiles by x% by year y best-needed indicator on ‘Share (by value) of second-hand products in total textile products put on the market’ Increase the number of products certified with labels requiring reduced use of hazardous substances in textiles production by x% by year y best-available indicator Textile product models certified by eco-labelling schemes relevant to the Nordic countries (Nordic Swan, Swedish Good Environmental Choice, EU Flower) 18

Thank you! Copenhagen Resource Institute Børsgade 4 DK-1215 Copenhagen K Tel