A review of policy instruments used in the recycling area Workshop on recycling of waste 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 targets Waste prevention requirements Waste prevention targets Landfill/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 waste Setting 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 WEEE The 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 MSW Ban 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 BMW Landfill 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 countries One 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 6/2010 European Recycling Policies in relation to the actual recycling achieved. ETC/SCP working paper 2/2011

Thank you - Questions