Circular economy and waste management: questions to be answered

Recently European Commission (EC) announced that it is scrapping plans to introduce a Circular Economy Package. Instead, it will launch a 'broader and more ambitious' waste package next year. The draft circular economy package was aiming to achieve a proposed 70 per cent recycling and reuse target for 2030, as well as a requirement for Member States to recycle 80% of packaging waste by 2030.

This announcement was faced as a step backwards from many stakeholders, including, Environmental Services Association (ESA, UK), Municipal Waste Europe and Friends of Earth but also companies like IKEA and Unilever who officially expressed their disagreement with the EC’s plans to postpone the draft package. On the other hand, CEWEP hopes that “we would like to see an ambitious approach to phasing out landfilling as soon and as much as possible so that the full potential of waste as a resource would be unleashed, by increasing recycling and energy generation from the remaining waste”, as CEWEP’s Managing Director Ella Stengler said (see more here).  

The whole discussion seems to be controversial and somehow difficult for the waste management sector. This is why I fully support ISWA’s recent decision to establish a new Task Force on Resource Management to investigate the contribution that the Waste Management Sector can offer to the Circular Economy and to identify the barriers and challenges that need to be overcome to support the transition from waste management to resource management (for more see here).

However, my personal approach is that before getting into the details of the relationship between circular economy and waste management industry, we better examine carefully the concepts of circular and linear economy. Because I believe that the biggest problems and challenges regarding the circular economy are included in its own definition. And although there is no doubt regarding the high benefits of closed loops of materials and the extension of prevention and reuse practices, I have a lot of doubts regarding the circularity of political correctness that is related with circular economy and its impacts to sound waste management practices.

So I will put some conceptual questions and in next posts I will try to outline possible answers.

1. Are there biophysical limits to circular economy or a close to 100% circularity is possible? What can we learn from natural sciences and physics regarding circularities?

2. What is really new in circular economy? How circular economy is related with new materials, product design and consumption? Are we focusing on the business models or the technologies involved? Why is it so attractive for many big companies? How it is related with Big Data systems and the Internet of Things?

3. What we call “circular economy” is the same in developed and developing countries? Is linear economy outdated? Can we have a global uniform approach or circular economy is a privilege of the already rich countries?

4. W

hat a circular economy means for waste management? How it is related with zero waste efforts and recycling? Are landfills and waste treatment plants going to be eliminated? Finally, does circular economy means the end of the waste management industry, as we know it?

Well, I will try to outline some answers for discussion, starting from next week.

Globalisation and waste management - the report is published

It took us almost four years of hard work, more than ten specially organised events (from Singapore to Buenos Aires), cooperation with almost 50 different scientists worldwide and hundreds of days writing and editing but the final report on Globalisation and Waste Management is published and you can download it from http://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/galleries/Task_Forces/TFGWM_Report_GWM_LR.pdf

The report has been prepared by the Task Force on Globalisation and Waste Management which has been set up by ISWA's Board in 2010. I am really thankful to my colleagues for the opportunity they gave me to work together and the things I learnt working with them so special thanks to:
Prof. David Wilson, scientific co-ordinator, Imperial College, London
Prof. Costas Velis, University of Leeds
Bjorn Appleqvist, editor, City of Copenhagen
Jeff Cooper, independent consultant 

The four key-messages of the report, which is supported from many individual studies for specific aspects, are the following:

There is a global waste management and resource system that should be further studied and understood 

There is a globalisation footprint in every local waste management system

The global footprint is particularly important in the emerging and existing megacities 

The emerging global interconnectivity should be utilised for better waste management

Global recycling markets represent a new challenge that affects local recycling programs

The dialogue between the formal and informal sectors, and transition to a formalised recycling activity within a city’s solid waste management system, is to the advantage of both 

There is a need for a radical reform and upgrade of the current minimum international aid related to waste management

I hope you will enjoy this report and please let us know any comments and suggestions for further research.

Jet fuels derived from waste resources: a new alternative!

This is an interview with my colleague and good friend Jeff Cooper, ISWA's president. I know Jeff for many years and I always like his scientific approach to resources and waste management as well as his broad understanding of the different waste management aspects.

His involvement in a project where waste resources are going to be trasnformed to jet fuel really triggered me  and I thought that interviewing him about that project would make us certainly wiser. So here comes his interview, I hope you will enjoy it as I did.

 Jeff, I think you are the only one I know involved in airplane biofuel production utilizing waste resources. It sounds exciting and I would like you to give us an idea about it. Let us know about the project you already work on.

Antonis, you are right, in that there very few people from the waste sector dealing with the issue of the development of jet fuel from residual waste sources, ie after the most immediately recyclable items in the municipal, and the C&I waste streams have been extracted.

In 2009 after two years of preliminary discussions the USA-based company Solena Group/Solena Fuels offered to join forces with British Airways (BA) in order to evaluate the possibility of developing a plant to produce liquid bio-jet fuels for BA from a range of feedstock sources ( www.solenagroup.com ).

The plant to be developed in Tilbury, Essex is a 500-560,000 tpa biomass processing facility – ideally using high carbon materials - in order to convert them into liquid bio-jet fuel. This would allow BA to substitute a small proportion of its fossil fuels used for its aircraft with a renewable and more sustainable energy source.

The plant proposed would use a combination of new technology, a plasma arc gasification unit and an old established chemical processing system, the Fischer-Tropsch process.  The syngas (synthetic gas), or Bio-SynGas in this case, generated by the plasma arc would be converted to a liquid fuel.  A further advantage of this bio-jet fuel is that it has better combustion properties and lower pollution potential than its fossil fuel alternative when it is used in jet engines.

The plasma arc system has been proposed for several years as a potential alternative energy recovery option for waste processing.  Until recently with lack of support and limited success its development and use has not been regarded as viable.  As with other alternative systems, such as several microwave, sterilisation and autoclave-based plants developed in the UK and overseas, there has been huge scepticism, especially regarding the energy balance of the whole process. 

The main question for the plasma arc process was, could the total input of energy to reach the high temperatures required by a plasma arc, around 4,000-5,000oC, be generated internally by processing waste, let alone generate a surplus of energy?  If a surplus were to be generated could it be used as heat, electricity or, in the case of the Solena/BA project, manufacture a liquid bio-jet fuel? 

The advantage of plasma technology over more conventional gasification technologies is that 20-50% more of the carbon-based waste materials are broken down to ensure gasification of even the most intransigent carbon components. The gasification process releases a range of gaseous products but mainly carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

The Fischer-Tropsch process on the other hand is a long-standing technology originally developed by two German scientists in the 1920s.  Subsequently this process was used by the Germans during WWII to convert some of their coal resources to liquid fuels. The technology was further developed by SASOL, the South African energy company, which ensured that South Africa could utilise its vast soft coal resources for conversion to liquid fuels to withstand international oil embargoes in the 1970s and 1980s.   Even now the SASOL plant is in full production and produces jet fuel that is used by aircraft at Johannesburg airport.

In 2009 Solena started construction of their first commercial scale bio-fuel plant for liquid bio-fuel at Gilroy, California.  This plant is similar in size but the technology is different to the plant being proposed for the UK.  No plasma technology is involved and the fuel generated will be utilised by road vehicles.

The advantage of the Solena plasma arc process is that it uses a metallic catalyst in order to spread the heat impact of the plasma arcs used in the gasification units to a greater processing area and thus convert more of the carbon based wastes to gases.  Solena claims that only 5% of the energy content of the waste is required to gasify the waste in its latest processing system, thus leaving the energy surplus for a wide range of processes.  The types of feedstock which can be processed can include a wide range of wastes left after initial recycling of municipal, commercial and industrial waste streams, such as contaminated paper and plastics, multi-layered and other plastics which cannot be recycled, tyre chips, food waste, crop and forestry residues. 

The proposed Solena plasma arc system provides several productive outputs from the process: heat, electricity as well as the syngas, which can then be utilised to produce a liquid bio-fuel source.  The 500,000 tpa plant can provide sufficient energy to process waste into renewable liquid bio-fuel energy resources but also yields 20MW of electrical power, in addition to that required to operate the plant, plus surplus heat energy that could be used for industrial process heat or perhaps district heating. 

At full production the process should yield 1170 barrels a day of BioJetFuel and 630 blls day of bio-naphtha, which can also be used as a constituent of liquid fuel or as a chemical source.   Even the small amounts of final residue from the process can be readily utilised as a construction product because the high temperature used in the plasma arc system yields an inert glass-like solid material, which also has the advantage of locking in within the vitrified matrix any non-organic contaminants in the waste. 

For BA this project provides a substantial opportunity to reduce its carbon footprint.  Fuel usage generates 99% of its carbon footprint, a total of 17,583.853 tonnes CO2eq in 2008 from all BA’s operations, and therefore its main environmental impact. Unless BA were to address the future sources of its fuel consumption then anything else would be largely irrelevant. 

What is the concept behind it? I mean why British Airways is interested to invest in such a project and from the other side, why such a project is important for the waste management industry?

For BA (British Airways) – now part of the International Airlines Group (AIG) they needed to show positive support for to the IATA commitment to have 50% of renewable fuel sources for the airline sector by 2050.  At Board level therefore BA has therefore guaranteed to ensure that they will purchase the fuel for a lengthy period into the future for a minimum price.  This is something that the US military have not done despite President Obama’s commitment to the same target for their fuels but within a shorter timescale of 2015, “we’ve always worked on annual contracts and will continue to do so”.

For the waste management industry worldwide this project demonstrates that there is a further option within the portfolio of products that we can be producing in the future – we already have various EfW options but this is a product stream which has little other alternative except in specialist short/medium haul applications.    

Speaking about the technologies, I wonder if we are speaking for proven and commercial technologies? I would also like to know what types of waste are suitable and if such a technological approach could provide solutions in a city scale?

 The plasma arc system has been proposed for several years as a potential alternative energy recovery option for waste processing.  Until recently, with lack of support and limited success its development and use has not been regarded as viable.  As with other alternative systems, such as several microwave, sterilisation and autoclave-based plants developed in the UK and overseas, there has been huge scepticism, especially regarding the energy balance of the whole process. 

The main question for the plasma arc process was, could the total input of energy to reach the high temperatures required by a plasma arc, around 4,000-5,000oC, be generated internally by processing waste, let alone generate a surplus of energy?  If a surplus were to be generated could it be used as heat, electricity or, in the case of the Solena/BA project, manufacture a liquid bio-jet fuel? 

The advantage of plasma technology over more conventional gasification technologies is that 20-50% more of the carbon-based waste materials are broken down to ensure gasification of even the most intransigent carbon components. The gasification process releases a range of gaseous products but mainly carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

The Fischer-Tropsch process on the other hand is a long-standing technology originally developed by two German scientists in the 1920s.  Subsequently this process was used by the Germans during WWII to convert some of their coal resources to liquid fuels. The technology was further developed by SASOL, the South African energy company, which ensured that South Africa could utilise its vast soft coal resources for conversion to liquid fuels to withstand international oil embargoes in the 1970s and 1980s.   Even now the SASOL plant is in full production and produces jet fuel that is used by aircraft at Johannesburg airport.

According your knowledge, when it will be the date when such a solution will become really available? And give us an idea for its costs, related to other options.

This is a difficult question but we envisage the GreenSky project, as the British project is now called, being fully operational in 2015. 

As for the costs again it is difficult because each country will have its own constraints and incentives.  In the UK we have a landfill tax that is currently £56 per tonne but from April this year will be £64 per tonne so the provision of even well processed residual waste should cost the plant nothing – a gate fee would be negotiated against a quality specification from the suppliers as they will be saving huge amounts of money through diverting waste from landfill.  Nevertheless, if there are suitably large quantities of residual waste available the opportunity to establish a bio-jet fuel facility becomes increasingly attractive.    

 Last but not least, I would like to have your personal opinion regarding the future of waste to energy technologies. Can we hope to pyrolysis and gasification or their commercial application is too far? Biofuel production is an alternative or a supplementary solution? And how about H2 production from waste?

My personal opinion I’ve expressed in answer to Q1&2 but I’ve been looking at the whole range of new technologies over the past few years of my 30-year career in waste management.  I am a resource scientist by training and the shift to increasing resource cost extraction of both renewable and non-renewable resources occurred about 12-14 years ago compared to a reducing trend before that, as I’d always proposed when dealing with the issues of resource economics in the 1970s as an academic.  Before that time technological and other developments could provide resources at increasingly lower resource (and possibly environmental) cost.  Now we need more resources into order to extract resources and therefore we are in a spiral of decline which makes the financial crisis look like a party.  However, the two are inextricably linked – but perhaps that is outside the scope of this feature.

As for H2 production and use, this would be possible and indeed is often suggested for a variety of applications, particularly: for storage of the energy, use in fuel cells and within the road transport sector.  I would support these opportunities being exploited but we are looking for a specific liquid fuel substitute for the current kerosene jet fuel used for the past 60 years. However we provide it in the future, the conventional mechanism of distillation from fossil oil extracted from under the earth will decline in the future.    

Emerging waste management systems: ISWA/APESB conference in Angola, June 25-28, 2012

We are all aware of the importance of waste management in developing countries. Even more, we are all aware of the fact that the countries who need desparately appropriate waste management services and infrastructure in order to provide an elementary level of health and environmental protection are the ones who do not and sometimes can not have them, because they are trapped in the environment - poverty nexus.

But this has already started to change in Africa.

I was very glad to join efforts with my friend Mario Russo (the actual leader of the initiative) and other friends worldwide for the first ISWA event in Africa.

 Lobito, a beautiful city of the Benguela Province of Angola hosts the first International AFRICA Sustainable Waste Management Conference, an event organized by ISWA together with APESB (Association of Portuguese Sanitary and Environmental Engineering) and CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) with the high sponsorship of the government of Angola. It is the first time that an event in this field is organized by ISWA in Africa. It is an opportunity to share experiences with African technicians and decision makers helping them to search out for appropriated solutions for various and specific cultural, finance and technological contexts.

Angola is one of the most important countries of Africa located on the West coast of Southern Africa. It extends over an area of 1 246 700 Km².

The economy of Angola is based in oil production. In fact, this sector makes up over 90% of the Country’s exports. Angola is currently the second oil producer of Africa with 1.8 million b/d output, and it is expected that by next year it will overtake Nigeria, with a current output of 2.3 million b/d. Second to oil, diamonds are Angola’s main export product. The country is growing up more than 7% per year and many investments are announced by government in the waste sector, sanitation and construction sector.

Lobito is an important city in the Angolan context, quite calm safe and nice city with about 450.000 inhabitants. Located in the center of the country, is a very touristic city, with wonderful beaches and surroundings. Near the city, about 17 km, Benguela is the capital of the province, also a nice city. Both cities were improved related to accommodations and other touristic infrastructures due to the organization of the CAN 2009 (African Football championship) by Angola and are ready and enthusiastically to receive this important congress.

Join us for this interesting event, definitely you will meet very interesting people and a state - of the - art scientific program. For more details please visit the conference's web-site Africa Sustainable Waste Management Conference

ISWA 2012 Congress: the new benchmark for ISWA events

ISWA 2012 World Solid Waste Congress (see web-site) will take place in Florence, Italy, from September 15^th to 19^th.  As long as I am involved in ISWA I have never seen a more detailed, in-time and efficient preparation and it seems that due to that preparation a very successful event is prepared. I thought that an interview with David Newman, ISWA’s Vice- President and key-person of ISWA 2012 organization, will provide interesting insights to all of us about that event. And here it is.

“David, we have heard a lot about ISWA 2012 in Florence and I have to say that there are expectations created both inside and outside ISWA about your conference in middle September 2012. Tell us what’s new about your conference? What is different about it?

Well, we started working on it three years ago, this gives us a lot of time to talk to people and understand what themes are most interesting to everyone, this means we have elaborated a programme widely shared around the world, both within ISWA and outside.

Visiting ISWA 2012 web-site, which actually is a very functional and informative one, my interest was directly grabbed by a phrase. It is written that “The World Solid Waste Congress 2012 will define the effectiveness of the waste management industry for years to come”. Why is that? What are the expectations for the participation of the solid waste industry to your conference? 

We are facing a crucial moment, as waste production booms out of control in developing countries. Florence will be an “alarm bell” calling the industry, politicians and authorities to order to affront this huge challenge. In this the Congress differs from previous years because we expect a very wide participation from developing countries and the participation of UNEP is an indicator of how serious the challenge is.

What is the expected participation from a scientific point of view? Could you give us an idea of abstracts submitted and the highlights of the conference program?

We are overwhelmed by about 650 abstracts, and this has caused us a delay in peer reviewing and deciding on a final programme. Half of these are from academics, a wonderful result.  There will be space for 240 speakers so scientists will play a significant role in the Congress. And of course the ISWA report on Globalisation will be a strong focus point.

 Are there any particular events for non-European participants? Because sometimes ISWA’s conferences in Europe are too much European…

Indeed as I said we expect many non European participants and have a very low registration fee to help them be present. We have a strong focus on Latin America, South East Europe, the Mashreq and Mahgreb countries as well as three sessions dedicated to rapidly developing low income countries. I think this year we will see a good balance between first, second and developing world speakers and attendees.

I suppose that the conference will also have a special role for the Italian waste management industry. I would like you to comment on that, especially under the view of the current crisis which seems to create significant impacts to our industry

We are dedicating some sessions to more domestic issues, like the ongoing Naples situation, waste planning in the host region of Tuscany, waste collection in historic city centers; but of course Italians will be present in many other sessions bringing their incredible innovative experiences in terms of management of services and plants as well coming to learn from the experiences of others. It’s a good mix.

Let’s not forget this is also a time for celebration and in Florence ISWA will be making three awards, for the best scientific publication, for the best communications campaign, and also for the first time to the best newspaper journalist. And a time for fun, to enjoy some Tuscan hospitality and site seeing. Did you know that Florence alone holds 25% of the World UNESCO heritage sites ? And is the second most loved city in the world for American tourists ?

Thanks a lot David - see you all in Florence!

What's the outcome of Durban regarding waste?

This is a valuable contribution from my good friend David Newman, ISWA's Vice - President who participated at the Durban Climate Change event  as ISWA representative. I think that it is really thoughtful and worth to read it carefully. Thnaks a lot David, your posts are highly appreciated not onlly by me but by my readers as well.

"The negotiation process on Climate Change which terminates today in Durban is both extraordinarily complex and equally boring. Delegates from 194 countries spend days working their way through stacks of paper to find fault with the wording of each sentence, opening excruciating discussions which have to end in compromise because the process can only go forward with 100% consensus.

Venezuela, in a session on CDM, remained silent as the Chair called the session to an end, only to stand up immediately afterwards to make an objection, thus hijacking the process. It is democracy gone mad.

The negotiating teams meet for about 18 hours a day, especially when their Ministers arrive to close off some of the issues. Yet each of them know that the wider process, that of approving a renewed Kyoto Protocol, is in any case momentarily blocked by vetoes from the USA and others.

Absurd alliances take place : the USA, Bolivia and Venezuela all argue against market mechanism rules, the USA because the rules are too restrictive, the latin Americans because they oppose markets !

In any case let's look at the wider issues

1) Investments in renewable energy have reached $240bn a year now. These will grow whether a new treaty is signed or not because nations (like Italy) have incentivated renewables. And their unit cost has fallen 40% over the last five years making them seriously competitive.

2) Investments are being made in sustainability in all sectors, from energy to water source protection to waste to agriculture, all in the direction of improving their environmental footprint. To take one example: while forest cover has fallen worldwide there has been a huge increase in tree cover and reclaimed lands from the Sahel desert areas of north Africa. A new green swathe has grown right across a belt reaching from Mauritania in the west to Sudan in the east which was unimaginable ten years ago.

3) Our waste industry. The protocol for the first time includes waste as a mitigation instrument for developed countries and this is a result which opens the waste sector to financing from mitigation funding in the future. While this is a victory for lobbying from ISWA and friendly countries, it also recognises the enormous CO2 reduction potential of the industry which until now had gone unrecognised. We must wait to see if the protocol enters into international law.

We will see what the future of Kyoto holds, it is not clear. But a process has been put in motion which will be hard to stop. And as the climate warms the urgency to reduce emissions will rise. Above all from those who emit most and ironically are worried about the lawsuits which will come from those who bear the consequences - read coal, petrol and the USA on one side, read victims of hurricanes, floods, drought and landslides on the other."

ISWA: Knowledge base free for all!

What is the value of knowledge? What is the difference between private and public knowledge? What is the relationship of knowledge to conscious? How can we know? Is knowledge valuable because of its role in practical reasoning?

These are some of the daunting questions that philosophers ask about the nature of knowledge.

No matter what your answer is, ISWA created what is called ISWA Knowledge Base. And I am sure that all ISWA members and followers are as proud as I am for that initiative!

Just visit http://www.iswa.org/en/525/knowledge_base.html and you will find a free for all - open access waste management library that already contains 863 documents from different resources, including a lot of ISWA publications and technical documents. And soon it will contain at least double. You know why?

First, because the open access library is fed with materials from at least 4-5 ISWA conferences per year.

Second, because ISWA is working closely with several other international institutions to promote interesting waste management publications and make them available through the Knowledge Base.

And third, because ISWA invites everyone to contribute to the Knowledge Base with technical and scientific papers. Every author can provide materials related to waste management, of course except advertising ones.

The concept behind ISWA’s Knowledge Base is simple: in a globalized world, where waste management is becoming one of the most challenging problems and scientific knowledge is produced simultaneously from thousands different sources, a free for all digital library is the minimum we can do to provide know-how to the ones that need it more!

In other words, ISWA serves the Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which states that “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”

Such “open access” thinking is what powers internet phenomena such as Wikipedia, which currently contains more than three million articles, and Creative Commons which allows users to find artwork that they can legally reuse. Recently, it is also the justification behind academic sharing, such as the OpenCourseWare consortium and other smaller projects sharing academic work.

Last but not least: ISWA should promote Knowledge Base and make it the WASTEPEDIA of the web – I am sure it can be done and thousands of people will contribute to that. Let’s do it…

Waste Management 2030+

This is an article I prepared for the magazine Waste Management World. It is based on my key-note lecture at ISWA´s conference in Lisbon, October 2009.

The purpose of the article is to outline the major trends and challenges that will shape the future of waste management for the next few decades. Although in our complex and unpredictable world ‘prediction is very difficult, especially about the future’ (Niels Bohr), there are certain trends and facts that more or less create the ‘bigger picture’ in which the waste management industry will evolve. Interestingly, discussion of these trends has not up till now directly linked them with waste management – at least not according to the author’s knowledge.


Putting these trends together and considering the consequences they will have for waste management, it is clear that new challenges are emerging, and the current situation must be seen in a different way. Our waste management systems and our market conditions, even at their best, are incapable of handling the growing amounts of waste globally. So unless a new paradigm of global cooperation and governance is adopted, a tsunami of uncontrolled dumpsites will be the prevailing waste management method, especially in Asia.

The whole article can be found at:

http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/display/article-display/8267238380/articles/waste-management-world/volume-11/issue-2/features/waste-management_2030.html

I hope you will enjoy it

ABRELPE is getting recognized as a key-stakeholder in Brazil

With great pleasure I visited Brazil once more, as an invited key-note speaker for ABRELPE´s seminar on waste management technologies.

Every time I come to Brazil I feel a vibrating country, people with great expectations and hopes, a booming market and a growing waste management sector. The last is certainly reflected to the great participation and publicity ABRELPE´s events have gained, with new records achieved year by year.

This time, the event organized was dedicated to the new waste management policy, a real revolutionary approach and one of the most progressive waste management laws worldwide. Reverse logistics, shared responsibility during the product life cycle, a waste hierarchy approach and integrated waste management plans countrywide are just some of the key - points that have already started to be discussed in Brazil.

The event was a big success and ABRELPE utilize it in order to present the unique publication PANORAMA 2010, which includes a detailed presentation of waste management activities in brazil and their benchmarking year by year. It also includes a summary in English and Spanish, so it is pretty useful for anyone who is interesting in Brazilian situaton regarding waste management. The whole publication can be found at:

http://www.abrelpe.org.br/panorama_2010.php

PANORAMA 2010 and the whole event were covered with great publicity. frankly, it seems that Carlos Silva Filho, ABRELPE´s managing director has gone a long way forward and now ABRELPE is not just a well placed stakeholder within waste management community - it is becoming the key-stakeholder and the main reference for waste management activities in the country. Congratulations Carlos and I wish ISWA to have more members like ABRELPE.

Needless to say that the Brazilian hospitality was as always great, which makes me again waiting for the next opportunity to visit Brazil.

SWEEP - Net: a hope for waste management in MENA region?

I spent three fruitful days in Tunis participating in the first meeting of SWEEP – Net (Solid Waste Exchange of Information and Expertise Network). This is an initiative supported by GTZ, Germany and the Tunisian ANGed, trying to promote sustainable waste management in the countries of Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) through adequate common activities and political agendas.

This is the first time I felt that something is moving in this so difficult as well as so troubled area of the world. Thanks to the efforts of the SWEEP – Net General Secretariat representatives from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Mauritania and the Arab League were gathered and made an intensive workshop concerning the key-priorities on waste management, the strategy of the network, institutional consolidation, working groups etc.

I was positively surprised by some facts. First it was the level of some presentations which have been really well elaborated by the speakers. Second it was the feeling of “the necessity of such an initiative” I received from a lot of participants. Third, it was the understanding that although waste management is underestimated in the political agendas in this area, there are very well educated human resources that could upgrade it and deliver serious results.

So I left Tunis with more hopes for the future of waste management in MENA than I went there. And I think ISWA would be a real supporter and part of this network too, since it has a lot to offer and it is very well perceived.

Needless to say that I found some old and I made some new friends there (hopefully they think the same). I always feel very comfortable between Arabs and the hospitality provided by the organizers was a great one and really promoted the development of good relationships.

Thanks a lot to Anis Ismail, secretary general of SWEP- Net for his help and hospitality. And I hope we will soon meet again and deliver real results through SWEEP – Net.

Last but not least. For everyone that has not yet been to Tunisia, I can provide a guarantee of an unexpected warm and high – level hospitality by friendly people within the framework of a real impressive landscape and cultural monuments. Do not miss it if there is such an opportunity.

ARS is on the way up!

As I was flying from Buenos Aires to Frankfurt I was thinking about the ARS (Argentinean ISWA National member) Beacon Conference on Sustainable landfills I just attended. And I have to say that I was happy enough considering that the event was a great success for both ISWA and ARS.

For ARS, it was an event with massive participation (up to 500 hundred people) and excellent representation of more or less all the levels of government and municipalities. What a recognition for ARS and the restless efforts that they made! It is really impressive how many people are really interesting for waste management in a country that has just started to recover from an almost lethal financial crisis.

It is more impressive if you consider that such an interest is combined with lack of financial resources that could support infrastructure development.

For me, the first real lesson of the event was that ARS influence has really started to grow, maybe faster that ARS’ people consider. The second lesson is that there is a growing need for education and training in specific waste management issues, that ARS has the capacity to cover and thus there is a huge opportunity for strengthening of it.

For ISWA, the event was a proof of the successful work and promotion made by the Regional Development Network and of the political recognition it can have.

The example of Argentina is a real Beacon for all national members that may help them to understand the real power and strength that can be utilized from their membership to ISWA. Further, the example of Argentina proves that not all matters are related with financial resources and official policies: even with their absence, an active and well networked organization can deliver a lot and gain serious recognition.

Because the real and the most important difference is made by the passion, the quality and the commitment of the people involved – we should never forget that finally and after all ISWA is and will be an NGO that promotes sustainable waste management in practice which means through and by more and more informed, educated and globally oriented human resources!

Special thanks to Ricardo, Atilio, Sole and Maria for their (as always) perfect hospitality and logistics – guys I wish we could have two or three of you more in other countries.

Last but not least: combining those really good friends with the magnificent Buenos Aires explains why every time an Argentinean event is finished I wonder when the next will be. Even in the middle of the worst financial crisis in Greece…

PANORAMA of Solid Waste Management in Brazil and RIO AMBIENTE event

I was just attended an excellent event organized in Rio de Janeiro, within the framework of RIO AMBIENTE 2010. It was a two days international seminar on waste management technologies and systems, organized by ABRELPE, the Brazilian ISWA National member.

The event was organized on a high professional level and I have to say that it was one of the very few events, at least for me, in which all speakers made substantial contributions. Needless to mention that ABRELPE and Rio stakeholders involved provided a very warm and comfortable hospitality, as it is the Brazilian mentality and habit which created familiarity between the most different type of people.

As for the event, I was surprised by the deep and intense discussions made for the future of waste management in Brazil.

I think the highlight of the event was the presentation of the 2009 edition of PANORAMA of Solid Waste in Brazil, made by Carlos Silva Filho, executive director of ABRELPE and very good friend of mine. This is an excellent publication, made every year by ABRELPE, which presents more or less all the important data and evolution in waste management on a national and regional level.

It is not only the useful statistics and the very careful design that make PANORAMA very easily utilized. It is not just the professional level of the printing and editing work. The most important aspect I think is that reading such a publication (even the English summary) you have a very good idea of what is happening in Brazil, what are the main problems and of course which may be potential solutions.

As Carlos wrote in the preface of it “…themes related to solid waste gain an increasingly larger importance in the society (so) the annual update and deepening of data, which give origin to the industry panorama, becomes an indispensable instrument for the definition of strategies addressing the industry development”.

But except the impressive PANORAMA, all major issues discussed and sometimes with a lot of details. Here are just some of them:

The new national plan for waste management with emphasis to Reverse Logistics
The need for a national network of sanitary landfills
The necessity of treatment facilities for big cities with emphasis to thermal treatment plants
The international experiences regarding waste treatment and possible models that can be adapted in Brazilian conditions
The emerging regulation changes in order to modernize recycling activities and state control
The potential and the barriers for Public – Private Partnerships
The very important and characteristic role of scavengers and favelas in Rio de Janeiro waste management.

When the event finished I really felt that waste management in Brazil and especially in Rio de Janeiro is in front of a great challenge.

As the country rapidly increases its Gross Domestic Product, with rates that for 2009 were around 7%, the waste production is really booming, as several speakers confirmed. There is a very clear danger that dumpsites will be rapidly expanded as well and several environmental and health problems might be tremendous.

Brazilian market has more or less all the components required to deliver solutions for the emerging waste disposal crisis. Brazilian government seems to understand the problem but probably is not giving yet the importance required.

The upcoming Olympic Games 2016 in Rio create a window of opportunity for delivering waste management infrastructure. In Brazil, as I have the opportunity to see with my own eyes, there are a lot of human resources (and more are already prepared) and some institutions that can provide a substantial improvement of waste management in a relevant short – time. It is their time now to grasp this opportunity and create new and more efficient and safe waste management. And I feel that ABRELPE is really a key-partner of this effort.

I hope they will succeed - it is worth for this beautiful country and its warm people.

Congratulations to ABRELPE for the event but much more for the unique PANORAMA – I wish other ISWA national members to get the idea and implement it.

Carlos and Alberto, special thanks for all your hospitality and warmness, we really felt almost like home, as every time we visit Brazil. I hope that I will provide at least a similar hospitality when you come to Greece and I am more than grateful for giving me the opportunity to interact in so well prepared and interesting events.

A very good ISWA Beacon Conference in Perugia

I just came back from perugia, Italy where I attended an excelent ISWA Beacon Conference on Biowaste Management organized by ISWA Italia. Congratulations to ISWA Italia and of course to my good friends David Newman and Enzo Favoino for their timeless efforts and the results achieved.

The conference structure and content were of a very high level and I have to say I was surprised by the steps that have been already done in certain EU countries regarding biowaste management. The program can be found at https://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/_temp_/ISWA_Beacon_BTW_programme_01.pdf

Conference attendants and speakers supported with several strong arguments the neccessity of a biowaste directive, something which I think is required more than ever. Allow me to mention the lectures of Enzo Favoino, Florian Amlinger, Cestmir Hirdinka, Francesc Giro, Ricardo Rolandi and Eric Lombardi as the most valuable for me.

During the conference I made some new friends and I am sure I am going to meet them again and share ideas and concepts. Eric, Florian and Cestmir I am keen to see you again.

Waste management after 2030

It seems that this presentation was a real hit. In ISWA's 2009 Lisbon congress and in HSWMA's 2009 Athens Conference the more or less same presentation created a huge effect between the audience and a plethora of congratulations.

Please allow me to thanks all people encouraging me to write a paper with the same title - I am already working on this.

In the meantime, my presentation is available at:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/22205324/The-Future-of-SWM

The main topics are:
Historic waste
Increasing Quantities
Changing composition of waste
Recycling and resource scarcity
Energy revolution
Robotics

All those are viewed and discussed according their waste management impacts

"Turning Waste into Ideas" - ISWA/APESB World Congress 2009,

Every year ISWA’s Congresses constitute a highlight occasion for waste experts and professionals around the world. This year the Annual ISWA Congress will take place in Lisbon with the coorganisation of the Portuguese Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (APESB). The Congress will take place between 12th to 15th October 2009, in Lisbon, at the Cultural Centre of Belém.

The beautiful and famous city, who has to offer great examples of innovation and progress through its historical paths, offers an excellent chance for inspiration and assessment, regarding current and future policies and technologies in waste management.

Besides the classic scientific sessions, the Congress activities will also include an Ibero-american symposium. The four days event will also host technical presentations, polished debates, facility tours, and social events.

For more information visit the conference site: http://www.iswa2009.org/homepage.aspx

A very good seminar regarding recycling crisis: May 13, Milan, Italy

The global economic crisis has led, as we all know, to a crisis in the recycling of many waste fractions.

How these markets are evolving, what is happening in different countries in Europe and the developing world, what measures are needed to kick start the recycled materials markets, what policy changes are needed when a "circular economy" stops turning, are all questions which will be discussed in a seminar organised in Milan by Iswa Italy on May 13th.

To register (free for Iswa members) go to www.iswa.it

Would you like to have a diary for 2009 that promotes ISWA?

Trying to arrange my activities for 2009, I thought it will be very useful to have a diary to promote ISWA.

So I simply created one in a word document format. If you want to use it too, you can download it from:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/9903651/ISWA-Calendar-2009

If you like it, please promote it through my blog. That is a simple but effective way to promote ISWA and its activities.