Seminar on Economic Instruments and Waste Prevention

The conference “Economic Instruments and Waste Prevention” was organized by Brussels Environment and the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+) with the support of Fost Plus. This meeting was organized on the occasion of the European Week for Waste Reduction (19-27 Nov. 2011). It provided the opportunity to evaluate the current situation on economic instruments implemented across Europe and their impact on waste prevention at the source. Key instruments such as « pay as you throw », eco-taxes, deposit schemes, buying cards or even the producers’ extended responsibility were discussed.
 

Date: Tuesday 22nd of November 2011, from 8h30 to 17h 

Place: Auditoire International, Boulevard Roi Albert II, 5, 1210 Brussels 

Languages: Simultaneous interpreting: French/Dutch/English.

Photos

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Programme and Presentations

Below you will find the program for the event and links to the presentations made by the participants. 

8:30 Welcome and Registration

9:00 Introduction

• B. Dewulf, Bruxelles Environnement, Belgique
• Opening Speech - E. Huytebroeck, Brussels Minister for the Environment and Energy, Belgium

9:15 Session 1: General Perspectives on Waste Prevention and Economic Instruments

• General Perspectives at European level - M. Sponar, Waste and Ressource Management, European Commission
• General Perspectives at Belgian level - W. Vermeir, Fost+, Belgium
• Presentation of the results of “A comparative study on economic instruments promotingwaste prevention” - Ch. Sherrington & D. Hogg, Eunomia research & Consulting Ltd, UK
• A Global View on Economic Instruments in Relation with the Life Cycle - J.-P. Hannequart, Brussels Environment - ACR+, Belgium

10:45 Coffee Break

11:15 Session 2: What is the Impact on Waste Prevention of Economic Instruments Applied to Products?

• Eco-Taxes on Packaging in Denmark - J. Hoffenberg, Waste Denmark, Denmark
• Community and Local Government, Plastic Bags Actions (taxes and others) - W. Culbert, Irish Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Ireland
• Complementary Monetary Systems - J. Van Bambeke, Brussels Environment, Belgium
• German Policy about Packaging - Th. Schmid-Unterseh, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Germany

12:30 Lunch

13:30 Session 3: What is the Impact of EPR (Extended Producer Responsability) type Instruments on Waste Prevention?

• Impact of EPR Type Instruments on Waste Prevention in Brussels - F. Radermaker, Cabinet Minister Huytebroeck, Belgium
• Impact of EPR type Instruments on Prevention of Packaging in Europe - J. Quoden, Pro-Europe, Belgium
• Impact of EPR type Instruments on Waste Prevention in Europe - N. Tojo, IIIEE (International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics), Sweden
• Impact of EPR type Instruments on Waste Prevention - M. Van Acoleyen, ACRCADIS Belgium, Belgium 

14:45 Session 4: What is the Impact of "Pay as you Throw" (PAYT) Systems on Waste Prevention?

• Experiences with Systems of Variable fee in Wallonia - M. Gillet, Service Public de Wallonie – Direction générale opérationnelle Agriculture, Ressources naturelles et Environnement, Belgium
• Experiences with DIFTAR (differential tarification) in Flanders - M. De Groof, OVAM (Public Waste Agency of Flanders), Belgium
• The Implementation of Systems of PAYT in Italy- U. Gianolio,  ERICA soc. coop. Italy

15:45 Final Debate: What can we do in a City or a Region Concerning the use of Economic Instruments to Promote Waste Prevention ?

Moderator :O. De Clercq, ACR+, Belgium

Panel :

• J. Ansorena, Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa, Spain  
• J. Maartens, Delhaize Belgium – delegated by Retail forum, Belgium
• P. Van Meerbeek, BRAL asbl (Brussels Council for the Environment), Belgium
• P. Thonon, BECI (Brussels Enterprises Commerce and Industry), Belgium
• H. de Beer, eco-adviser, Belgium
• F. Radermaker, Cabinet Minister Huytebroeck, Belgium

17:15 Conclusions

• J.-P. Hannequart, Brussels Environment, ACR+, Belgium

Useful document:

A Comparative Study on Economic Instruments Promoting Waste Prevention - Final Report to Bruxelles Environnement

Organised by:

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With the support of: