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Spring 2011
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EDITO
The cycle
resources-products-waste is more than ever at the heart of EU policy
developments in 2011. This integrated approach has served as a basis
for ACR+’s work for several years now and the review of our activities
in the present edition of the ACR+ Update shows that these are not only
words!
Prevention is the first pillar of our activities. The European
Recycling Society is the second key goal for the ACR+ network.
In both cases, ACR+ defends a key role for the local and regional
authorities, with clear targets and the involvement of all
stakeholders. Capacity building, technical training and cooperation
complete the picture, with a particular attention to the South
Mediterranean cities in an evolving period.
This is what we invite you to discover in this issue of ACR+ Update and
we will be happy to meet you at one of our upcoming events!
Jean Pierre-Hannequart
President
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Index
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- European
Seminar Green Commerce, 25 May 2011 in Brussels, Belgium. Learn
more
- ACR+
participates in Green Week, from 24 to 27 May 2011 in Brussels,
Belgium. Learn more
- Sustainable management of sewage
sludge and biowaste conference, 16-17 June 2011 in Valencia, Spain. Learn
more
- Horizon
2020 Capacity Building / Mediterranean Environment Programme trainings,
May – June 2011. Learn more
- The
Interpretation of Life Cycle Thinking in the Waste Management
Hierarchy, 5-6 July 2011, Brussels, Belgium. Learn more
- Experts conference within the
Miniwaste project, 13 September 2011, Brno, Czech Republic. Learn
more
- Experts
training seminar on waste prevention within the Pre-waste project, 13
October 2011, Bucharest, Romania. Learn
more
- ACR+
General Assembly 2011, 26-27 October 2011, Genoa, Italy. Learn
more
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- The
EWWR Awards Ceremony in Brussels, Belgium, 28 March 2011. Learn
more
- Waste prevention workshop in
Brussels, Belgium, 28 March 2011. Learn more
- 1st
Technical Working Group, concerning ACR+ European Decentralized
Observatory on Municipal Waste Recycling Performances, 1 February 2011.
Learn more
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New Waste Prevention Online
Database available entitled “Quantitative Benchmarks for Municipal
Waste Prevention -
A database for Local & Regional Authorities in support of the
new Waste Framework Directive”. Learn more
- An
inventory of knowledge on good practices regarding bio-waste prevention
published within the framework of the Miniwaste project. Learn
more
- A
study on consumer communication strategies promoting sustainable
products initiated by retailers and public authorities in Europe. Learn
more
- Green
Commerce European Blog launched within the framework of the Green
Commerce project. Learn more
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Upcoming
Events
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European Seminar Green
Commerce, 25 May 2011, Brussels
ACR+,
together with the Green Commerce Partners, is hosting the European
Information Seminar about the Life+ Green Commerce project.
This
exclusive event will present the first outcomes of the Green
Commerce project, which aims to green the activities of small
shops in Europe. The newly-created GC self-assessment tool and the
technical requirements for the GC European label will be officially
presented for the first time, together with the pilot experiences from
participating cities (San Sebastián and Torrevieja).
The
event will take place on 25 May 2011, from 9:00 to 14:00 at ACR+
offices c/o Brussels-Europe Liaison Office, avenue d’Auderghem, 63 at
1040 Brussels.
You can register for this free event by filling out the registration
form and sending it by fax (+ 32 2 234 65 01) or e-mail ( info@acrplus.org)
before May 15th 2011.
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ACR+
participates in the 11th edition of Green Week
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We
are happy to announce that ACR+ will participate in this year’s edition
of the Green Week conference, presenting our current projects.
Green
Week is the biggest annual conference on European environment policy,
held from 24 to 27 May 2011 in Brussels, Belgium. On 25 May, the
president of ACR+, Jean-Pierre Hannequart, will take part in an
interactive session, looking at different policy instruments available
to national and European policy makers to boost recycling in Europe
("No tipping please: getting to the recycling society").
Throughout
the conference, you will be able to visit our stand in the Charlemagne
building, rue de la Loi 170, Brussels. This edition of Green Week will
take place in Brussels and around Europe. Its theme is Resource
Efficiency - Using less, Living better.
The conference is
accompanied by several side events and an exhibition area with 50
stands about green business solutions, NGO activities, authorities,
European and international bodies and more.
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Sustainable
management of sewage sludge and bio-waste, 16-17 June 2011, Valencia,
Spain
This
conference is co-organised by ACR+, the Generalitat Valenciana
(Regional
Government of Valencia) and the Instituto para la Sostenibilidad de los
Recursos (ISR). Its purpose is to contribute ideas to the elaboration
of the new European sludge management strategy.
The
topics to be discussed include: experiences from big cities
in Europe and the comparison of the applied treatment methods, priority
for review and evaluation through the economical and operational
aspects of sewage sludge management, the costs of operation and the
optimisation of the material and energy recovery, as well as the
benefits of sewage sludge management in combination with the management
of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste.
Key speakers
include Bartosz Zambrzycki (EC), Jean-Pierre Hannequart (ACR+), Ann
Braekevelt (OVAM, BE), Dr Michael Oberdorfer (North Rhine-Westphalia
State Environment Agency, DE)
For
further information please visit ACR+
website.
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Horizon 2020 Capacity Building
/ Mediterranean Environment Programme
trainings, May – June 2011
The
“Horizon 2020 Initiative”
aims to de-pollute the Mediterranean by the year 2020 by tackling the
sources of pollution that account for around 80% of the overall
pollution of the Mediterranean Sea:municipal waste, urban wastewater
and industrial pollution.
These capacity-building activities are
targeted to country officials (Ministries, Agencies and/or regional/
local authorities), and others involved in finding solutions
to an integrated sustainable management of municipal solid waste in
their country, region or local authority.
The will cover the following topics:
1.
“Integrated Sustainable Waste Management – based on accumulated
regional experience”, 11 - 12 May 2011, Cyprus
2. “Study visit on ISWM with focus on integrated systems
including WtE
& anaerobic digestion”, 23 -25 May 2011, Amsterdam, the
Netherlands
3. “Management of Electronic Waste”, 20 – 22 June 2011, Brussels,
Belgium
For
further information please visit ACR+
website.
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The
Interpretation of Life Cycle Thinking in the Waste Management
Hierarchy, 5-6 July 2011, Brussels, Belgium
As
part of the ACR+ International seminar “The Interpretation of Life
Cycle Thinking in the Waste Management Hierarchy”, organised with the
support of HOLCIM Group Ltd, we launch a call for contributions on the
following subject of “Life Cycle Assessment of your waste management
systems” for the upcoming ACR+ event.
We
are looking for specific examples of interpretation of the EU waste
hierarchy through Life Cycle Thinking, as foreseen in article 14, 2 of
the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98. May you be successful, we will
invite you to present your case study and participate in a lively
debate with the key panelists.
The primary objective of
this session will be to provide an assessment of the environmental
impacts associated with existing solid waste management policies in
your Region.
Please
send us a
brief description of the case you would like to present no later than
Friday, 13th May 2011. Depending on the number of proposals received, a
selection process will take place.
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Experts conference within the
Miniwaste project, 13 September 2011, Brno, Czech Republic
In the
framework of the Miniwaste project, with the support of the Life+
programme of the EC, the city of Brno (Czech Republic) will host an
experts conference to share the progress of this project with bio-waste
experts. This conference will in particular address the issue of
bio-waste management in Czech Republic and in Europe. It will also give
the opportunity to present the state of play regarding the monitoring
and assessment of bio-waste prevention and some good practices in
relations with composting and green and food waste prevention.
For further information on the
programme and speakers, please visit the Miniwaste website.
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Experts training seminar on waste
prevention within the Pre-waste project, 13 October 2011, Bucharest,
Romania
In the
framework of the INTERREG IV C
Pre-waste project, an experts’ training seminar on waste prevention
will be organised by SPCII Ilfov, the Romanian Pre-waste partner, in
Bucharest on 13 October 2011. This training seminar will address the
transferability of waste prevention good practices and the development
of waste prevention plans.
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ACR+ General Assembly
and “The implementation of the Waste Framework Directive at local and
regional level" Conference, 26-27
October 2011, Genoa, Italy
Save
the date!
The ACR+ General Assembly in 2011 will be devoted to the implementation
of the Framework Directive at the local and regional level in Europe.
An international conference will be organised together with the City of
Genoa (Italy), on 26 - 27 October 2011. Based on the contributions from
ACR+ members, the conference programme will address the great
challenges of the implementation process: new developments at the
European level, prevention programmes, meeting the recycling targets
and addressing the issue of bio-waste.
Save the date now, more details
will follow on ACR+ website.
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Recent
Events
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The EWWR Awards Ceremony in
Brussels, Belgium
The
awards ceremony for the 2010 European Week for Waste Reduction took
place on Monday March 28, 2011 in Brussels before roughly 200
attendees, including the Brussels-Capital Region Minister for the
Environment Evelyne Huytebroeck and several representatives of the
European Commission and the LIFE+ Programme.
From 20 – 28
November 2010, 4,346 EWWR actions took place in 24 countries throughout
Europe and beyond with the common aim to promote waste reduction. Out
of these, 90 were pre-selected by the various organisers and submitted
to an independent jury of European waste management specialists.
Six awards were handed out to the most outstanding actions: one for
each of the five Project Developer categories plus
the Jury’s Favourite Award.
To view
the complete list of winners, click here.
For
further information please visit the EWWR
Awards webpage.
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Waste
prevention workshop in Brussels, Belgium
Within
the framework of the Pre-waste project, whose aim is to help cities and
regions to improve their waste prevention policies, on 28 March 2011
Brussels Environment (IBGE) organized an international workshop,
gathering waste prevention experts from across Europe.
During
this event, the 10 Pre-waste partners and about 130 waste prevention
stakeholders were able to share opinions about key issues
regarding waste prevention at local and regional level. They also
discussed some of the 50 good practices chosen within the project
amongst the 100 case studies on waste prevention assembled by the
project partners.
This one-day event covered such subjects as
the EU context of local and regional waste prevention planning, the use
of indicators, as well as regulatory and economic waste prevention
instruments. It included parallel sessions where participants could go
more deeply into the matter regarding food wastage, packaging,
rental/repair/reuse and sustainable consumption, production and
lifestyles.
During the workshop, a poster session was organized,
so that the participants could ask Pre-waste partners for more
information on the selection of good practices and waste prevention
strategies in Europe, exhibited in a poster format. These good
practices covered in particular repair and reuse centres, taxation and
awareness raising on plastic bags, dematerialisation in offices,
reusable diapers, food waste avoidance and home composting.
The presentations and other documents related to the conference can be
downloaded from this webpage.
For
further information please visit ACR+
website.
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1st
Technical Working Group, following the launch of ACR+ European
Decentralized Observatory on Municipal Waste Recycling Performances
Following
the
launch of the ACR+ European Decentralised Observatory of Municipal
Waste
Recycling Performances in
September 2010 in Paris, ACR+ invited its members to the 1st
Working
Group meeting on 1st February 2011 in Brussels.
During
the
meeting the following topics were discussed:
- Objectives and methodology for
the Observatory programme
- Deliverables for 2011/12
- Structure and functioning of
the working groups and assignment of Co-leaders
- Waste Data Matrix
- Involvement of key
organisations for participation
- Communication channels for the
Observatory
- Funding
opportunities
- Next steps and planning for the
next working group meetin
25 Regional / Local Authorities participate in the Observatory working
Group from across Europe.
For further information and to
view the agenda, presentations and conclusions from the day please visit ACR+
website.
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Publications
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A
new online database: “Quantitative Benchmarks for Municipal Waste
Prevention - A database for Local & Regional Authorities in
support
of the new Waste Framework Directive”
The
Waste Framework Directive from December 2008 (2008/98) stipulates a
clear obligation to give priority for waste prevention above all other
waste management practices (art. 4). It also imposes on Member States
to determine appropriate and specific qualitative or quantitative
benchmarks for waste prevention in their waste prevention programs to
be elaborated by December 2013 (art. 29).
Generation of
municipal waste currently estimated at about 513 kg/inh/y (EU 27) will
continue to increase across the EU if public authorities do not react
strongly and positively. One of the biggest challenges for waste
prevention is to quantify its impact. For this reason ACR+ decided to
develop this database.
It consists of 37 detailed quantitative
waste prevention examples that demonstrate the potential waste
reductions achievable at both regional and local level. The waste
prevention examples cover 5 main different waste streams: bio-waste,
packaging waste, paper waste, bulky waste and municipal waste. Each
case study features a short description, as well as detailed data
concerning general information (such as country, region, population or
waste generated per year), as well as waste prevention activity,
including data on the project’s scale, participation and waste
reduction targets, participation rate, waste quantities reduced and
budget.
The database will be updated on a regular basis as well
as extended in order to incorporate more cases and more quantified data
on targets and results indicators.
The database is specifically developed and only accessible for ACR+
members. You
can access it from ACR+
website (members only).
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Inventory of
knowledge on good practices regarding bio-waste prevention in Europe
Within
the framework of the
Miniwaste project, ACR+ was responsible for developing an inventory of
knowledge – and therefore for identifying and describing good practices
regarding bio-waste prevention in Europe which could be implemented by
local and regional authorities. The final report comprises ten
factsheets and a number of annexes.
The ten factsheets are:
Home composting - Italy (Piemonte)
Home composting - UK (Kent)
Home composting - Portugal (Lipor)
Home composting - France (Chambery)
Community composting - Belgium (Flemish Region)
Community composting - Switzerland (Zürich)
Farm proximity composting - Austria (Freistadt)
Fight against food waste - UK (WRAP)
Closed Loop gardening - Belgium (Flemish Region)
Reuse centers - Belgium (Flemish Region)
For
each of these, ACR+ provided detailed information regarding the general
characteristics of the responsible body, local context, applied
strategy (objectives, approach and methodology), relevant instruments,
stakeholders, the means and actions (including communications),
legislative and financial aspects, results, indicators and monitoring
tools (if any), as well as the challenges encountered and success
factors applied.
To
download the inventory click here.
For
further information on the Miniwaste project, visit its website.
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A study on consumer
communication strategies promoting sustainable products
ACR+
finalized, on behalf of the
Walloon region (Belgium), a study on consumer communication strategies
promoting sustainable products initiated by retailers and public
authorities in Europe. The study is based on a detailed inventory of
good practices in selected countries in Europe.
The final
report (in French only) includes a comprehensive study of best
practices for 5 retailers (COOP, MIGROS, CASINO, TESCO and M&S)
and
5 public authorities in selected countries (UK, France, Belgium
(Flanders), Sweden and Germany) identifying strategies and
communication / outreach actions as well as collaborative arrangements
put in place between public authorities and retailers.
The full
report includes, apart from an overview of best practices, a list of 32
concrete actions classified according to the “4E” principle (enable,
engage, encourage and exemplify). The full report has been presented at
the Round Table that took place in
Namur (capital of Walloon Region), on 15 October 15 2010.
To
download the report in French click here.
You can
also download its summary in English or in French.
To
download the PowerPoint presentation click here.
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Green Commerce
European Blog
Within
the framework of the
Green Commerce project, in January 2011 ACR+ launched the Green
Commerce European Blog. It is a frequently updated resource of news and
articles related to the reduction of the environmental impact of retail
businesses in Europe. Moreover, this European Blog aims to keep all the
interested parties up-to-date in relation to the Green Commerce Life+
project initiatives.
If you have any interesting experience or
know of relevant news or good practices concerning environmental
initiatives of the small retail sector, do not hesitate to share it on
the GC Blog. The GC Blog is also a place for discussion and debate, so
bookmark us and post regularly your comment!
To
visit the blog now click here.
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WELCOME!
We
would like to give a warm welcome to our new
Members:
Thank you for joining ACR+, we are proud to have you on board!
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