The circular economy assumes that materials circulate in the economy for as long as possible and that waste is above all prevented, reused and recycled.
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From 3 July 2021, EU Member States are to apply bans on placing on the market, among others, single-use plastic cutlery, plates and straws and expanded polystyrene containers. Directive 2019/904 also covers biodegradable plastics.
On 29 April 2021 China's parliament passed a law against food waste: obligations for restaurants, fines for misleading customers and the possibility of charges for leftovers.
A biogas plant receiving waste must operate in BDO: register entry, records and a KPO for deliveries, and every year a waste report by 15 March. Check who this applies to and what to do.
On 20 January 2021 decree DS 8/2019 was published, setting collection and recovery targets for end-of-life tyres under Chile's REP law on extended producer responsibility.
Since 1 January 2016 selected wastes with codes 19 08 05, 19 08 12, 19 08 14, 19 12 12 and from group 20 may go to landfill only if their calorific value is below 6 MJ/kg TS. We explain the scope and the consequences.
In Lagos a small biogas plant at the Ikorodu abattoir powered the facility for about six hours a day, while a project at the Karu abattoir in Abuja stalled in 2018 without the administration's consent. A review of reports on Nigerian biogas from waste.
Chinese ministries announced a total ban on solid waste imports from 1 January 2021. It closes a process begun in 2017 and puts pressure on European recycling.
Municipal sewage sludge may be applied to land only if the conditions of the 2015 regulation and Article 96 of the Act on waste are met. Doses, testing, bans and other routes: composting, digestion, incineration.
Since 2020 waste records have been kept in BDO. We describe who prepares the KPO, what the carrier confirms, how the KEO, simplified records and the emergency mode work.
On 21 July 2020 EU leaders agreed the multiannual budget and Next Generation EU. A new source of revenue will be a levy of EUR 0.80 per kilogram of non-recycled plastic packaging waste.
Law 14.026/2020 amended the National Solid Waste Policy: new deadlines for closing lixões (open dumps) were set for 2021–2024, depending on the size of the municipality.
On 5 July 2020 the transposition deadline for Directives 2018/849–852 expired. The package introduces recycling targets of 55/60/65%, a landfill limit of 10% and an obligation to collect biowaste separately by the end of 2023.
The R and D symbols from Annexes 1 and 2 to the Waste Act end up in the permit and in reports. We explain what R1, R3, R10 and D10 are, and where fermentation and the use of digestate fit in.
Beijing has joined the cities with mandatory waste sorting. Residents divide waste into kitchen, recyclable, hazardous and residual, and violations can cost from 50 to 50,000 yuan.
On 14 April 2020 the EC issued guidelines intended to ensure the continuity of waste collection and treatment during the epidemic, in line with EU waste law.
Composting is aerobic and yields compost; digestion is anaerobic and yields biogas and digestate. We compare the two processes in terms of law, animal by-products (UPPZ), the end product and odour nuisance.
Communication COM(2020) 98 announces 35 initiatives, including waste reduction, halving the amount of residual municipal waste by 2030, and nutrient management.
In 2020 the state of Victoria announced the ten-year “Recycling Victoria” plan: a target of 80% waste recovery, halving organics to landfill and four bins in households.
A by-product is not "waste with good PR". We explain the five cumulative conditions of Article 10, the notification to the marshal and the decision under Article 11, and the consequences for suppliers of substrates to biogas plants.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development reported that waste sorting has started in 237 Chinese cities; in the 46 key cities it covers 77,000 residential compounds and 49 million households.
Since July 2019 Shanghai has required sorting into four streams. After six months, over half as much again kitchen waste is collected, but the facilities cannot keep up.
Registration in the BDO register became a condition for keeping waste records and reporting. The change also applies to biogas plants that receive waste as a substrate and release digestate.
Australia adopted the National Waste Policy Action Plan 2019: among other things a waste export ban, 80% resource recovery and halving organic waste to landfill by 2030.
