Professor Michael Dougan on the EU referendum
Repeat laws Industries of the European Community.
By Farzana Mohamed Laura Sandler, Cesar Ramirez and Jason C Wong.
The feasibility of the implementation will bring policies modeled recent initiatives of Germany and the European Community has been specifically studied four areas candidates were assessed Take beverage containers; transport packaging; automobiles; and computers and electronic products It was found that in every area except beverage containers, would take an effective way to improve current practices of waste management and resource conservation in the United States.
Through resource conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, the federal government officially proclaimed the preservation of the environment in the interest of the United States 1 Over the past twenty years, local government, industry and consumers US gradually started to play their role to make this formal declaration a reality for the landfills have been replaced by discharges carefully monitored secure protocols for transport and storage of hazardous materials have been developed and implemented programs, particularly for the refurbishment, reuse and recycling of a wide range of products have been adopted by more than 80 percent of states see plan 1 1.
While these changes represent a significant improvement in the way we think and treat our waste, their effectiveness has an upper limit for America to continue its progress towards the long-term sustainability, new methods of resource conservation and recovery must be sought and developed.
One idea that has become popular among the European nations, which is very promising for the foreseeable future, is the concept of self resume, resume a potential political solution oriented to the growth of the elimination of America's waste problem it would be directly responsible for the industries of the recovery, reuse and recycling of their products and packaging.
In theory, such a policy would encourage companies to design their products for maximum recyclability, as well as choose packaging shapes that lend themselves to resume requirement in practice, however, such improvements in operations and methods of industry require concomitant technological progress and infrastructure changes.
To determine what technologies and infrastructure should be developed to enable the successful implementation and integration to take in America's waste management system, it is necessary to assess the current state of recycling today, and to study the current policy take initiatives in Europe in this way, this article will introduce four candidates areas to return, followed by a summary of the overall feasibility of such a policy in the United States.
One form of the most visible and effective recycling in the United States is the curbside pickup of aluminum containers and beverages in glass In 1989, Americans recycled 49 5 billion beverage cans while aluminum, which door national aluminum can recycling rate to 60 percent 8 2 in 1991, the aluminum can recycling rate has increased to 75 percent 1 currently, about 5 billion food containers and glass drinks are recycled each year 2.
In addition to the obvious material benefits of recycling aluminum containers and glass drinks, a lot of energy is also saved when the process of manufacture of these products begins at the stage of recycled materials versus virgin scene, for example, recycling one aluminum saves enough energy to make 19 more Each glass bottle which is recycled saves enough energy to power a 100 watt bulb for four hours 2.
It is obvious that the infrastructure and technology for the recovery and recycling of aluminum cans and glass bottles is fairly well established in the US Although many European countries have achieved higher levels of recycling in these areas or the political atmosphere nor the infrastructure in America would support the adoption of their methods, for example, the UK gets its milk bottles used with almost a return rate take 100 percent because milk is still delivered at home, thus facilitating the pickup of old bottles such distribution does not function exist in the United States as a result, the cost of implementing a similar system would resume as probably outweigh the advantage of achieving a higher rate of recovery and reuse.
In general, when assessing the feasibility of resume, it is helpful to examine both the perceived cost and efficiency expected implementation costs can be divided between the collection, sorting, storage, transportation, public education, and training costs effectiveness can be measured by the ease of return, the sustainability of packaging, distribution method, comparative costs between reuse and recycling, and convenience to the individual consumption 3 the importance of these factors will be further clarified by the three remaining candidate areas to resume.
Currently, packaging materials dominate the waste problem in the United States and the proportion of packaging in waste is growing Clearly more than half of the paper and cardboard, and most plastics in municipal waste packaging materials 4 surveys have shown that the conversion of virgin materials in an account form usable up to 90 percent of the total energy consumption in the production and distribution of a package 4 in addition, over the past 15 years, the trends indicated that the contribution of energy processes on the cost of goods has nearly doubled from 10-15 percent to 20-30 percent, while the most cost important for most process is the conversion of raw materials 4 the packaging industry attempted to transfer the problems of packaging waste and recovery of materials to the consumer or p ar community pushing one-way packages the extra cost of these packages and their disposal must be borne by the consumer.
With facts like these and knowing that it is so costly in terms of expenditure and energy to convert raw materials to packaging, there must be a more economical and environmental friendly solution.
Europe has taken the initiative to attack this problem by requiring industry to comply with a recovery and a recovery law doing so, they hope to not only reduce the total energy consumption and cost, but put more emphasis on preserving a packaging law passed in Germany in 1991 triggered the European community to adopt a directive on packaging It focuses on laws on the liability of producers that hold manufacturers responsible for their packaging the Directive requires all 15 member countries to recover 50-60 percent of packaging material by weight by 2001 and 5 different countries are responding in all, there are two countries following the example Germany, Austria and Belgium the two parties plan to mandate the full responsibility of the manufacturer, relieving local government of any obligation to pick up the package most countries optero nt for the shared responsibility approach, however, where local governments collect the material - the industry must ensure recycling.
For example, Finland packers has signed a voluntary agreement to resume, which involves raising organizations materials, but no central structure A bill in Portugal, should manufacturers or join an integrated organization or set up a deposit for their own Spanish packaging companies must either place deposits on their packaging or to join a central organization and pay a fee to ensure Japan recovery develops a shared responsibility to act and Taiwan already take the law in place .
Netherlands, under a draft regulation will place the responsibility for meeting the packaging recovery rates on packers and importers He proposes to offer companies the possibility of contracting with a combination of parties will Option compromises between the categories of materials, as each material is recycled and 15 percent 6 accordingly, this will allow greater focus on commercial and industrial packaging.
With Europe already adopting resume laws and that no proven infrastructure to use or recycling exists for transport packaging in the United States, the implementation of such a program seems quite feasible the state current is unacceptable in terms of economic and environmental spending measures are taken to slow consider resuming our country only there two weeks ago, a conference was sponsored by Kranson Industries, one of the largest package designs, the companies development and supply in the country, to discuss innovations in the use of recycled materials.
The history of automotive recycling is one of the industry's successes and addresses many of the issues related to ring closure in durable materials produced there thirty years, this nation was facing a crisis of old cars began to fill scrap yards today, the car is one of the most recycled products in the world 7 How can such a radical transformation take place during this short period of time.
automobile recycling problems of the past were a consequence of two factors Firstly, changes in the steel manufacturing technology, in particular the transition from the open hearth oxygen furnace, reduces steel scrap request Second , rising labor costs have made the price of producing quality scrap, methods of low hand dismantling technology and separation of metal components 8 prohibitive.
Two technological developments, as well as a particular market situation, the industry has solved these problems The first breakthrough was the invention of the steel-making electric arc, a process dependent on a substantial source steel scrap the second was the development of large-scale mechanical grinding machines and magnetic separation plant 8.
These two developments, combined with an unprecedented increase in demand for all raw materials in 1972, turned the auto recycling the dream of a dear environmentalist to profitable commercial enterprise.
Although recycling of automobile continues to succeed today, the constant increase of the polymer content of the modern car see Figure 1 represents a certain threat to the auto recycling industry From the economic point of view, the increase ASR automotive shredder residue has the potential to significantly reduce the profitability of recovering automotive resources.
Figure 1 The increase in the content of the modern car source Polymeric Recycling auto conflicting objectives of the environment in a competitive market.
Currently, the only commercial option for dealing with ASR is landfilled Although the price of this sale is relatively small today, the future increase in landfill costs combined with the wider use polymers could tip the financial balance of disfavorably auto recycling mechanism see Figure 2.
Figure 2 The auto recycling mechanism Source Recycling auto conflicting objectives of the environment in a competitive market.
Another method to treat ASR pyrolysis anaerobic heating of organic constituent fluff ASR, it is possible to generate low useful quality petrochemical products, as well as ash and additional heat While pyrolysis is technically feasible, the research shown that its implementation is inhibited by the modern economy of automotive recycling potential profit from the sale of petrochemicals pyroelectric could not offset the combined costs of the acquisition of technology and procure raw materials ASR first place.
Improved beyond the recycling rate of 75 percent seems unlikely that the existing mechanisms for the recovery of automotive resources and reuse least comparable technology to the electric arc furnace is developed for the treatment RAS rate current recycling may start to decline in the coming years given the established restrictions on automobile recycling, how to take effective return policy be in the ASR reduction source to answer this question it is necessary to examine current policy initiatives in Europe, especially Germany, to face the back car.
At the consumer level, the potential of the German legislation would require the end user to acquire a certificate of assignment, proof that vehicle ownership is transferred to an authorized demolisher Automakers would be required to distribute detailed dismantling manuals to clearly label all product components manufacturers would also have installation facilities for the treatment of auto recycling and ensure that their suppliers and resume relearned materials Essentially, these measures increase the number of ASR precursors that are removed before being shredded, and thus lower the percentage of recycled automotive finishes of down.
Currently, a similar policy to take German initiatives is the only option to increase the recyclability of automotive Although research is ongoing in the separation and extraction of useful resins ASR, economic feasibility the widespread use of this technology is unlikely the same reasons as pyrolysis is not an option.
Recycling of computers and electronics is a complex process that should be supported by the manufacturers, who have the best understanding of the structure and the market value of their product that end, resume is the most recovery policy appropriate for the management of this part of the waste stream examples both in the US and Germany illustrate the potential to bring to be effective at large scale.
In the United States, Digital Equipment Corporation is taking back of computers and electronic equipment, regardless of manufacturer 9 They have set up a list of all returned items, called Idle List of active Digital DIAL The value of these items is evaluated by RRC resource recovery Center after which items are sent by one of 6R reuse, resale, refresh, Remanufacture, reclaim or recycle at present, 54 9 percent of the products used are recycled, 23 2 percent resold, and less than 1 0 percent to landfill 10 This program is functional because digital, being a company in the field of electronics, is already able to assess the value of the products and to determine what to do to dispose 9.
The complexity of the electronics can be seen in the method used by the RRC for the disposal and reuse of the recovered products printed circuit boards PCBs, CRT CRT and other complex components are separated from the plastics and metals, which are then identified and recycled 10 PCBs are being recycled using a secondary copper smelter Ninety-nine percent of copper is recovered, with 90 to 100 percent of other metals, including gold and money 11.
Due to the variation of the lead content of cathode ray tubes, it is difficult to convince a manufacturer to risk contaminating his glass CRT glass used, unless the glass back is entirely the own company produces a result, CRT glass is generally not recycled here, take return could make a big impact, but nothing is currently the lead, however, is currently being recovered, using a secondary lead smelter 12.
In Germany, a law has been passed that requires companies to take their products or implement easily accessible collection systems The law, whose most recent project was October 15, 1992, sets no goal recovery or recycling, however, requires companies to avoid and reduce waste by using more recyclable materials, designing products that can be dismantled and repaired more easily, and the search for new applications for old products 13.
The United States and Germany have adopted the concept of resume for computer and electronic waste reduction Current technology for the recycling of this waste is promising, and further research and development is being pursued is reasonable to think that in the future resume will become part of the waste management of advanced materials.
Effective resume in waste reduction and resource conservation depends on three factors of the complexity of the product; existing infrastructure; and the market economy as shown by the study of electronics and computers, resume can be very effective to deal with reclamation, reuse and recycling of complex products may also prove to be the optimal solution to reduce transport packaging waste, since none of these waste recycling infrastructure currently exists in the US on the other hand, the example of beverage containers has demonstrated the ineffectiveness of trying to force back on 'recycling infrastructure along existing streets Finally, the delicate market-oriented mechanism for the auto recycling elucidates the shortcomings of technology solutions ASR landfill such as pyrolysis and extraction, while stressing the need for a source reduction ASR by industrial takeoff back.
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