Commercial and Industrial Waste and Selected Wasteflows 2. Background2.1 Waste - efforts to date 2.1 Waste - efforts to dateWaste is everything we throw away, originating from industrial production or from household products we purchase daily. It includes everything from waste oil and building waste to electrical and electronic products, packaging, matrasses, food waste, and much, much more. 11 million tonnes of waste each year No matter whether the problem is hazardous waste, environmental contaminants, or merely that measures must ensure that waste is not dumped just anywhere, problems will become easier to solve the smaller amount of waste. Moreover, minimising waste and enhancing recycling contribute to saving resources. For the above reasons, the generation and disposal of waste are major issues in the debate on environmental policy. Both nationally and internationally there are demands for minimising amounts of waste, increased recycling, better energy utilisation, and environmentally acceptable final disposal of what waste remains. Extensive regulation of waste Reduce the amount of waste, avoid landfilling and promote recycling In a large number of areas, efforts have produced good results. Focus has been on the large homogenous waste flows and treatment of hazardous waste. In contrast, there has been less focus on waste flows which contain environmental contaminants which after incineration are concentrated in slags and in flue-gas cleaning products, or which are deposited. Need for a special strategy for commercial and industrial waste In December 1996, a new Statutory Order was issued on the use of waste products in agriculture, particularly with respect to sludge. Further initiatives relating to sludge are not proposed in the current strategy. As described in the introduction, the Environmental Protection Agency is currently working on three Position Papers which should be considered in relation to these efforts on commercial and industrial waste. At the end of 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency presented the Position Papers Chemicals - Status and Perspectives and Intensified Product-oriented Environmental Action. With respect to special effort for commercial and industrial waste, these Position Papers are important tools in preventive work where source-tracing and limitation are important elements. Chemicals - Status and Perspectives The list is an important tool in identifying substances which cause problems in waste and should therefore be used in the initial work in developing clean technologies, and in substituting environmental contaminants with less contaminating substances. Intensified Product-oriented Environmental Action With the introduction of clean technology and the substitution of environmental contaminants with less contaminating substances, action is taken at source, i.e. during the production phase. However, these efforts will only show an effect in the long-term. For example, it takes a long time to establish clean technology and substitution in all phases, in addition the lifetime of the product is decisive in determining when it is to be found in the waste-flow. Efforts at source will therefore not be measurable in waste for several decades. Clean technology and substitution therefore do not solve the immediate environmental problems facing us today with respect to waste. 2.2. Commercial and industrial waste - need for intensified effortsA more narrow interpretation of commercial and industrial waste is waste from manufacturing enterprises, trade and offices, institutions, as well as building and construction waste. In addition to commercial and industrial waste itself, for environmental and resource considerations, it is also important to include residues from coal-fired power stations and waste-incineration plants. Characteristic features of commercial and industrial waste
The ban on landfilling waste suitable for incineration which took effect from 1 January 1997 is expected to result in a reduction in the amount of commercial and industrial waste landfilled by industry, trade, offices and institutions, but it is not sufficient to achieve the objectives for the year 2000. Continued need for less waste and increased recycling Residues from incineration plants contain a broad spectrum of chemical substances and raw material resources, part of which is not renewable. Amongst the resources which cannot be renewed are environmental contaminating heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, nickel etc. Concentrations of environmental contaminants in residues are at such a level that already now they are making the reuse of slag problematic, because a number of salts and metals can be washed out and thus constitute a health hazard and a risk of contaminating ground water. In accordance with the general principles of environmental protection, it is necessary to concentrate efforts on the environmental burden of waste, including residues and hazardous waste. At the same time, it is necessary to concentrate on efforts for the optimal exploitation of energy and raw material resources contained in waste. Furthermore, consideration should be given to possibilities for recovering raw material resources. In short, there is a need for a commercial and industrial waste strategy which surveys:
2.3 The environmental spaceEffective utilisation of resources in generation, consumption, and waste disposal is crucial for ensuring that there are sufficient resources for future generations. Effective utilisation of resources in waste, limits the demands on natural resources and thus offers greater consumption opportunities. Allocation and environmental dimensions When setting objectives and strategies which influence consumption and the utilisation of the resources available, it is important that a basis is created for development, which in the long term will fulfil the criteria which are fundamental to the environmental space. Objectives and strategies must, on the one hand, be realistic, and, on the other hand, sufficiently rapid to avoid collapse in terms of resources and ecology. Focus on resources which are not renewable For renewable resources, it is necessary to ensure a balance between growth and consumption. Halving the extraction of resources Need for an active waste and recycling policy
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