Best Environmental Management Practice for the Waste Management Sector

The way communities generate and manage their waste plays an absolutely key role in their ability to use resources efficiently. While making European economy more resource efficient and circular requires a large spectrum of actions, a huge potential for saving resources lays in improving waste management at local level in Europe. On the basis of an in-depth analysis of the actions implemented by frontrunner organisations in the waste management sector, this report describes a set of best practices with high potential for broad uptake. They are called Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs) and aim to help local authorities in charge of waste management and waste management companies move towards circular economy. The BEMPs, identified in close cooperation with a technical working group comprising experts from the sector, cover the waste management areas which determine the most the overall waste management performance: setting a waste management strategy, promoting waste prevention, establishing an efficient waste collection that supports re-use and recycling, and stimulating waste and product re-use. Certain areas of waste treatment are also covered. The BEMPs address mainly the management of municipal solid waste, but also of construction and demolition waste and healthcare waste. Additionally, the report provides a set of environmental performance indicators that organisations can use to assess their waste management performance and monitor progress as well as benchmarks of excellence that give an indication of the levels achieved by best performers. The report presents a wide range of information (environmental benefits, economics, case studies, references, etc.) for each of the best practices and aims to provide inspiration and guidance to organisations of the sector. In addition, the report will be the technical basis for the development of an EMAS (EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) Sectoral Reference Document on Best Environmental Management Practice for the Waste Management sector according to Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 (EMAS Regulation).JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Best Environmental Management Practice for the Car Manufacturing Sector Learning from frontrunners

The European automotive industry is one of the EU's largest manufacturing sectors, and the automotive value chain covers many activities largely carried out within the EU, such as design and engineering, manufacturing, maintenance and repair, and end-of-life vehicle (ELV) handling. This Best Practice report describes Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs), i.e. techniques, measures or actions that are implemented by the organisations within the sector which are most advanced in terms of environmental performance in areas such as energy and resource efficiency, emissions, or supply chain management. The BEMPs provide inspirational examples for any organisation within the sector to improve its environmental performance. The report firstly outlines technical information on the contribution of car manufacturing and end-of-life vehicle (ELV) handling to key environmental burdens in the EU, alongside data on the economic relevance of the sector. The second chapter presents best environmental management practice of interest primarily for manufacturing companies (car manufacturers and associated manufacturers in the supply chain) covering cross-cutting issues related to key environmental impacts (such as energy, waste, water management, or biodiversity) before exploring best practice linked to specific topics, such as supply chain management. Subsequently, specific information concerning actors in the treatment of end-of-life vehicles is presented in the third chapter, focussing in particular on best practice applicable to processers of ELVs. This Best Practice Report was developed with support from a Technical Working Group of experts from the car manufacturing and ELV sector and associated fields. The report gives a wide range of information (environmental benefits, economics, indicators, benchmarks, references, etc.) for each of the proposed best practices in order to be a source of inspiration and guidance for any company of the sector wishing to improve environmental performance. In addition, it will be the technical basis for a Sectoral Reference Document on the car manufacturing sector, to be produced by the European Commission according to the EMAS Regulation.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Evolution comparée de la consommation de médicaments dans les 5 pays européens entre 2000 et 2004 : analyse de 7 classes pharmaco-thérapeutiques

The drug consumption level in France is often considered as being one of the most important in Europe. This study aims at confirming this assertion over the period 2000-2004 by comparing drug consumption in Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United-Kingdom. The results show that in 2004 drug consumption in France was no more the biggest for all the seven studied classes. Moreover, the consumption levels of the five countries have converged between 2000 and 2004, as well as the consumption structures.Defined Daily Dose (DDD); Drug Consumption; European Comparative Analysis

Impacts of the collection and treatment of dry recyclables

This study focuses on the separation, collection and subsequent management of the dry recyclable fractions (i.e. beverage cartons, glass, metal, paper and cardboard, and plastic) of municipal waste in the EU-27. The goal of the study is to recommend compliant/noncompliant and, in general, best commingling practices for the separate collection of dry recyclables in view of the obligations set by the EU Waste Framework Directive and its upcoming revision. To this end, the study first identifies the most relevant collection and commingling practices for dry recyclables around the EU-27 and subsequently assesses the environmental and economic impacts of 65 different management practices with a view to providing evidence-based recommendations for the interpretation and, ultimately, revision of the EU Waste Framework Directive, with a special focus on the derogations from a strict separate collection of the recyclables. The results indicate that single-stream collection (commingling all dry recyclables together) incurs detrimental environmental and economic effects and should be avoided. Systems with three or four streams achieve comparable environmental and economic performances and are recommended, together with selected dual-stream systems where glass, metal and plastic are commingled, while paper and cardboard are collected in a separate stream or commingled with beverage cartons. There is no evidence that four-stream systems are better than three-stream systems or dual-stream systems when paper and cardboard are kept separate from the other light dry recyclables, suggesting that some degree of commingling can be safely accepted and even recommended in view of the potential benefits of reducing the overall number of streams collected (costs, space, convenience), although these were not assessed quantitatively in this study.JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Sustainable Industr

Best Environmental Management Practice for the Public Administration Sector

This report describes best environmental management practices for public administrations. Best environmental management practices are those techniques, measures and actions that can be implemented by public administrations to minimise their direct and indirect impact on the environment. They were identified together with sectoral experts on the basis of practices actually implemented by environmental frontrunners. The report outlines best practices applicable to all types of public administrations, such as making office buildings more environmentally sustainable, minimising the impacts of meetings and events organised, promoting sustainable commuting and business travel, or adopting green public procurement. Additionally, the report focuses on local authorities, which are the public administrations in highest number within the EU and also where there is the largest potential for replicability of best practices. It identifies best practices that ecompass their policy/regulatory/planning role as well as their role in providing key services to residents in the fields of sustainable energy and climate change, mobility, local ambient air quality, land use, water supply and municipal waste water treatment, noise pollution, green urban areas, green public procurement and environmental education and dissemination of information to citizen and businesses. Alongside best environmental management practices, the report also identifies suitable sector specific environmental performance indicators that can be used to measure and track performance in the areas addressed by each best practice, and, when possible, benchmarks of excellence, corresponding to the level of performance achieved by frontrunners. This report can be used by public administrations as a source of information to identify relevant actions they can implement to improve their environmental performance. This report was also the basis for the development of the EMAS (EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) Sectoral Reference Document on Best Environmental Management Practice for the public administration sector (according to Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009).JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Setting the scene for harmonised waste-sorting labels in the European Union

The provisionally agreed (as of June 2024) packaging and packaging waste regulation requires EU Member States to implement harmonised waste-sorting labels. Applied to both packaging and receptacles, the labels will contain information on the material composition of the former, using pictograms and, optionally, QR codes, considering specificities of the collection systems established in the Member States. To inform the evidence based design and empirical testing of such labels, this report derives pertinent insights from an analysis of various streams of evidence: (1) packaging waste statistics in the EU, (2) an analysis of mainly Member-State specific waste-sorting labels that developed in the absence of harmonisation efforts, (3) waste-related consumer attitudes, (4) insights from an online survey of professional waste stakeholders and (5) conceptual reflections on harmonised waste-sorting labels, based on a thorough understanding of the behavioural process underlying waste-sorting behaviour, recognising the influence of waste-sorting labels and acknowledging heterogeneities of EU citizens. This report outlines a potential conceptual structure for a harmonised labelling scheme accommodating various separate waste collection schemes and dynamic changes in the granularity of separate waste collection, materials and receptacles over time. According to the provisionally agreed regulation, labels identifying materials instead of waste destinations appear more suitable as a prototype for harmonised EU labels. Contextual information, caveats about the data used and a list of open questions to be answered in future work are presented. The insights gathered in this report will benefit ongoing and future work conducted to develop harmonised EU waste-sorting labels.JRC.S.1 - EU Policy Lab: Foresight, Design & Behavioural Insight

Best Environmental Management Practice in the Fabricated Metal Product manufacturing sector

This report encloses technical information pertinent to the development of Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs) for the Sectoral Reference Document on the Fabricated Metal Products manufacturing sector, to be produced by the European Commission according to Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 (EMAS Regulation). The BEMPs, both of technological and management nature (identified in close cooperation with a technical working group) address all the relevant environmental aspects of the Fabricated Metal Products manufacturing facilities. The BEMPs described in this report provide guidance on the cross-cutting issues and optimisation of utilities of the manufacturing facilities. Moreover, the BEMPs cover also the most relevant manufacturing processes, looking at energy and material efficiency, protecting and enhancing biodiversity, using of renewable energy and using rationally and effectively chemicals e.g. for cooling of various machining processes. Each BEMP gives a wide range of information and outlines the achieved environmental benefits, appropriate environmental performance indicators to measure environmental performance against the proposed benchmarks of excellence, economics etc. aiming at giving inspiration and guidance to any company of the sector who wishes to improve its environmental performance.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Technical recommendations on packaging categories to support the design for recycling assessment of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation Proposal

The aim of this study is to develop technical recommendations for a possible amendment of Table 1 – Annex II of the EC proposal for a Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, to support the co-decision process. The main objective is to consider reducing the number of packaging categories referred to in Article 6 of the Regulation. To this end, the feasibility of aggregating some of the packaging categories has been assessed. The methodological approach followed was based on a statistical analysis to quantify similarities across selected categories. The data used as basis for the analysis have been retrieved from available design for recycling guidelines and from evidence submitted by experts in a written stakeholder consultation. The analysis was complemented by a critical appraisal of results, thereby also accounting for evidence received by stakeholders. The proposal also includes recommendations on possible integration of missing packaging categories or formats in Table 1 of Annex II. The study led to the recommendation to reduce the number of packaging categories from 30 to 22, by merging mono-material and composite packaging for glass, steel and aluminium (distinguishing between rigid and semi-rigid or flexible aluminium packaging); plastic packaging categories that differed only by colour; and PS and XPS plastic packaging. A new category for biodegradable plastic packaging is proposed to be added to the table.JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Sustainable Industr

Technical recommendations on possible elements and parameters of a methodology to assess recyclability of packaging in the framework of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation Proposal

The aim of this study is to develop technical recommendations for possible elements and parameters of a methodology to assess recyclability of packaging, referred to in Article 6 of the EC proposal for a Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, to support the co-decision process. The main objective is to identify relevant functionalities of the packaging materials (listed in Table 1 of Annex II of the proposal) that could be considered in a design-for-recycling (DfR) methodology. A mapping exercise of available DfR guidelines was carried out to build up an extensive database for each packaging material. The outcomes of this study are based on data and evidence provided by experts in the written stakeholder consultation. The proposal consists of a list of elements and parameters, a detailed description of each parameter and the relevance for recyclability.JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Sustainable Industr

Separate collection of municipal waste: citizens’ involvement and behavioural aspects

Municipal solid waste management systems vary greatly across Europe. However, due to the Waste Framework Directive and the Circular Economy Action Plan, they share the common goal of increasing recycling. The first step towards increasing the recycling of valuable materials (e.g. glass, plastic, metal, paper) is to implement a successful separate waste collection (SWC) system. Citizens’ behaviour plays a key role in separate collection. Thus, it is important to understand the main behavioural factors of waste sorting and how they can be encouraged. This study presents the main findings of a literature review focused on identifying and classifying the factors underlying SWC. Along with the literature review, various stakeholders participated in a survey to identify the factors influencing SWC. We discuss factors affecting whether people are motivated, capable and perceive the right opportunities to sort their waste. These factors allow for a much more detailed understanding of consumer waste sorting than socio-demographic characteristics. However, some factors might be more or less relevant depending on the countries.JRC.D.3 - Land Resource