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Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Nadine De Greef I am the Secretary General of FEAD, the European Federation of Waste Management and Environmental Services. I would like to thank the organisers for their kind invitation to participate here as one of the speakers. The purpose of my presentation today is to have a look at business opportunities in dealing with waste in the context of a circular economy. At the end I’d be happy to answer any of your questions. 2
Let me begin by briefly introducing FEAD which is the European Federation representing the European waste management industry. FEAD’s members are national waste management associations covering 18 EU Member States, Norway and Serbia. They have an approximate 60% share in the household waste market and handle more than 75% of industrial and commercial waste in Europe. Their combined annual turnover is approximately € 75 billion. FEAD represents about 3,000 companies with activities in all forms of waste management. These companies employ over 320,000 people who operate around 2,400 recycling and sorting centres, 1,100 composting sites, 260 waste-to-energy plants and 900 controlled landfills. They play an important role in the determination of the best environmental option for waste management problems. 3
Going straight to the point, my presentation today comprises 2 key sections: First of all, I will explain the important role that the private waste management sector plays in a Circular Economy. And then I will focus on how do we build a circular economy, by highlighting the actions needed to help the circular economy lift off. 4
The European Union has put forward the ambitious goal of transforming Europe into a recycling society, where waste becomes a resource. This is indeed one of the most important challenges of our time and it has been reflected in the European Commission’s Circular Economy Package . Each year, the EU disposes of € 5.25 billion worth of recyclables such as paper, glass, plastics, aluminium and steel. If these were recycled, the equivalent of 148 million tonnes of CO2 emissions could be avoided annually. At least 500 000 new jobs would be created in Europe if countries recycled 70% of their waste. (*) Therefore, the proposed ambituous recycling rates in the Circular Economy Package are expected to not only reduce the impact on the environment (less harmful emissions), they will also pay of in new jobs, more secondary raw materials for the economy and more resilience towards the EU’s dependency on imports of raw materials. It has to be stressed that we are talking about a „circular economy “ and economy means private sector engagement. Strong and reliable targets create the framework which is necessary for undertakings to invest. An innovative and modern value chain can only be realized with private waste management companies. (*) [More jobs, less waste. Potential for job creation through higher rates of recycling in the UK and EU - Report by Friends of the Earth,2010] . 5
In his recent speech, Commissioner Janez Potocnik said: “It is pretty obvious that the private sector must be at the centre of any transition to a resource efficient and circular economy. It is companies’ creativity and innovation that determine what technologies and systems we will use tomorrow; companies’ product design choices that determine the features of products.” And we agree - the waste and resources industry will play a key role in the transition to a circular economy. Our expertise can help redesign supply chains to maximize material recovery and the economy’s resilience to the resource crunch of the future. 6
Our industry provides the infrastructure and logistics to collect materials at the end of use stage and to process and return them to the economy as secondary resources. These secondary resources will heat our homes, power our business, fuel our vehicles, and, above all, provide valuable raw materials for our industries. Following increased prices for raw materials and their price volatility, industry companies will more and more rely upon alternative resources. A recent study of the World Economic Forum (2014 “Towards the Circular Economy”) shows that ambitious recycling targets lead to an EU-wide potential of yearly savings of material usages for consumer goods - with an average life span – amounting to 340-380 billion USD. 7
We believe however that the circular economy can only be built if all parts of the supply chain work together. Did you know that 80% of the environmental impact of products is determined at the design stage? (*) By providing expertise and early input at the design stage of products, the waste and resources sector helps to ensure that all products and their packaging are designed to be easily reused, dismantled and recycled. The use of difficult to recycle composite materials is minimized. Designers will aim to use as much recycled material as possible in their products, as a substitute for virgin raw materials. Manufacturers seek to maximize their resource efficiency, thereby minimizing their own waste production. Closed loop is therefore not only an environmental agenda but a business sustainability agenda. Quote. “Increasing global price volatility for resources means that business that are sustainable need to be looking at how they can control the costs of their materials through the recovery of materials.” (*) Source: German Federal environment Agency. 8
How do we build a circular economy? Action is needed in 5 areas to help the circular economy lift off: Designing products, for dismantling/recycling operations or for incorporation of recycled materials Optimizing collection systems , both for households and businesses, to maximize the recovery of quality material streams Incentivsing the uptake of recyclates amongst manufacturers which, too often, have established supply chains for primary commodity inputs. Creating resilient markets for recyclates which the risk along the management chain. Today, recyclate markets tend to follow primary commodity markets but feedstock volumes and price swings are far more volatile. Providing a stable policy framework, to remove the current layer of political risk to circular economy investments – such as in processing infrastructure In Germany, for example, private recycling companies have invested a two-digit billion amount in modern recycling technology. More than 90% of existing recycling installations in Germany are in private hands. Today, waste recycling substitutes import of raw materials by the Germany industry amounting to 12 billion € yearly. 9
Consequently, the secondary raw materials deliver about 14% of all resources used in Germany (45% for steel, > 70% for paper and 94% for glas). At European level, the circular economy package (recycling target of 70% for MSW by 2020, recycling target of 80% for P&PW by 2030) would lead to cost savings for raw materials amounting to 600 billion euros. 9
Europe needs sustainable economic growth to deliver jobs and prosperity while dealing with climate change, other environmental challenges and growing resource scarcity. Re- use, recycling and recovery of waste can make a major contribution to Europe’s economic and environmental objectives. As the private sector is driven by competition, it naturally and continuously seeks to improve its performance and productivity with internal benchmarking and use of best practices. The private waste and resources industry has developed into a service that plays a vital role in achieving a circular economy. The waste management sector looks forward to contributing significantly to the further development of Europe into an innovative recycling society and hence into the most resource-efficient continent in the world. As demonstrated, the waste management sector is an important eco-industry in reaching this goal . Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very much for your attention! I’ll be glad to answer any question you may have. 10
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