The celebration might seem funny, but the subject is not. More than 3,2 millions of old cell phones are drag in the drawers of Belgian households. Only 8% is recycled. This is really unfortunate since the devices are full of raw materials that could be re-used. Indeed, several tons of plastic and several hundred kilograms of precious metals (such as gold, silver, and palladium) could be recovered through the recycling of old cell phones.

However, despite the many campaigns on the issue, only a few Belgians bring their phones back to recycle them. According to Saar Bentein, Recupel’s spokesman, “One of the main reasons for this failure is the sentimental value given to the object. It is important for us to reinforce the general awareness on the subject. The more devices we collect, the more we can reuse their raw materials. In this way, we will have less and less need to resort to traditional mining”. In fact, always according to Recupel, even 99% of old phones’ materials can be recycled.

In this case, it has to be underlined the double importance of recycling. In fact, Saar Bentein concludes: “Urban mining is not only good for the environment, but also for society. Just think of countries like Congo, where cobalt contained in cell phones batteries is often extracted in inhumane conditions”.

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Conveniently so.

Recupel – the non-profit association that deals with the collection and the processing of discarded electronic equipment and bulbs – has conducted a research to find out more on the matter.

The main issue is that when a refrigerator or freezer is not properly disposed of, the impact on the environment is catastrophic. A refrigerator contains extremely harmful coolants and expansion gases. If those substances are not correctly processed they cause damage to the ozone hole strengthening climate warming. In terms of CO₂ emissions, a device that is not correctly recycled has the same impact of a 7 500 km car ride.

In 2018, 686 459 between refrigerators and freezers had been placed on the market. 5% of the old devices were offered a second life and are still used, while 425 612 were collected by Recupel, or one of its partners, and recycled. This means that 226 524 refrigerators and freezers went missing.

According to the law, the producers of electronic devices should collect the old products and proceed them correctly. However, the old fridges contain precious metals, such as copper, iron and aluminum. Therefore, the scrap dealers offer 15 euros to kitchen builders and electrical traders to extract those materials from the fridges and then they resell them.

“Because of this parallel network, many refrigerators disappear from the radars and are not processed correctly. This quick way of profit only makes the environment loses twice: precious raw materials are not recycled and harmful substances end up in nature”, says Peter Sabbe, CEO of Recupel.

In order to convince the retailers to cooperate with Recuper, the non-profit association has launched the “Here we recycle well” quality label. In this way, when the consumer buys a new refrigerator can know which traders he can leave his old refrigerator with confidence. “We are very happy to see that many kitchen builders and electrical traders are supporting our action,” continues Sabber. Of course, the consumer can always bring his or her old fridge into one of Recupel’s collection points.

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The 24,000 employees and 70,000 passengers who set foot in the airport every day generate about fifteen truck loads of waste every day. Plastic bottles, food waste, waste paper, etc. As many sorts of waste that do not always get put in the right bin, leading to waste not being recycled. The many foreign travellers are often not well informed about the Belgian sorting system. As for Belgian passengers, they are not always aware of the sorting possibilities outside of their homes.

« The signing of the Brussels Airport Waste Charter confirms the commitment of 25 companies and airport partners to double their efforts to prevent waste and improve sorting and recycling. This charter shows a clear commitment to significantly increase the recycling rate of all waste generated at the airport by 2023 and cut back the amount of residual waste as much as possible. This is a major challenge for the entire airport community », states Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport Company.

To achieve this goal, Fost Plus, in collaboration with Brussels Airport Company, will support each company in the development of its own action plan with concrete measures to improve waste management and educate passengers to properly sort their waste at the airport as well.

« At home, sorting has become widely accepted in most households. But once away from home, citizens sometimes tend to forget these good habits. Foreign travellers must also be informed as soon as they step onto Belgian soil, so that they can adopt the right sorting reflexes during their stay. The waste project at Brussels Airport is a model of our sorting policy outside the home. Not only are we responding to ever-increasing on-the-go consumption, but we are also aiming for an increase in waste collection and the recycling rate », confides Patrick Laevers, Managing Director of Fost Plus.

« No fewer than 76% of business waste in Flanders has a ‘second life’ through reuse and recycling. Since 1 June 2018, Flemish companies have to selectively collect waste at source in 21 different streams, including packaging and plastics. This sorting at the source is very important because it is a crucial first step to limiting residual waste, reducing CO2 emissions and adopting the circular economy. This is a strong signal from Brussels Airport Company and participating companies to demonstrate their commitment by encouraging their visitors and customers to participate in quality recycling, » declared Henny De Baets, Deputy Head of the Flemish Waste Management Agency (OVAM).

A Waste Charter with ambitious goals

On 25 June, Brussels Airport Company, Fost Plus, AB Inbev, Air Cargo Belgium, ASBO, Autogrill, Aviapartner, Brussels Airlines, Coca-Cola, DHL, Exki, Facilicom, G4S, Guapa, HRS, International Duty Free (IDF), Interparking, ISS, LSG Skychefs, Mobility Masters, OVAM, Suez, Swissport, TUI Belgium and Ziegler subscribed to the objectives of the Brussels Airport Waste Charter.

The purpose of this charter is to apply the principles of a circular economy to the largest possible extent. To this end, it is important to choose reusable and recyclable products or materials and to properly sort, reuse and recycle all waste.

All signatory airport partners have also committed to making their staff and passengers aware of how to properly sort waste. The final objective of this Waste Charter is to increase the recycling rate of waste generated at the airport to at least 50% by 2023.

Fost Plus, in collaboration with Brussels Airport Company, will conduct an audit at each signatory airport partner to map the current waste sorting organisation. Each company will then receive a tailored action plan to achieve the objectives of the Brussels Airport Waste Charter.

In the past, Brussels Airport and Fost Plus have already collaborated successfully to improve the selective collection of PMD waste (plastic bottles and flasks, metal packaging and drinks cartons) from passengers and employees, particularly by introducing more visible and clearly marked recycling bins, which has since increased from 5 to 174 tonnes.

Concrete pilot project launched in autumn

Companies are not alone in their commitment to better sorting and recycling. Brussels Airport and Fost Plus also want to educate passengers and help them sort better, because only properly sorted waste can be recycled.

Today bottles that are not completely empty often end up in the sorting bins at the security screening. Brussels Airport will place sinks before the screening lanes so that passengers can empty their bottles before disposing of them in the blue bins. This will see more plastic bottles recycled.

At the same time, Brussels Airport will encourage passengers to use as few plastic bottles as possible by offering them an alternative. The water bottle stand after security screening will now offer reusable water bottles for sale. Additional water fountains will be installed in clearly visible locations, allowing passengers to fill their reusable water bottles for free.

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The CEO of Comeos, the Belgian Federation for Commerce and Services, Dominique Michel, stated « We can not yet promise a world without packaging. But we opted for a maximum reduction and we will ensure that ultimately, all single-use packaging in our stores is recyclable, biodegradable or compostable« .

Supermarkets have committed to remove all single-use plastic fruit and vegetable bags by December. This will save 2,500 tons of plastic per year. Instead, they will be offering reusable paper, biodegradable or compostable bags.

By 2020, supermarkets will no longer apply any non-biodegradable stickers to fruit and vegetables.

Similarly, restaurant chains will stop using single-use plastic cups and instead replaced them with cardboard cups.

The European Single-Use Plastics directive is « the most comprehensive strategy in the world which adopts a material-specific lifecycle approach to tackle wasteful and damaging plastic litter and to support the vision of a smart, innovative and sustainable plastics industry ». It is expected to come into force by summer 2021 and bring an end to the use of single-use plastic cutlery, cups and straws.

The blue garbage bag will be used to sort out all plastic packaging and will be available in Belgium by 2021.

« All plastic packaging of products that you buy in our stores can then be put in the new bag blue. As a result, it is eight kilos per inhabitant per year of additional plastics that will be collected selectively and will no longer result in the bag of residual waste and incinerators, «  adds Comeos.

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The reverse vending machines are located at the Solbosch (ULB) site in Ixelles, at the Alma (UCL) site in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, and at the Place de la Monnaie in Brussels. These machines allow consumers to deposit empty cans and in return collect 5 cent vouchers, which can be used in various selected stores.

According to the study carried out by La Capitale, the pilot project appears to be performing extremely well: after just one month, nearly 40,000 cans have been recycled, including 32,000 on Place de la Monnaie (where the vending machine is located on the right-hand-side of the square, facing La Monnaie opera house). This amounts to almost €2,000 worth of vouchers offered to consumers.

The pilot project will continue for another five months, after which its overall impact will be assessed: special attention will be given at the assessment to the issue of whether the project has significantly reduced littering in public spaces.

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Cleaning the cities is a two-way street. The public authorities should implement some measures and the citizens must contribute, too.

In this framework, the Brussels-Capital region has launched a new pilot project on Monday, which involves issuing ‘premiums’ for recycled cans. But what is that?

Three public areas will be provided with special recycling machines for cans. Every time you put a can into one of those machines, you get a 5 cent voucher ticket back, which you will be able to use in Good Food shops and even in some bars.

“If there’s no bin around, people are throwing their waste on the ground. The main way to change such behaviour lies with education,” said Fadila Laanan, the state secretary for public cleanliness.

The three places where this pilot project will tried out are Solboch campus, Alma-UCL and Place de la Monnaie.

This test is scheduled to last six months. If it is successful, it might well be prolonged and extended to other areas of the Belgian capital.

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DG Environment announces the 8th Beaulieu Café on Wednesday 21st November 2018, 17:30-20:00

This Beaulieu Café discusses the impact of the European Commission’s Plastics Strategy, which was adopted in January 2018. The strategy will make recycling profitable for business, curb plastic waste, stop littering at sea, drive investment and innovation and spur change across the world. In addition, in May, new EU-wide rules have been proposed to target the 10 single-use plastic products most oſten found on Europe’s beaches and seas, as well as lost and abandoned fishing gear. Questions include how to mobilise all stakeholders and the relevant public authorities, how to stimulate alternatives in the spirit of the circular economy, and how to address the international dimension. Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella will be joined in the discussion by other prominent panel guests.

Beaulieu Café is a mini conference on environmental topics in the form of a talk show with 3 special guests and a live house band.

Moderator of the Beaulieu Café is Daniel Calleja Crespo
Director-general Environment, European Commission

Special Guests: 

• Karmenu Vella
  European Commissioner for Environment,
  Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
• Kathleen van Brempt
  Member of the European Parliament
• Karl-Heinz Foerster
  Director PlasticsEurope
• Matthieu and Quentin Witvoet
  Un tour du monde de l’économie circulaire du plastique

Entry is free upon registration

The post How to curb plastic waste: Making Plastics Circular at the 8th Beaulieu Café appeared first on Brussels Express.

Plastic Odyssey is a boat that uses plastic as fuel. The goal is to raise awareness of plastic waste and recycling. The principle is quite simple: plastic is processed to obtain diesel and gasoline. A kilogram of plastic can produce about a liter of fuel.

Simon Bernard, who is the engineer and developer of the project, explained that he sees the catamaran as an ambassador of recycling.

 

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Ulysse #sailing in #marseille @villemarseille

A post shared by Plastic Odyssey (@plasticodyssey) on Sep 18, 2018 at 6:11am PDT

The aim is not to clean the oceans of plastic.

« Once at sea, it is too late, » stated Bernard. « Only 1% of plastic waste floats on the surface, the remaining 99% breaks down into micro-particles.  The problem must be tackled at its source by collecting and recovering plastic waste before it reaches the ocean. The idea is to offer the countries which are most affected by pollution, the developing countries, recycling technologies that could be reproduced and improved, to create a network of small recycling companies ».

The departure of the 3-year expedition is set for 2020. This would be the first round-the-world expedition on a boat powered solely by plastic waste.

 

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Ce soir sur le plateau de de 28 minutes d’ @artefr, Yakana nous a offert un petit cadeau 😍

A post shared by Plastic Odyssey (@plasticodyssey) on May 25, 2018 at 11:52am PDT

If you want to support their project, check out their website.

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