The Plastic Bags story, Italy Buenos Aires June 21-22, 2011 David Newman Managing Director CIC Managing Director ATIA-ISWA ITALIA General Assobioplastiche Secretary 1
Presentation Outline An overview of residential organics collection programs and composting in Italy Italy s national plastic bag ban and the exemption of compostable shopping bags The case study of the retail chain COOP Conclusions 2
Collecting organic waste in Europe: main legal drivers 1. The revised WFD 1 requires Member States to: Take measures to encourage the separate collection of biowaste for composting and AD. Recycle 50% of all waste from households by 2020 2. The Landfill Directive 2 requires Member States to: Divert from landfill 65% of biowaste by 2016 Pretreat all waste before landfilling 1 Directive 2008/98/EC 2 Directive 99/31/EC 3
Collecting organic waste in Italy: main legal drivers 1. The general environmental Act 152/2006 1 requires to source segregate 65% of all MSW by the end of 2012 2. The Act 205/10 2 requires waste authorities to: Collect organics in compostable bags certified according EN13432 WHY? BECAUSE PLASTICS CONTAMINATE COMPOST. IN 2009 c.150,000 T PLASTIC FOUND IN ORGANIC WASTE STREAMS A PREVENTION STRATEGY! Take measures to encourage SSO within 180 days from the date of entry into force of this Act (dec 2010) 3. The Law 296/06 3 mandates the ban of non compostable carrier bags and has come into force since 2011/1/1 1 D.Lgs 152/2006 2 4 D.Lgs 205/2010 3 Legge 296/06
MSW source separation in italy Separate collection: trend 2004-2008 Metric tonnes * 1,000 Organics Paper Glass Plastics Metals Wood EEW Bulky waste Textiles Hazardous h.h. waste Other Source: ISPRA Waste report 2009 5
Composting in italy Composting of source separated feedstocks in 2008 Tonnes North Center South Italy Potential Treated (municipal) Treated (other e.g. biosolids) Source: ISPRA Waste report 2009 6
Composting in italy Type of feedstocks composted or digested in 2008 Biosolids Other feedstocks Food Waste Yard waste Source: ISPRA Waste report 2009 7
SSO programs in italy Evolution of SSO programs In 2010: Number of municipalities 2,000 Municipalities = 20 Million people = 35% of total population 1994 2001 2005 2006 2007 2008 Source: CIC 2010 (Italian Composting Council) 8
SSO programs in italy How does the collection system work? Kitchen bin Outdoor bins 30 to 40 lt (8 to 10 US gallon) for single households 120 to 240 lt (30 to 65 US gallon) for multifamily buildings 9
SSO programs in italy Quality of the collected food waste Type of bags used: compostable Vs. non compostable 12
SSO programs in italy Purity of the collected food waste Contamination % between 10% and 15% < 5% contaminants between 5% and 10% 1036 analyses in 14 facilities and 42 provinces (december 2008 july 2010) Source: CIC, Italian Composting Council 13
SSO programs in italy Purity of the collected food waste Average composition of non compostable contaminants Cost of eliminating plastics c. 30 million/year Other plastics 15% Metals 5% Other (nappies) 20% Plastic packaging 30% PE bags 30% 1036 analyses in 14 facilities and 42 provinces (december 2008 july 2010) Source: CIC, Italian Composting Council 14
The problem with plastic bags 1.000.000 bags are made every minute, about 500 to 1000 billion a year Europe alone consumes 100 billion plastic bags/year, about 1.000.000 tons EU production consumes 700.000 ton petrol/year Italy produces and consumes 260.000 t/year being about 25% of all EU consumption 15
They are good for incineration- come from 16 petrol. PE plastic bags are strong, resistant, easy to manufacture, easy to print, compact, easy to transport, durable in time. They do not degrade easily!
In Italy 80.000 tons are not recycled or sent to incineration They Are durable and do not degrade in the environment or in water Are difficult to collect and recycle. Are CO2 intensive- 1.400.000 ton/year in Europe alone Cause death by choking of marine and birdlife. 17
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The national plastic bag ban The Law 296/06 banning single use plastic bags has been enacted since 1 st January 2011 Main objectives: Prevent plastic waste generation Promote reusable bags Reduce contamination of organics 19
Why were compostable bags exempted? Main goals: back up option that allows for a smoother transition to reusable bags reduce contamination in SSO programs increase participation in SSO programs allow cost savings to local authorities allow cost savings to composting facilities 20
Players involved Citizens Involvement Education Motivation Retailers Communication Service Marketing Pubblic Authorities Education Quality of SSO Cost of SSO W.M. companies Landfill diversion Disposal cost Compost quality 21
The retail sector: the experience of Coop Network of 9 large cooperatives 1,440+ stores in 2010 About 60.000 jobs 12 Bln in 2009 17.8% market share in 2009 22
The experience of UNICOOP Firenze 100+ stores in Tuscany MKT share of 35% in Tuscany, 2 Bln May 29 2009: complete phase out of PE bags and move to reusable bags + Mater-Bi bags After COOP Firenze the other cooperatives have followed suit 23
The retail sector: the experience of Coop Questionaire to local citizens What kind of bag do you generally use to do shopping? 4% 7% Reusable bag 31% 58% Mater-Bi compostable bag Single use PE bag Other 24
The retail sector: the experience of Coop What kind of bag do you generally use to collect organics? 24% 7% 4% PE waste bag PE carrier bag Mater-Bi food waste bag 13% 12% 40% Mater-Bi shopping bag Other Don't collect organics 25
The retail sector: the experience of Coop What kind of bag do you generally use to collect residual waste? 7% 2% 2% 17% PE shopping bag PE waste bag Mater-Bi shopping bag Mater-Bi waste bag Other 72% 26
The retail sector: the experience of Coop Are you aware of the plastic bag ban on 1st of Jan 2011? 38% 62% YES NO 27
The retail sector: the experience of Coop Do you agree on the plastic bag ban? 3% 6% YES NO DON'T KNOW 91% 28
And Oxo Degradable Plastics? The January 2010 DEFRA report concludes: The overall conclusion of this review is that incorporation of additives into petroleum-based plastics that cause those plastics to undergo accelerated degradation does not improve their environmental impact and potentially gives rise to certain negative effects. The length of time to degradation of oxo-degradable plastic cannot be predicted accurately because it depends so much on the environmental conditions. It is suggested that oxo-degradable plastics left in the open environment in the UK degrade to small fragments in 2 to 5 years. 29
It is thought that labelling the oxo-degradable plastics as biodegradable may lead to confusion on the part of the consumer and possible contamination of the composting wastestream with oxo-degradable plastics. Oxo-degradable plastics are not suitable for recycling with main-stream plastics. Life cycle analysis suggests that the best means of disposal for oxo-degradable plastics is incineration. If incineration is not available then landfill is the next best option. 30
Conclusions 1. Italy has well developed SSO programs at regional level 2. Some programs perform very well, others have strong contamination issues 3. PE bags are part of the problem 4. The recently enforced PE carrier bag ban shall bring benefits in terms of waste reduction 5. By exempting compostable bags it will 31
If you want to know more about how Italians do it better come to our annual Trade Fair in Rimini, the second largest in Europe, November 9 to 12 2011 http://en.ecomondo.com/brochure Also attend ISWA events, www.iswa.org and become an environmental activist. 32