| 1. |
- Finnveden, Göran, et al.
(författare)
-
Policy instruments towards a sustainable waste management
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Sustainability. - Basel : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 5:3, s. 841-881
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this paper is to suggest and discuss policy instruments that could lead towards a more sustainable waste management. The paper is based on evaluations from a large scale multi-disciplinary Swedish research program. The evaluations focus on environmental and economic impacts as well as social acceptance. The focus is on the Swedish waste management system but the results should be relevant also for other countries. Through the assessments and lessons learned during the research program we conclude that several policy instruments can be effective and possible to implement. Particularly, we put forward the following policy instruments: “Information”; “Compulsory recycling of recyclable materials”; “Weight-based waste fee in combination with information and developed recycling systems”; “Mandatory labeling of products containing hazardous chemicals”, “Advertisements on request only and other waste minimization measures”; and “Differentiated VAT and subsidies for some services”. Compulsory recycling of recyclable materials is the policy instrument that has the largest potential for decreasing the environmental impacts with the configurations studied here. The effects of the other policy instruments studied may be more limited and they typically need to be implemented in combination in order to have more significant impacts. Furthermore, policy makers need to take into account market and international aspects when implementing new instruments. In the more long term perspective, the above set of policy instruments may also need to be complemented with more transformational policy instruments that can significantly decrease the generation of waste.
|
|
| 2. |
- Ekvall, Tomas, et al.
(författare)
-
Bridging the gap between the sustainability pillars
- 2012
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A thorough assessment of the sustainability performance of a product, a system, or a decision requires expertise on environmental, economic, and social aspects. In an assessment that involves researchers from different disciplines, communication is challenging because of different background knowledge, terminology, research traditions, etc.In the research program Towards Sustainable Waste Management, a new approach to interdisciplinary interaction was tested. The program included a group of researchers on life cycle assessment (LCA) and systems analysis of waste management. To this group, specialists in national economy, environmental psychology, and ethnology were linked in various projects. In each specific research project at least 20% of the budget was allocated to a waste LCA expert, who, through participating actively in the project, would be an interpreter, a two-way bridge between the disciplines. The first purpose of this LCA expert was to interpret the sustainability questions and to help make the research relevant for the overall purpose of the research program. The second purpose was to interpret the results of the specialists’ research and to help making the results useful for the overall program.Our experience demonstrates that this set-up forces the specialists and their interpreters/bridges to face the challenge of understanding each other. Establishing such an interdisciplinary interaction requires that the researchers share a mutual interest in trying to reach understanding. However, despite this interest and despite the significant resources made available for the participation, our collaboration was restricted by the fact that it can be difficult for the specialists to find suitable tasks in their projects for the LCA expert. The chance of the interaction being successful increases if the background knowledge of the researchers in the project overlaps, if they have similar research cultures, if they share a common interest in the research questions, and/or if the disciplinary scientists are accustomed to interdisciplinary collaboration.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Ekvall, Tomas, et al.
(författare)
-
Towards Sustainable Waste Management - Popular Summary Report from a Swedish EPA Research Programme
- 2014
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of the research program Towards Sustainable Waste Management has been to assemble, develop and evaluate ideas for policy instruments for a more sustainable waste management. The waste management should contribute to reducing the environmental impact of the society, for example through reduced waste quantities and increased recycling. It should be cost-efficient and also be accepted among the public as well as other important stakeholders. Our aim was also to develop tools and methods to evaluate such instruments. For example we have developed a package of computer models to analyse the quantities of waste that can arise in the future (EMEC), how these different quantities might be treated (NatWaste), and how this can affect the environment (SWEA). The models also provide information about the cost of waste management and how the Swedish economy in general can be affected by the policy instruments. This package of models, together with our other models and methods, give us a unique capability for the assessment of new policy instruments and the analysis of complex questions on waste quantities and waste treatment. Our assessments and conclusions have a broad scientific basis. We combined the three models above with other calculations and with qualitative analysis and discussions, based on research in ethnology, psychology, economics, etc. This means that we are also able to analyze issues of acceptance and discuss how information should be designed to be effective. People often like to contribute to a good environment, through source separation, etc. However, each individual has a clear limit regarding how much effort to spend. A positive attitude towards source separation does not reach far, when the sorting of a waste fraction is considered difficult. Hence, it must be easy to do the right thing. We found that people who are not satisfied with the waste-management system are uncertain over it rather than unhappy with it. Clear information can be of great benefit, if adapted to the situation and audience, and especially when combined with other policy instruments. Besides information, we assessed fifteen other policy instruments that aim for waste prevention and increased recycling of materials:Raw materials taxTax on hazardous substancesRecycling certificatesProhibition of distribution of advertising to households that have not expressly agreed to thisReduced value added tax (VAT) on servicesNegative labeling of products with hazardous substancesRequirements for companies to work on waste minimizationImproved surveillance by authoritiesWeight-based waste-collection feeEnvironmentally differentiated waste-collection feeConsumer-friendly waste collection systemsClimate Tax on incineration of waste with fossil originWeight-based tax on incineration of wasteGreen electricity certificates for waste incinerationObligation to recycle recyclable materialsOf these, the obligation to recycle recyclables seems to provide the greatest environmental benefit. A weight-based waste fee also results in increased source separation and recycling. Raw material taxes and recycling certificates aim at stimulating or requiring a demand for recycled materials. The introduction of such instruments in a single country like Sweden has a small effect on the total recycling of the materials, partly because the supply of recycled material is insensitive to changes in the market. Reducing VAT on services helps to shift consumption away from goods to services. This reduces the quantity of waste per consumed Euro. The quantity of paper waste in the households is reduced if the distribution of advertising is prohibited to households that have not expressly agreed to this. The waste quantity can also be reduced through demanding waste-minimization plans or similar in companies and through improved surveillance of the companies by authorities. We expect each of these instruments to affect the waste quantity with a few percent or less, but together they can still have a significant effect. Some instruments are complementary and therefore good to combine. It is, for example, a good idea to combine the weight-based waste-collection fee with consumer-friendly collection and information, because this reduces the risk that households dispose of their waste illegally. Information can be a powerful tool if it is combined with other instruments, but isolated it is difficult to get it effective. In Towards Sustainable Waste Management we evaluated one or two versions of each instrument. Our studies in addition gave ideas for new versions of some of the investigated instruments and also ideas for completely new instruments. A substantial tax on the use of materials could, for example, lead to increased material efficiency in industry. Support to repairing services could extend the life of certain products and thus reduce the waste quantity. Allowing temporary landfill or storage of plastic waste that cannot be recycled could reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Well established tools like deposit systems and the landfill tax could be expanded to include more products and waste fractions. Further research or investigations are needed both on these new ideas about the instruments we have studied, to determine whether – and if so, how – they are inserted into practice. Among the instruments in place today, and also among the possible policy instruments that we have studied, there are a few that greatly affect the treatment of waste. Examples include landfill bans, the extended producer responsibility, and the obligation to recycle recyclables. However, it is more difficult to find instruments that drastically can reduce the waste quantity. This quantity seems to be decided mainly by the economic and technological development in the society, and by consumption patterns and the lifestyle of the citizens. To find policy instruments that can greatly reduce the quantity of waste we need further innovation in this area. The results from the research program have been published in more reports, scientific articles, etc., many of them in English. Visit our website www.sustainablewaste.info for a full list of publications.
|
|
| 5. |
- Ekvall, Tomas, et al.
(författare)
-
What life-cycle assessment does and does not do in assessments of waste management
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Waste Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0956-053X .- 1879-2456. ; 27:8, s. 989-996
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In assessments of the environmental impacts of waste management, life-cycle assessment (LCA) helps expanding the perspective beyond the waste management system. This is important, since the indirect environmental impacts caused by surrounding systems, such as energy and material production, often override the direct impacts of the waste management system itself. However, the applicability of LCA for waste management planning and policy-making is restricted by certain limitations, some of which are characteristics inherent to LCA methodology as such, and some of which are relevant specifically in the context of waste management. Several of them are relevant also for other types of systems analysis. We have identified and discussed such characteristics with regard to how they may restrict the applicability of LCA in the context of waste management. Efforts to improve LCA with regard to these aspects are also described. We also identify what other tools are available for investigating issues that cannot be adequately dealt with by traditional LCA models, and discuss whether LCA methodology should be expanded rather than complemented by other tools to increase its scope and applicability.
|
|
| 6. |
- Eriksson, Ola, et al.
(författare)
-
How model-based systems analysis can be improved for waste management planning
- 2003
-
Ingår i: Waste Management & Research. - 0734-242X .- 1096-3669. ; 21:6, s. 488-500
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Waste management models have been developed worldwide since the late 1960s. The overall aim of the models is to assist decision makers who are facing a complex task in order to handle waste in a cost-efficient and environmentally sound way. International research publications regarding waste management models point out the major benefits to be their capacity to deal with complexity and uncertainty and of finding benefits of co-operation and handling different goals. Such models have been developed and used successfully in Swedish research projects since the beginning of the 1990s, but the current situation is that such models are rarely requested for waste management planning in the country. Based on case studies (with the waste management models MIMES/Waste and ORWARE) in the Swedish municipality of Jönköping and a follow-up study, the paper discusses and draws conclusions on how to improve and increase the use of models to better correspond to the needs of decision makers involved in waste management planning.
|
|
| 7. |
- Eriksson, Ola, et al.
(författare)
-
Life cycle assessment of fuels for district heating : A comparison of waste incineration, biomass- and natural gas combustion
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Energy Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-4215 .- 1873-6777. ; 35:2, s. 1346-1362
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) is to compare district heating based on waste incineration with combustion of biomass or natural gas. The study comprises two options for energy recovery (combined heat and power (CHP) or heat only), two alternatives for external, marginal electricity generation (fossil lean or intense), and two alternatives for the alternative waste management (landfill disposal or material recovery). A secondary objective was to test a combination of dynamic energy system modelling and LCA by combining the concept of complex marginal electricity production in a static, environmental systems analysis. Furthermore, we wanted to increase the methodological knowledge about how waste can be environmentally compared to other fuels in district-heat production. The results indicate that combustion of biofuel in a CHP is environmentally favourable and robust with respect to the avoided type of electricity and waste management. Waste incineration is often (but not always) the preferable choice when incineration substitutes landfill disposal of waste. It is however, never the best choice (and often the worst) when incineration substitutes recycling. A natural gas fired CHP is an alternative of interest if marginal electricity has a high fossil content. However, if the marginal electricity is mainly based on non-fossil sources, natural gas is in general worse than biofuels.
|
|
| 8. |
- Finnveden, Göran, 1961-, et al.
(författare)
-
Regeringen måste satsa på resurseffektivt samhälle
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Dagens nyheter. - : AB Dagens nyheter. - 1101-2447. ; :2013-04-01
-
Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Regeringen förbereder en avfallspolitisk proposition. Den kommer förhoppningsvis att klargöra vem som ska ha ansvaret att samla in våra förpackningar. Men fokus borde också ligga på hur vi kan gå mot ett samhälle där resurser används så effektivt som möjligt, skriver forskare på miljöområdet.
|
|
| 9. |
- Ljunggren Söderman, Maria, 1967, et al.
(författare)
-
Integrated Economic and Environmental Assessment of Waste Policy Instruments
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Sustainability. - : MDPI AG. - 2071-1050. ; 8:5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The need for new policy instruments supporting the on-going transition from end-of-pipe waste treatment to resource management has been recognized in European policy. Instruments need to be carefully assessed before implementation to promote the desired changes and avoid problem shifting. Mathematical models may assist policy makers in such assessments. This paper presents a set of soft-linked models for assessing the economic and environmental impacts of policy instruments for both the prevention and management of waste and discusses its strengths and limitations. Consisting of (1) a macro-economic model, (2) a systems engineering model for waste management and (3) a life cycle assessment model for waste management, the set is primarily suited to assessing market-based instruments and environmental regulations. Considerable resources were needed for developing and using the set, and there are clear limits as to what can be addressed. However, if only one of the models had been used, neither the range of instruments nor the scope of impacts would have been possible to cover. Furthermore, soft-linked models allow many disciplines to contribute within one harmonized framework. Such integrated assessments may become increasingly useful for continuing the implementation of policy for sustainable governance of society's material resources.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
