Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) has released a policy briefing which highlights the importance of defining a new strategy for managing residual waste that corresponds with the requirements of the age of climate emergency that we are living in. The report defines an approach based on Material Recovery and Biological Treatment as a bridge strategy for managing “residuals” within a circular economy.
The current over-reliance on incineration has contributed to a lock-in effect in waste management systems which prevents proper recycling and makes climate change worse. This practice also undermines the efforts of the European Union, which seeks to decarbonise the economies of Member States. “We need MRBT as a “bridge strategy” for residuals while we work on maximising separate collection and reducing waste: the strategy must consider options for managing residual waste aligned with requirements of the EU Landfill Directive, and should minimise the climate impacts; at the same time, it must keep the system adaptable to decreasing amounts of residual waste, and increasing tonnages of clean materials from separate collection, which is and must be kept as, the strategic priority“, Enzo Favoino, Scientific Coordinator of Zero Waste Europe, points out.
Equipped with biological treatment systems, MRBT sites would also be able to address current and future COVID-19-like situations such as biological stabilisation, similar to composting, which is perfectly able to sanitise processed waste, thanks primarily, but not only, to the biogenic heat it releases.
Source: Recycling Magazine
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