The European Commission’s (EC) revised Waste Framework Directive (rWFD) states: ‘there is an obligation to have in place by 2015 separate collection for paper, metal, plastic and glass’. It’s a clause that has been particularly contentious in just one member state: the UK. UK law allows co-mingled collections, requiring source separation only when it’s necessary to facilitate or improve recovery rates, but Defra and the Welsh Government’s interpretation of the rWFD has been the subject of much contention.

Indeed, the case between members of the Campaign for Real Recycling and the government brewed for quite some time before its eventual completion this March; in 2011, Karolina Fraus, Team Leader on waste management policies and legislation at the EC’s Environment Directorate General, told Resource: “In most countries, there isn’t a problem with the interpretation of what is meant by ‘separate collection’. I think it’s a very UK-specific issue linked to co-mingled collection that makes this provision sound unspecific.”

And so now, as the Judicial Review has confirmed that Defra and the Welsh Government’s interpretation of the rWFD will stand in the UK, we thought we’d take advantage of this time of reflection to find out how our neighbours collect and handle their recycling.

The profiles below examine waste management systems in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands in an attempt to learn how differing methods of recycling and waste collection affect recycling rates across Europe.

Germany

In 1991, under the Ordinance on the Avoidance of Packaging Waste, Germany became the first country to extend the responsibility of producers to the entire lifecycle of packaging materials, setting targets for recycling and reuse. The ordinance provided for the establishment of a separate collection and processing system, a so-called ‘dual system’. Two types of collection systems exist, with households and small businesses receiving yellow bins or bags for the kerbside collection of most lightweight packaging. Glass, paper and cardboard are usually collected separately at drop-off points, with glass often separated by colour.

Once collected, waste undergoes treatment processes specific to the material and is reused, recycled or recovered. As little as possible goes to Germany’s 160 landfill sites, where there has, since 2005, been a complete ban on ‘untreated household waste or general waste from industry’. Figures quoted in the EC’s ‘Screening of Waste Management Report of EU Member States’ show that Germany achieves recycling rates of 61.8 per cent and disposal rates of only 23.8 per cent.

The town of Neustadt, in Rhineland-Palatinate, employs an interesting method of waste collection, charging residents €6.60 (£5.70) for emptying their 60-litre waste bin on a bi-weekly basis (a 40-litre bin drops the price to €5.30, whereas the price skyrockets to €24 for a 240-litre bin). The town council sees this version of pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) as an effective way of minimising waste and promoting recycling. Indeed, it now recycles in the region of 70 per cent of its waste.

According to the ‘European Packaging Systems’ report, more than 94 per cent of German consumers separate used packaging for recycling. Spokesperson for the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Ingo Strube, says: “Latest figures show that Germans rank environmental protection as the second most important political issue – only topped by concerns regarding the ongoing financial crisis. Recycling is what we call ‘Volkssport’ [national sport] in Germany; quotas are traditionally high.”

France

According to recycling compliance scheme Eco-Emballages, 87 per cent of French people consider sorting waste to be the ‘action they are most willing to undertake to contribute to environmental protection’. Since 1992, the separation and treatment of household waste has been compulsory in France, with waste streams in place for glass, paper and cardboard, plastic, wood and ferrous and non-ferrous metal. The French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) offers guidance on the best ways in which to recycle each particular material, and ‘sorting ambassadors’ employed by local authorities provide a personal connection between the authorities and citizens.

Once sorted, the waste is reused, recycled, or used in energy recovery and composting processes. However, there is a heavy reliance on energy recovery in France, particularly in the case of plastic, which has led to overall energy recovery rates of 32.4 per cent. While this does keep disposal rates relatively low at 32.6 per cent, recycling rates are on the more depressing side of paltry at 34.9 per cent.

In Paris, there are three types of household bins – green-lidded, white-lidded and yellow-lidded. The green-lidded bins are used exclusively for general waste and are collected daily. White-lidded bins are for glass and are collected once a week. Yellow-lidded bins are for all other recyclables and are collected twice a week. Suffering a bit from ‘big city syndrome’ and a lack of complete compliance, Paris’s recycling rate is far lower than the country’s average at a little under 20 per cent.

Spain

Of Spain’s 46.7 million inhabitants, 45.4 million have access to paper/cardboard collections and 45 million to the collection of lightweight packaging. Typically, cardboard and paper packaging is placed in a blue bin, whereas plastic and metallic packaging is placed in a yellow counterpart. These are then collected by ‘recovery agents’ employed by the municipalities and sent for sorting, before moving on to ‘recycling agents’.

There are over 90 sorting plants in Spain that deal exclusively with the lightweight packaging placed in yellow bins. This is a closed process, with the materials recovered being transformed back into ‘raw materials’ and used to create new items. However, as the ‘Screening of Waste Management’ report points out, not all Spanish residents and businesses have the facility of organised waste collection, and recycling rates are increasing very slowly due to a lack of capacity and political recycling agenda. Indeed, these problems have led to high disposal rates of 57.9 per cent, low recycling rates (33.1 per cent) and a recovery rate of 9.1 per cent.

Madrid’s 3.3 million inhabitants receive daily door-to-door waste collections, while recycling points are dotted all around the city. Waste management companies in the city also operate selective collections of glass, paper/cardboard and batteries separated at source. The collection of furniture is also provided for, in addition to that of dead animals. Perhaps supporting the theory that more frequent waste collections result in less recycling, the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and sustainable Resource management (ACR+) in 2010 reported that recycling rates in the city were extremely low at around nine per cent.

Netherlands

According to Nedvang, the foundation that handles the waste and recycling duties of over 300,000 manufacturers and importers in the Netherlands, ‘separating waste is the most popular environmental measure among Dutch people’, with ‘more than 90 per cent’ separating their household waste on a regular basis.

Engaging with people has clearly paid off, with the Netherlands sitting joint top with Austria in the EC’s ‘Screening of Waste Management’ report table. The country has already exceeded all EU targets, and ambitious national targets exist – the country’s aiming for a 90 per cent glass recycling rate, for instance. Recently, Nedvang has been focusing on plastic, and, since 2009, all plastic waste produced in the Netherlands has been subject to separate collections, with the number of municipalities collecting such waste increasing from 60 in 2009 to 417 in 2010. Throughout the country, door-to-door collections are complemented by a system of bring banks.

After sorting, most waste collected is broken down into a secondary raw material and reused in a system that is partly closed loop. For instance, all PET bottles of over one litre in size produced in the Netherlands must contain at least 28 per cent recycled plastic. According to the ‘Screening of Waste Management’ report, current waste disposal levels sit at an impressive 0.4 per cent, with recycling rates at 60.7 per cent; the country is heavily reliant on incineration for residual waste treatment, though, with energy recovery levels at 38.9 per cent.

Recycling in Amsterdam is separated according to national regulations and is collected every other week. Plastic recycling has been widely available in the city since 2010 and has helped it achieve recycling rates of over 40 per cent, making it the second best capital city for recycling in the EU. Spokesperson for Nedvang, Bijou Boom, explains: “Sorting waste has become a national habit and people’s garbage bins used for ‘other waste’ [are] increasingly less full. Research shows that citizens consider separation of waste as a way to contribute to a better environment and a sustainable society. Therefore packaging is collected and, after sorting, it is reused as raw material for new products.”

Italy

Divergent waste management plans exist in Italy on regional and provincial levels. This approach has caused large discrepancies to develop between the relative successes of recycling in each area. Naples, for instance, has significant underlying problems relating to undercapacity (amongst other concerns, including rumours of mob involvement) – an issue which has, in the past, sparked protests, street accumulation of waste and recycling, and the formation of community-led groups to encourage better recycling rates.

While these problems aren’t as prevalent in the wealthier northern regions of Italy, recycling rates in the country clearly suffer as a result. Indeed, areas such as Treviso in north-east Italy are pushing towards recycling rates of 70 per cent, thanks to PAYT schemes and infrequent collection of residual waste (see profile in Resource 59), but the national recycling rates still aren’t terribly impressive. Though there are restrictions in Italy regarding what can and can’t enter landfill, waste disposal rates still sit at a hefty 50.7 per cent. Furthermore, the amount of municipal waste recycled is just 34.1 per cent, with recovery rates at 15.1 per cent.

In theory, waste management systems in Italy are supposed to provide for the separate collection of metal, paper, plastic and glass. Once collected, each material undergoes its own treatment process, depending on its individual needs. Plastic, for instance, is separated into high-grade and low-grade material, which allows for the production of a ‘secondary raw material’ which can be used for the same function as the product from which it came, thus closing the loop. Zero Waste Italy Co-ordinator, Patrizia Lo Sciuto, explains the situation in Italy: “I think that for Italian people, recycling is the best solution to solve the problem of waste disposal. Italian people would like more measures to encourage recycling in municipalities. I think that the Italians, especially young people, recycle more dry matter: glass, plastic, cardboard and paper.”