Thursday, September 28, 2006

Denmark - Industrial Waste Minimisation working

Using financial support from the Danish EPA, the engineering works and iron foundry Vald. Birn A/S has launched work to minimise waste volumes, by analysing where to find the potential savings and improvements. Efforts to reduce waste volumes resulted in savings of 3,222 tonnes of waste, representing an amount of DKK 2.5 mill.. The project may inspire other companies in the foundry and machine industry. These are great savings - of money as well as other resources.

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Friday, September 22, 2006

London - Hackney, Real Nappy Network


The newsletter for Autumn 2006 from the Hackney Real Nappy Network is out. Check out their website. Also, the Islington Real Nappy Network is forming!

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Thursday, September 21, 2006

Europe - Why does the strategy opt for national waste prevention programmes?

One of the findings from the analysis conducted for the strategy is that there is no single waste prevention measure that could work in all Member States, due to the variety of cultural and geographical conditions. Prevention can only be achieved through a basket of measures that are most effective when designed and applied at a national or even regional or local level. The Commission therefore concluded that it would be most effective to require Member States to develop waste prevention programmes, at the same time leaving them the freedom to determine which measures will be most effective. The national waste prevention programmes would be mandatory and would have to be developed within three years of the entry into force of the revised Waste Framework Directive. These programmes must aim at breaking the link between economic growth and the environmental impacts associated to the generation of waste. The Member States must take into consideration the measures listed in Annex four to the proposed Directive and are required to determine targets and indicators for the measures they include in their national programmes. This will be the best way of achieving cost effective waste prevention.

From "Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste and the proposal for the revision of the Waste Framework Directive" Look for question 13 to find European headline waste statistics with a single clear reference. A useful FAQ document from the European Commission arms you with statements and a reference

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Thursday, September 14, 2006

Ireland- Waste generation problem

Ireland has the highest level of municipal waste generation per capita of all the benchmark countries and manufacturing waste generation per employee is also relatively high. By not generating waste, we can eliminate the need to handle, transport, treat and dispose of waste. We can also avoid having to pay for waste management services. Investing resources in waste prevention and minimisation offers potential long-term benefits for the competitiveness of enterprises of all types. It is imperative for Ireland's future economic growth and environmental sustainability that the necessary resources and commitment to implement the National Waste Prevention Programme 2004-2008 are provided.

From RRF news

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Tuesday, September 12, 2006

London, Hackney - Give or Take IV

Hackney will be having its fourth Give or Take of the year. This one will take place on 23 September in Queensbridge Sports and Community Centre, Activity Room 1 and Café Room, 30 Holly Street, Dalston, E8 3XW

Since the start of my first event, many other councils in London have held these events, as they are been included in the waste prevention strategies. This will conclude my yearly Give or Take events, I will be writing a short report concluding its success and recommendations to carry on or offer a group to do them for us. Anyway, Give or Take days are a community waste exchange event – an opportunity for residents to give unwanted items like furniture, bikes, toys, tools, books, kitchenware and bric-a-brac, and then take something they might like or need. As well as providing residents with the opportunity to Give or Take unwanted items, the event also helps reduce the amount of waste that builds up in Hackney. It will be a fun, activity-packed community based day with a bouncy castle for kids. I will be posting photos of the goods and the actual tonnages reused by the four events held in the last year.

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Saturday, September 09, 2006

MSc Thesis -Mobile phone eco-design

The title of my MSc thesis was: "The effect of WEEE & RoHS Directives upon the eco-design of mobile phones marketed within the European Union" Finished in 2003. This is the abstract plus some graphs.

The obligations set by the waste of electrical and electric equipment directive (WEEE) and the restriction of hazardous substances in electrical and electric equipment directive (RoHS) are looked up upon the ecodesign of mobile phones. The WEEE directive sets a requirement of recyclability target of 65% at least. Various alternatives are examined to enable mobile phone manufacturers achieved this target. The disassembly of the printed wiring board and the liquid crystal display of the mobile phones are also required. Manual disassembly is currently the main cost in the recycling process, for this reason automatic mechanisms alternatives are also examined. Producers are required to provide information to recycling processes on hazardous substances location and disassembly procedures. Bard codes and smart tagging are proposed as possible alternatives. Lead and brominated flame retardants are to be phased out from mobile phones by August 2006. The surveyed companies considered lead which is used for soldering process the most challenging restricted substance in the RoHS directive. Alternatives lead solders are already being used by leading companies. Almost all of the contacted companies use a diverse range of methods in order to meet the requirements. Design changes need to be applied early in the phone development process. Ecodesign tools aid producers into achieving this at an early stage of the phones life cycle.

National mobile subscribers/penetration, 1991-2007

The mobile phone manufacturers that were contacted have mainly over a decade of experience in the production field. They mainly considered themselves to be somewhat above other companies of the same sector in environmental issues. All of them have been researching for design changes for more than two years to date. The public in general is interested in environmental friendly mobile phones, however many would not buy it if prices were slightly higher. Peoples’ awareness on the existence of the directives is totally non existent. Recommendation is suggested for information campaigns awareness to start as soon as is possible.

My methodology was based on literature review, email questionnaires to the public (150 answers) and email/post questionnaires to global mobile phone manufacturers.

Ecodesign is also known as Design for the Environment (DfE) or lifecycle design, see graph below. In most cases an average of 80% of the environmental inputs are fixed during the research and development stage.



These are some of the pie charts for the 150 answers-questionnaire to the general European population.


There is a large difference in responses, showing that Europeans have limits and wont be paying more for a commodity that they already can have without looking further in their pockets. You will always get a niche for an eco product, but the market is reduced. The higher prices should be added compulsory, payed by manufacturers and the public. This is everyones' problem and must be tackled by everyone.

Email me at ander80@gmail.com you want the thesis.doc. Thanks.

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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

London, Hackney - Furniture reuse birthday



Morph and Hackney Recycling team are getting together to celebrate Morph's first year anniversary. The shop opened on 14 April, 2005. It has been collecting reusable furniture around Hackney since then, and is now expanding even more! The collected furniture is refurbished and sent to the shop. Residents in low income can benefit with the 30% discount priviledge card, however the prices are already low.

Attendance only by confirmation from RSPV (in picture above)

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