Best Environmental Management Practice for the Waste Management Sector

The way communities generate and manage their waste plays an absolutely key role in their ability to use resources efficiently. While making European economy more resource efficient and circular requires a large spectrum of actions, a huge potential for saving resources lays in improving waste management at local level in Europe. On the basis of an in-depth analysis of the actions implemented by frontrunner organisations in the waste management sector, this report describes a set of best practices with high potential for broad uptake. They are called Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs) and aim to help local authorities in charge of waste management and waste management companies move towards circular economy. The BEMPs, identified in close cooperation with a technical working group comprising experts from the sector, cover the waste management areas which determine the most the overall waste management performance: setting a waste management strategy, promoting waste prevention, establishing an efficient waste collection that supports re-use and recycling, and stimulating waste and product re-use. Certain areas of waste treatment are also covered. The BEMPs address mainly the management of municipal solid waste, but also of construction and demolition waste and healthcare waste. Additionally, the report provides a set of environmental performance indicators that organisations can use to assess their waste management performance and monitor progress as well as benchmarks of excellence that give an indication of the levels achieved by best performers. The report presents a wide range of information (environmental benefits, economics, case studies, references, etc.) for each of the best practices and aims to provide inspiration and guidance to organisations of the sector. In addition, the report will be the technical basis for the development of an EMAS (EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) Sectoral Reference Document on Best Environmental Management Practice for the Waste Management sector according to Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 (EMAS Regulation).JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Best Environmental Management Practice for the Car Manufacturing Sector Learning from frontrunners

The European automotive industry is one of the EU's largest manufacturing sectors, and the automotive value chain covers many activities largely carried out within the EU, such as design and engineering, manufacturing, maintenance and repair, and end-of-life vehicle (ELV) handling. This Best Practice report describes Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs), i.e. techniques, measures or actions that are implemented by the organisations within the sector which are most advanced in terms of environmental performance in areas such as energy and resource efficiency, emissions, or supply chain management. The BEMPs provide inspirational examples for any organisation within the sector to improve its environmental performance. The report firstly outlines technical information on the contribution of car manufacturing and end-of-life vehicle (ELV) handling to key environmental burdens in the EU, alongside data on the economic relevance of the sector. The second chapter presents best environmental management practice of interest primarily for manufacturing companies (car manufacturers and associated manufacturers in the supply chain) covering cross-cutting issues related to key environmental impacts (such as energy, waste, water management, or biodiversity) before exploring best practice linked to specific topics, such as supply chain management. Subsequently, specific information concerning actors in the treatment of end-of-life vehicles is presented in the third chapter, focussing in particular on best practice applicable to processers of ELVs. This Best Practice Report was developed with support from a Technical Working Group of experts from the car manufacturing and ELV sector and associated fields. The report gives a wide range of information (environmental benefits, economics, indicators, benchmarks, references, etc.) for each of the proposed best practices in order to be a source of inspiration and guidance for any company of the sector wishing to improve environmental performance. In addition, it will be the technical basis for a Sectoral Reference Document on the car manufacturing sector, to be produced by the European Commission according to the EMAS Regulation.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Kick-off meeting of the technical working group for the EMAS sectoral reference document on best environmental management practices for the agriculture - crop and animal production sector. Minutes of the meeting.

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) is developing a sectoral reference document on best environmental management practice in the agriculture – crop and animal production sector. Within this framework, the JRC established a European technical working group (TWG), comprising of experts in different aspects of environment and agriculture, to assist the European Commission in identifying these best practices and then validate the final findings. Minutes of the kick-off meeting of the technical working group, held on the 14-15 October 2013 in Brussels, are presented in this report. The meeting allowed analysing and discussing the first draft of a background document which will be used to develop the final sectoral reference document.JRC.J.5 - Sustainable Production and Consumptio

Best Environmental Management Practice for the Public Administration Sector

This report describes best environmental management practices for public administrations. Best environmental management practices are those techniques, measures and actions that can be implemented by public administrations to minimise their direct and indirect impact on the environment. They were identified together with sectoral experts on the basis of practices actually implemented by environmental frontrunners. The report outlines best practices applicable to all types of public administrations, such as making office buildings more environmentally sustainable, minimising the impacts of meetings and events organised, promoting sustainable commuting and business travel, or adopting green public procurement. Additionally, the report focuses on local authorities, which are the public administrations in highest number within the EU and also where there is the largest potential for replicability of best practices. It identifies best practices that ecompass their policy/regulatory/planning role as well as their role in providing key services to residents in the fields of sustainable energy and climate change, mobility, local ambient air quality, land use, water supply and municipal waste water treatment, noise pollution, green urban areas, green public procurement and environmental education and dissemination of information to citizen and businesses. Alongside best environmental management practices, the report also identifies suitable sector specific environmental performance indicators that can be used to measure and track performance in the areas addressed by each best practice, and, when possible, benchmarks of excellence, corresponding to the level of performance achieved by frontrunners. This report can be used by public administrations as a source of information to identify relevant actions they can implement to improve their environmental performance. This report was also the basis for the development of the EMAS (EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) Sectoral Reference Document on Best Environmental Management Practice for the public administration sector (according to Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009).JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Best Environmental Management Practice in the Fabricated Metal Product manufacturing sector

This report encloses technical information pertinent to the development of Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs) for the Sectoral Reference Document on the Fabricated Metal Products manufacturing sector, to be produced by the European Commission according to Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 (EMAS Regulation). The BEMPs, both of technological and management nature (identified in close cooperation with a technical working group) address all the relevant environmental aspects of the Fabricated Metal Products manufacturing facilities. The BEMPs described in this report provide guidance on the cross-cutting issues and optimisation of utilities of the manufacturing facilities. Moreover, the BEMPs cover also the most relevant manufacturing processes, looking at energy and material efficiency, protecting and enhancing biodiversity, using of renewable energy and using rationally and effectively chemicals e.g. for cooling of various machining processes. Each BEMP gives a wide range of information and outlines the achieved environmental benefits, appropriate environmental performance indicators to measure environmental performance against the proposed benchmarks of excellence, economics etc. aiming at giving inspiration and guidance to any company of the sector who wishes to improve its environmental performance.JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Substantial contribution to climate change mitigation – a framework to define technical screening criteria for the EU taxonomy

The European Union has introduced a new policy tool to clarify which investments are to be considered environmentally sustainable: a taxonomy of environmentally sustainable economic activities. Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the ‘Taxonomy Regulation’), defines the framework for the development of the EU taxonomy. It empowers the European Commission to define the taxonomy, i.e. the list of economic activities and associated technical screening criteria defining the required level of environmental performance. The European Commission will adopt the list of technical screening criteria in delegated acts. This report is an input to the work underlying the first delegated act under the Taxonomy Regulation, relating to activities making a substantial contribution to the first two objectives set out in the Regulation: climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation. This first delegated act should be adopted by the European Commission at the beginning of 2021. Building on the experience gained from working with the Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (TEG) and on the set of recommendations the TEG provided to the European Commission, this report elaborates the concept of substantial contribution to an environmental objective and classifies the types of substantial contribution that an economic activity can make. It then illustrates which approaches can be used to define substantial contribution to climate change mitigation and elaborates on the conditions of applicability of each suggested approach. The requirements for technical screening criteria that are outlined in Article 19 of the Taxonomy Regulation are the basis for evaluating the suitability of each specific approach. This report also discusses the elements to be considered for setting the level of ambition of the technical screening criteria and how the technical screening criteria can result from combining the different elements analysed.JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Quality of Recycling - Towards an operational definition

As the quantity of recycling increases, a high quality of recycling is necessary to ensure that secondary raw materials produced are suitable for use in product applications with more demanding requirements, enabling a more circular economy. Defining the concept of “quality of recycling” is the starting point for any assessment of what is meant by ‘high quality’. This study develops an operational definition of “quality of recycling”, defined as the extent to which, through the recycling chain, the distinct characteristics of the material used within products are preserved or recovered to maximise their potential to be used as secondary raw materials in the circular economy. To enable assessments of quality, the study proposes a set of quality categories for common packaging materials (glass, papers, PET, and HDPE/PP), based on key characteristics of secondary raw materials and sorted packaging outputs that differentiate their suitability for use in manufacturing different types of products. The definition of quality of recycling and the accompanying framework for quality assessments can be used by a range of organisations to understand the current quality of recycling outputs and track progress towards improving the quality of recycling at the level of an individual plant or a whole recycling chain.JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Analysis of Drivers Impacting Recycling Quality

This study, based on a survey of twenty-five sorting plants for household packaging across Europe, examines the drivers and parameters that influence the quality, quantity and fate of household packaging recycling. The study examines the different drivers present for plant operators sorting and processing different material streams, the characteristics distinguishing higher quality recycling chains from lower quality recycling chains, and factors that tip the balance in favour of making quality improvements where there is only marginal financial benefit. It summarises findings in relation to the impact that policy and system design can have on the quality of recycling. The factors found to be key to determining current quality of recycling were producer demand for secondary raw materials, the extent to which materials degrade in collection and sorting, and the scale and presence of products sharing relevant characteristics within collected waste streams. Where making improvements on quality had only marginal financial benefit, it was found that producer responsibility organisations (PROs) or other relevant authorities are likely to be able to improve qualities through influencing the scale of sorting operations, specifying sorting output fractions, as well as influencing producer behaviour in incentivising recyclability of their products and uptake of post-consumer recycled content.JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi

Development of the EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy - A framework for defining substantial contribution for environmental objectives 3-6

The European Union has introduced a new policy tool to define which investments can be considered environmentally sustainable: a taxonomy of environmentally sustainable economic activities (“the EU Taxonomy”). Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and the Council (the ‘Taxonomy Regulation’), establishes the framework for its development and use. It empowers the European Commission to define the actual taxonomy, i.e. the list of economic activities and associated technical screening criteria setting out the required level of environmental performance. This list of economic activities and the accompanying technical screening criteria will be adopted in delegated acts. This report is an input to the work of developing technical screening criteria for activities substantially contributing to four remaining environmental objectives defined in the Taxonomy Regulation. It proposes a methodological framework and a step-by-step process to draft criteria for economic activities substantially contributing to an objective: from the identification of the type of substantial contribution the economic activity can make, the selection of the most suitable approach to draft the technical screening criteria and the setting of the level of ambition expected to consider that contribution substantial. The report then explores how the conceptual framework can be applied in practice for each of the four environmental objectives considered.JRC.B.5 - Circular Economy and Industrial Leadershi