International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

investments are utilised, will be influenced by the nature of the collection system.
Where the system encourages a high set out of garden waste (see above) and where
the material is treated through composting, then the costs of the collection and
treatment of additional material may outweigh benefits of the approach (although
should the levy proposed for residual waste in the Main Report be adopted, it seems
highly unlikely that system costs should increase – see also Annex 64.0). 632 It is
important, therefore, to consider the optimisation of collection and treatment to
deliver the most beneficial outcome.
It is important also to re-iterate the point made above regarding the potential for food
waste prevention to arise as a consequence of the introduction of separate collection.
The market aspect of the output from composting and anaerobic digestion is
important in securing benefits. A forthcoming report suggests that greenhouse gas
benefits of compost use vary significantly according to use, being potentially as high
as a net saving of 700kg/tonne of waste. The actual figure depends upon a variety of
factors, and poorly operated systems with limited displacement effects can indeed
perform far worse (a net emission of 200kg per tonne of waste). 633
The suggestion is that the benefits from use of compost / digestate may well benefit
from targeted activity. Development of markets for the recovered biodegradable
municipal waste is central to the success of the National Strategy on Biodegradable
Waste. A Market Development Group of key stakeholders was established in 2004,
under the guidance of the Department, with the objective of driving forward the
development of existing markets for recyclables and identifying new applications and
markets for recyclables and secondary recycled products. The recent proposal for a
standard for compost is a welcomes step in this regard (see, in this context, Annex
36.0). 634
hushallsavfallet tas omhand – Utvardering av olika behandlingsmetoder (How Shall Municipal Solid
Waste be Disposed – Assessment of Different Treatment Methods) Stockholm February 2002. IVL
report B 1462; Danish EPA (2003): Skal husholdningernes madaffald brændes eller genanvendes?
Samfundsøkonomisk analyse af øget genanvendelse af organisk dagrenovation (Is the food waste
from the households to be incinerated or recycled? A welfare-economic analysis of increased recycling
of organic household waste.) Environmental project no. 814.
www.mst.dk/udgiv/publikationer/2003/87-7972-685-2/html/; Nolan-ITU (2004) TBL Assessment of
Garden Organics Management, Final Report to the NSW Dept of Environment and Conservation,
Sustainability Programs Division, May 2004; Eunomia (2007) Managing Biowastes from Households in
the UK: Applying Life-cycle Thinking in the Framework of Cost-benefit Analysis, Banbury, Oxon: WRAP.
632 It is always the case that the financial case for separate collection for recycling / composting /
digestion are given impetus by rsing costs for dealing with residual waste. A levy such as that proposed
thus supports the logic of separate collection.
633 A. Boldrin, J. K. Andersen, J. Møller and T. H. Christensen (forthcoming) ’Composting and compost
utilization: Accounting of greenhouse gases and global warming contribution’, Waste Management &
Research.
634 See Munoo Prasad and Percy Foster (2009) Development of an Industry-led Quality Standard for
Source-Separated Biodegradable Material Derived Compost (2006-WRM-DS-26), STRIVE Report No.
22, Wexford: EPA.
539
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes