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

35.0 Minimum Recycling Standards
(Commercial and Industrial Waste) - International
35.1 Outline of Policy
A number of countries currently employ a minimum recycling standards policy for
householders, commerce and industry, and construction and demolition wastes. This
section presents those minimum standards for the commercial and industrial (C&I)
waste stream. Minimum recycling policies require the separate collection of a number
of waste materials, with the key goals of diverting waste away from landfill and
increasing material recovery.
Within the EU, the implementation of such recycling standards comes under Article 3
of Directive 2006/12/EC, which specifies that Member States shall take the
appropriate measures for the recovery of waste via recycling, re-use and reclamation.
Outside of the EU, several places within the US have also implemented or are
currently moving towards mandatory C&I recycling (see Section 35.2.1).
In addition to the main EU Waste Framework Directive, the use of minimum recycling
standards in Europe is also designed to meet the targets stipulated in a number of
more specific EU Directives, namely the Landfill Directive, the Packaging Directive
(Section 13.0), the Batteries and Accumulators Directive (Section 25.0), the WEEE
Directive (Section 20.0) and the ELV Directive (Section 23.0).
35.2 Where Has the Policy Been Applied and Why?
The countries that currently use a minimum recycling standard for the C&I sector
include Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,
Slovenia and Switzerland. In addition, the city of Portland and the state of New Jersey
also require a minimum recycling standard from their businesses. California (USA) is
also looking to implement a mandatory commercial recycling programme. The
minimum standards for C&I vary in the types and number of materials that must be
source-separated, the way in which the materials must be collected and in the way
that they are funded. The main country-specific policy details are discussed in Section
35.2.1.
A minimum recycling standard for C&I has been implemented in these countries in
order to push waste up the hierarchy away from landfill, and to increase the recovery
of materials and hence reduce the need for primary material consumption.
35.2.1 Country-specific Characteristics
Austria
The Ordinance on the Separate Collection of Organic Wastes (Law Gazette II no.
68/1992) and the Ordinance on Compost (Law Gazette II no. 292/2001) dictate that
provision is made by the municipality for a separate collection of biowaste from
Austrian commercial and industrial properties (that fall under the remit of the
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