Green Dot summary by Bev Thorpe, Clean Production Action

1. Green Dot summary byBev Thorpe, Clean Production Action EPR Work Group meeting July 7/8 Buffalo, NY Bev@cleanproduction.org

2. Why make the producer responsible? • Only the product designer can choose material and form/function of the product • EPR puts the feedback loop back on the producer to design for disassembly, reuse, and safer recycling • Hazardous materials increase the producer’s liability and costs Clean Production Action

3. EPR can make products more recyclable and less wasteful if: • Focus is specifically on waste from end of life products • Financial responsibility is clear to producers for collection, transport and recycling • Meangful targets are established for collection and recycling…. Clean Production Action

4. …EPR programs are effective if: • Recycling is clearly differentiated from waste to energy conversion/incineration • Reporting requirements and enforcement mechanisms established • Producers have incentive to design for reuse/recycling • Consumers have incentives to return their old products (eg free and easy) Clean Production Action

5. EPR is embodied in: • Bottle return/refund programs • Product leasing where manufacturer maintains control of product ownership/reuse/repair eg Xerox • Providing a Service instead of a product, eg Interface supplying floor covering service and carpet tile replacement versus new carpet Clean Production Action

6. First EPR program: Germany’s Green Dot for packaging • Packaging Ordinance 1991 establishes EPR • Packaging accounted for 1/3 by weight and ½ by volume of total waste stream and was growing! • Would stimulate new recycling technologies • Berlin Wall collapse meant new consumerism and waste and decreasing landfill space Clean Production Action

7. Established individual or third party system • Fillers are responsible for packaging waste; can deal with it themselves or set up third party system • Industry responded by designing the Dual, or Green Dot, system Clean Production Action

8. DSD • Non profit company, Duales System Deutschland (DSD) licenses logo for a fee • Fees based on the material and weight of the package and paid by filler – usually the owner of the product brand name • Households have 2 bins: one for regular trash (municipality responsibility) and one for packaging (DSD picks up for free) • DSD also operates drop-off igloos for glass and paper Clean Production Action

9. License fee for Green Dot, Oct 1994Weight-based Fee: DM/kg Clean Production Action

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11. DSD sets clear targets • Recycling targets ranging from 64 to 72 percent for various materials • Refill rate for beverage containers at 72 percent or higher Clean Production Action

12. Effects of DSD: less packaging • Between 1991 and 1995 packaging consumption decreased by one million tons • Green Dot packaging decreased 14% from 1991-1995, while total packaging in Germany decreased 7% • Comparison in USA (same time) packaging increased 13% Clean Production Action

13. Effects of DSD: product redesign • Packaging redesign: • lightweighting • elimination of unessential packaging (blister packs) • increased use of concentrates and refill packs Clean Production Action

14. What about plastics? • In 1996 plastic packaging recycling increased to 68% • Move away from PVC (difficult to recycle) to better recyclable material (eg paper) • Incineration not considered recycling • BUT: One third recycling via ‘feedstock recycling’ eg pyrolysis, hydrogenation and substitution of waste plastic for oil in steel production Clean Production Action

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19. New recycling targets from 1999 • Glass 75% (previously 70%) • Tinplate 70% (same) • Aluminum 60% (prev 50%) • Paper/crdbd) 70% (prev 60%) • Composites 60% (prev 50%) Clean Production Action

20. Hazardous contents must decrease • concentrations of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium in packaging reduced: • 600 ppm (parts per million) by weight from 30 June 1998 • 250 ppm by weight from 30 June 1999 • 100 ppm by weight from 30 June 2001 Clean Production Action

21. Prognos Assessment of DSD, 2002 • The recycling of two million tonnes of lightweight packaging avoids carbon dioxide pollution by the same quantity which arises in the incineration of 28 million tonnes of residual waste • Costs of the Green Dot are between 520 and 605 euros per tonne, could drop to 250-370 euros Clean Production Action

22. Greenhouse gas reductions • By recycling used sales packaging, a total of 67.5 billion megajoules of primary energy was saved • In addition, this saved 1.5 million tonnes of climate-damaging greenhouse gases. • (Source: Environmental Success Balance 2002 of Duales System Deutschland AG, www.gruener-punkt.de) Clean Production Action

23. Future predictions for packaging in Germany • Predictions of 15% decrease in waste 2000-2005 (Prognos Institute) • No untreated waste to landfill in 2005 will lead to more reductions (more reuse and recycling) • Mechanical biological treatment will be used more in future (versus incineration) Clean Production Action

24. Re-use in Europe • On average in the European Union, about one third of the packaging for soft drinks, mineral water and wine is reused • The highest reuse rates are achieved in Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden; in some cases more than 90 percent of the volume bottled (glass and PET) is reused in these countries. Clean Production Action

25. Beverage bottle reuse -Europe • WINE REUSE: Austria (83 percent); Finland (71 percent); Sweden reuses 55 percent, Portugal around 50 percent; Spain 32 percent and Germany 29 percent. • SOFT DRINK REUSE: Austria, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Portugal reuse between one third and two thirds of the glass packaging. Denmark achieves 80 percent, followed by Germany with 61 percent. • BEER and MINERAL WATER: higher Clean Production Action

26. Germany’s Closed Material and Waste Management Act 1996 • Aim to eliminate the dumping of untreated waste entirely within 20 years, as a result of the progress made in recovery technology. • EPR in Germany extended to: • Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equpment (WEEE) • End of Life Vehicles (EoLV) • Carpets and textiles • Biowaste • Construction waste • Batteries Clean Production Action