NRC Congress: Around the World

Recycling is a global industry in scope, and popular recycling trends and programs in other countries are gaining attention in the United States.

Bottle bills are among some of the most successful trends taking hold in Canada, according to Clarissa Morawski of CM Consulting, Toronto, who spoke on a panel called “Excellence Abroad: Bringing Recycling’s Best to the U.S.,” at the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) Annual Congress & Expo, held recently in Denver.

Morawski said that provinces with bottle bills have reported recovery rates of returnable beer bottles in excess of 90 percent.

Bottle bills have also been employed successfully in the European Union, according to Jurgen Resch, of Germany-based Deutsche Umwelthifle. Although with a current average recycling rate of 33 perfect in the E.U. as a whole, “there’s lots to do,” Resch said. “The long term goal is that the E.U should be a recycling society,” he added. In the beverage packaging segment, 10 out of 27 member states have implemented bottle bills, including a recent program initiated by the Czech Republic, he said. He added that Germany also has a one-way deposit system that has reported high return rates of more than 95 percent.

He added that several neighboring E.U. countries are also seeing high return rates, including 84 percent in Sweden, 85 percent in Norway and 95 percent in Finland.

Electronics is another area where Europe has turned to legislation to help manage material streams. Benno Van der Laan of Cabinet Stewart of Brussels, Belgium, discussed the E.U.’s WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and RoHS (Restriction of the Use of Hazardous Substances) directives. “Both aim to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and increase recycling rates,” said Van der Laan.

In addition to bottle bills and other legislative help from the government, another trend taking hold in Canada are take-back programs sponsored by retailers as an alternative.

The NRC Congress was held Sept. 16-19 in Denver. More information is available at www.nrc-recycle.org.