Suchergebnisse

Plastic waste, primarily from packaging, is a growing threat to nature and the environment and a waste of resources, calling for a greener, circular economy based on waste avoidance and recycling. This paper contributes to this goal by providing a systematic review of research, published in English between 2015 and 2020, on drivers and barriers of consumers' plastic packaging waste avoidance and recycling in private households. Focus is specifically on economically developed countries because they are responsible for the biggest share of plastic packaging waste and have implemented the most advanced and ambiguous legislation and regulation for plastic packaging waste prevention and recycling. Based on a search in Scopus, 36 peer-reviewed articles were identified that empirically address what motivates consumers to engage in these activities and what difficulties and hindrances they experience for doing so in an effective way. According to this research, the most important drivers of consumers' plastic packaging waste avoidance and recycling are environmental concern and task-specific benefits, and the most important barriers are lack of knowledge and understanding as well as lack of opportunities, inconvenience, and task difficulty. Moreover, there is some evidence that plastic packaging waste avoidance and recycling behaviours are interlinked, contingent on shared motives and understanding, which calls for an integrated approach considering potential positive and negative spill-over between plastic packaging waste behaviours.

"The environmental policy of the European Community is nested within
a broader institution devoted predominantly to market integration. It also co-exists with
the domestic environmental policies of the member states. This institutional arrangement
has important consequences for environmental governance in the present Union. Not
only does the wide scope for domestic environmental action generate different logics of
harmonization for the regulation of products and processes, it also creates an institutional
preference for European product standards because this type of regulation allows a
trade-off between environmental and single market concerns. This effect is demonstrated
by the development of the originally purely environmentally motivated and processrelated
directive on packaging and packaging waste adopted in 1994. During its
preparation, this legislative project was supplemented with a strong product-related
component that made a trade-off between policies possible and facilitated majority
support in the Council." (author's abstract)

There is an intent to increase the recycling rate of plastic waste in the European Union. Yet, the current actions have not been sufficient to achieve the recycling targets. Especially the most sparsely populated rural areas have been identified to be the most challenging area for waste management, as distances between households and recycling points are long. Consequently, more attention should be paid to the waste management methods of rural inhabitants. Previously, economic incentives have been identified as an important driver for better recycling habits. In the present study, a deposit-based recycling system for plastic packaging is introduced in a study area in rural Finland. Two deposit allocation systems were studied, where the deposits were allocated based on the returned plastic-mass or the number of specified plastic items returned. The results show that a small deposit can drive consumers to improve their sorting, and those respondents who had previously disposed plastic with mixed waste or incinerated plastic waste in domestic fireplaces improved their sorting habits. A mass-based deposit allocation system was favored over a piece-based deposit system. Implementing this practice would enhance consumer-based sorting, recycling, and refinability of plastic waste and enable rural areas to meet the recycling targets. ; There is an intent to increase the recycling rate of plastic waste in the European Union. Yet, the current actions have not been sufficient to achieve the recycling targets. Especially the most sparsely populated rural areas have been identified to be the most challenging area for waste management, as distances between households and recycling points are long. Consequently, more attention should be paid to the waste management methods of rural inhabitants. Previously, economic incentives have been identified as an important driver for better recycling habits. In the present study, a deposit-based recycling system for plastic packaging is introduced in a study area in rural Finland. Two ...

THE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY IS NESTED WITHIN A BROADER INSTITUTION DEVOTED PREDOMINANTLY TO MARKET INTEGRATION. IT ALSO CO-EXISTS WITH THE DOMESTIC ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES OF THE MEMBER STATES. THIS INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT HAS IMPORTANT CONSEQUENCES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE IN THE PRESENT UNION. NOT ONLY DOES THE WIDE SCOPE FOR DOMESTIC ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION GENERATE DIFFERENT LOGICS OF HARMONIZATION FOR THE REGULATION OF PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES, IT ALSO CREATES AN INSTITUTIONAL PREFERENCE FOR EUROPEAN PRODUCT STANDARDS BECAUSE THIS TYPE OF REGULATION ALLOWS A TRADE-OFF BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL AND SINGLE MARKET CONCERNS. THIS EFFECT IS DEMONSTRATED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ORIGINALLY PURELY ENVIRONMENTALLY MOTIVATED AND PROCESS-RELATED DIRECTIVE ON PACKAGING AND PACKAGING WASTE ADOPTED IN 1994. DURING ITS PREPARATION, THIS LEGISLATIVE PROJECT WAS SUPPLEMENTED WITH A STRONG PRODUCT-RELATED COMPONENT THAT MADE A TRADE-OFF BETWEEN POLICIES POSSIBLE AND FACILITATED MAJORITY SUPPORT IN THE COUNCIL.

Introduction The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) "is a policy approach under which producers are given a significant responsibility – financial and/or physical – for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products" (OECD, 2018). For packaging, the importers/producers pay a certain environmental contribution in order to reach a certain recycling target independently from the market demand. Due to the importance of EPR, the European Commission is working on harmonising its application and the way the contributions are calculated (European Commission, 2018). This work focuses on plastic packaging due to the recent importance of this waste fraction. The specific objectives of this work are: to demonstrate that the reported quantity of recycled plastic are not actually recycled; to quantify which costs are covered by the environmental contribution and to propose an "extension" of the EPR for plastic packaging. This work will contribute to the discussion on how to implement effectively EPR in Europe. Material and Methods The EPR strategies for plastic packaging waste in Europe are analysed with the use of the Material Flow Analysis (MFA), system and market analyses with a special focus on export of waste. Lastly, we worked on modelling how the environmental contribution could be quantified in order to reach the recycling targets. Results and Conclusions The data on material officially recycled in European countries usually report only the quantity of material that is sold in the market as waste bales after sorting and not the material that will actually become a new product that is not tracked. Furthermore, the environmental contributions generally do not account for the design of the products a part for rare shy attempts to do so (e.g. France and Italy) even if the design can highly impact the market price of the waste bales (e.g. PET clear versus PET mixed) and of the applications of the secondary polymers. The conclusion of this study is that the current EPR is not leading to the wanted recycling targets. The environmental contributions paid by companies should be modelled based on the real recycling path and on the design of the packaging. Finally, EU should work on a better understanding of the fate of the plastic collected.