PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The German-speaking community of Belgium is confronted, like the rest of Europe, with the steady increase in the production of solid waste. Selective collections and an increased recycling effort on the part of the local and regional authorities can contribute towards reducing both the quantity of waste to be disposed of and its environmental impact.
OBJECTIVES
The pilot project, "RCYCL", addresses the re-use and recycling of bulky wastes through a holistic approach based on environmental, social and economic considerations. The project aimed to demonstrate the viability of a pre-industrial re-use and recycling structure set up for bulky wastes in 7 municipalities of the German-speaking Community in Belgium. It would lead to a reduction in the quantities of bulky waste assigned to landfills (by 60 to 80%), while offering socially unprivileged people real insertion opportunities. The intention was also that the project would become self-supporting and that the activities would be extended on a permanent basis beyond the LIFE financial contribution. It would multiply the services rendered to society while keeping the costs for treatment of bulky wastes at the same level. RCYCL is based on the experience of 7 private partners, active for more than 10 years in the management of domestic waste and social reinsertion.
RESULTS
The RCYCL project was ambitious and complex. It has been successful in a number of respects: the bulky waste collection, recycling and re-use scheme has been set-up in a satisfactory way; the number of tonnes collected has been steadily increasing; the initiative is replacing the traditional bulky waste collection schemes in the participating municipalities; the initiative has important environmental and social insertion benefits. The project proved the technical and organisational viability of the initiative. The financial viability was not fully proven: the project was not self-supporting and this was not expected to happen in 2003 or 2004. However, the continuity of the project was ensured in that the key partners had sufficient faith to continue the activities after the LIFE contribution. They have been doing this successfully since 01/01/03. The bulky wastes collected by the sorting centre increased steadily from 88 tonnes in 2000, 367 tonnes in 2001 to 850 tonnes in 2002 and 298 tonnes in the first 4 months of 2003. Besides this, 160 tonnes of electrical appliances were also collected in 2002 by the beneficiary. The project partners collected another 250 tonnes in 2002. More than 80% of the collected wastes could be either recycled (70%) or reused (10%). This is much higher than in a normal bulky wastes collection system where maximally 15% is recycled or re-used; this means that about 500 tonnes per year are prevented from being sent to landfill or incineration. Also the job creation and vocational training aspects were successful: about 30 new full-time jobs were created; through the cooperation with 2 schools a total of 35 trainee positions were created; about 3 000 hours of training were given per month. Thanks to this project, a flexible and, in most cases, free bulky wastes collection service is offered to the public all year round. The services offered are as follows: 1 Collection of bulky wastes 2 Weighting, sorting, identification of wastes 3 Dispatching and storage of sorted waste 4 Repair of furniture 5 Parts breakdown of furniture 6 New product creation from recycled parts 7 Seat furniture reconditioning 8 Recycling of waste-fraction of wood 9 Repair of electrical household applicants 10 Parts breakdown of electric applicants 11 Repair of toys 12 Repair of household goods and textile According to the research of Prof. Masson (University of Liège), the system put in place has an important environmental gain. This environmental gain is particularly directed towards the reduction of the amount of domestic waste to be incinerated or discharged, the reduction of waste transport, and the re-use of used products instead of producing new ones. The environmental gain is valued as about €90/tonne waste, in comparison to other traditional bulky wastes collection schemes. The external costs are valued at €5,5 per bulky wastes object in the RCYCL initiative, and as €10 per object in the traditional bulky wastes collection scheme. The gain is for 1/3 related to the reduced amount of land filled wastes, and for 2/3 to the reduction of transport costs. The model applied in this project could be reproduced by other local entities to organise bulky wastes collection schemes and the subsequent separation, re-use, recycling and disposal. It is clear that the activity is not profitable in itself. It combines social benefits (social insertion, employment, training) with an environmental service delivered. It requires continued input from social insertion funds for its continuation. Whether the model is successful depends notably upon: 1.Geographical situation of the project area (more than 100 residents per km2); 2.Willingness of the public authorities to provide long-term support for the project; 3.Local or regional presence of recycling firms, second-hand shops, social economy enterprises. Possibilities for the development of a network. Possibilities for new activities; 4.Investment possibilities and subsidies. The project has been acknowledged by the local authorities and the waste management actors. In September 2002 the sorting centre obtained the official status of ‘social insertion company’ and ‘6%-VAT enterprise’ from the federal government in Belgium. Several authorities from Belgium and abroad have asked for information in order to evaluate whether the initiative is interesting for them. . An article on this project, published in the 2004 LIFE Focus publication:“A Cleaner, greener Europe”, reported that the network of committed partners remained in place with continued support for the recycling of bulky waste from the Ministry of the German-speaking Community and the Walloon Region of Belgium.
