How to prevent plas.c from ge3ng into the sea

Transcription

1 How to prevent plas.c from ge3ng into the sea Plas.c Marine Li9er: One big market failure Dr. Arthur ten Wolde IMSA Amsterdam

2 IMSA Amsterdam IMSA Amsterdam is an independent think tank and consultancy in the field of sustainability and innova.on (1985) Founded by CEO Wouter van Dieren, member Club of Rome Integral systems thinking approach Mul.disciplinary team (17) of academic professionals Specialized in stakeholder dialogues Clients and sponsors range from large chemical, food, oil, and energy companies to governments at all levels as well as NGOs

3 IMSA Plas/c Marine Li4er Projects 2011: Plas.c Marine Li9er Project, Dutch stakeholders engaged, report Plas%cs do not belong in the ocean : Plas.c Marine Waste project carried out with Stuf Kaasenbrood (Plas.csEurope) and sponsored by Plas.csEurope and flooring company Desso. Outcome: Plas%c Marine Li4er: One big market failure (2013)

4 Main sources in the North Sea Pellet loss Transport Use Scrubs Laundry End-of-life Beach litter Production Recycling Land fill Energy recovery Virgin plastics River litter (Arrows not to scale!) Fisheries Shipping North Sea Re-use Waste water plant

5 Plas/c Marine Waste Project Focus Focus North Sea: a plas.c free North Sea within one genera.on Land based plas.c waste Method Interviews Stakeholder mee.ng

6 Waste management around the North Sea Waste management rela.vely outstanding S.ll, li9ering is substan.al and the main source of land based plas.c waste in the North Sea Further improve waste management Photo: Jan Andries van Franeker, IMARES, 2012

7 The issue of plas/c marine li4er Publicity / Exposure 1. Issue escalation Reincarnation Potential triggering event: Health 2. Scenario 2: Lingering below the threshold Issue fatigue Triggering event: Gyre discovery Current status 3. Proactively managed Birth Growth Development Maturity Post-maturity Time

8 Current policy situa/on in the EU EU and na.onal policies in development Lack of urgency and poli/cal will in EU to address plas.c marine li9er and waste management issues. Focus on reducing land filling, especially in Southern and Eastern member states Plas.c marine li9er in the North Sea is considered a minor issue in the EU

9 Current situa/on: business and NGOs Too few companies recognize their indirect producer responsibility for plas.c marine li9er NGO ac.ons are also limited There is a lot of knowledge and experience but insufficient ac.on

10 Current plas/cs chains in Europe

11 Towards circular plas/cs chains Source: Ellen MacArthur Founda.on (EMF), 2012

12 Conclusions on the circular economy To boost ac.on against plas.c marine li9er requires coupling it to the concepts of Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency. The Circular Economy philosophy is inherently appealing, yielding economical benefits, ecological benefits and enhanced coopera.on Market failures at several levels need to be addressed (IMSA/Circle Economy, 2013: 14 steps to overcome 22 barriers)

13 What could this mean in prac/ce? Comparison needed of plas.c products and alterna.ves over the complete life cycle, including end of life and biodegradability Design for reduce, reuse, recycling, decomposi.on and subsequent regenera.on, non li9ering of plas.cs and for minimal impact of li9ered plas.cs Avoid poten.al toxic substances and material diversity Separate biodegradable from conven.onal plas.cs Develop 100% biobased and/or biodegradable materials

14 Barriers to closing the plas/cs loops Market failures: One Big Market Failure Costs of recycling systems War on waste / plas.c volume Quality recyclate supply & demand mismatch Vested interests in the linear plas.cs chains Lack of stakeholder coordina.on and coopera.on. Lack of suppor.ng government policies in the EU and NL: Insufficient implementa.on, enforcement, ambi.ous and binding waste reduc.on targets, budgets, poli.cal will and sense of urgency to to improve the situa.on around the North Sea.

15 Conclusion More ac.on on plas.c marine li9er is needed to: 1. Reduce li9ering, especially of short cyclic packaging materials 2. Accelerate Circular Plas.cs Chains 3. Achieve absolute decoupling between plas.cs use and its environmental impact through remaining leaks

16 Recommenda/on 1: Reduce Li4ering Make marine li9er a priority of exis.ng li9ering reduc.on campaigns and preven.on schemes. Apply new insights in influencing behaviour of people to li9ering preven.on schemes. Make waste infrastructure logical and consistent to enable automa.c behaviour. Develop addi.onal incen.ves for consumers to separate and recycle their waste, e.g. innova.ve pay back schemes. Encourage clean up of street li9er, e.g. voluntary cleanup campaigns and structural schemes. Share best prac.ces in li9ering approaches and intensify coopera.on between public, business and NGO ini.a.ves.

17 Recommenda/on 2: Accelerate circular chains Economy & market Policy Niche (early movers in a linear world) Circular pilots & business models Marketing & promotion True pricing and integrated reporting Index + incentives for circularity Studies on market failures & marketbased instruments Research & development Transformation / system change (changing the business environment) Scale-up of collection & recycling schemes Resource Identification Tag Systems (RITS) Regulation, taxes, levies, bans Mandatory integrated reporting and true pricing Review quality standards Coordination & cooperation Dialogue on strategies, priorities, responsibilities, costs & benefits Decoupling & cascading ambitions & strategies Powerful waste management coordinator Technology & infrastructure Design for recycling Collection, sorting, separation, recycling and degradation technologies & systems Investments in technologies & systems Logical and comfortable collection schemes

18 Recommenda/on 3: Decouple economic growth from material use Global plastic production Mtonne/y Business as usual total plastic produced by 2050: ~ 33 billion tonnes Factor 2 and catching up Strategy Optimize lightweight design Minimize single-use disposable products Prolong product lifetimes Cleaner production Reuse products Reuse components Mechanical recycling Chemical recycling Replace products by services Ban of high impact plastic products

19 Thank you for your a4en/on If you have any ques.ons, do not hesitate to contact us! Dr. Arthur ten Wolde IMSA Amsterdam Plas.c Marine Li9er Coordinator Prins Hendriklaan AX Amsterdam The Netherlands E info@plas.cmarineli9er.eu T +31(0)