554874
editorial2014
WMR0010.1177/0734242X14554874Waste Management & Research
Editorial
Future informal waste material recycling: Implementation of return fees?
The collection and recycling of waste materials by private individuals for profit is usually referred to as informal waste material recycling. Informal recycling schemes typically involve individual waste pickers, who collect recyclable items from for instance landfills, waste dumps, public dust bins, waste collection containers, waste transfer stations, and public areas. The collected materials are sold to the industry, usually via an intermediate trader in recyclable materials. Informal waste recycling is very widespread especially in developing (low-income) countries, where living costs are sufficiently low, allowing waste picking to generate sufficient income for basic living necessities. Traditional informal waste recycling usually does not involve any form of public economic support, but is solely driven by the demand for specific recyclable materials by the industry. Seen from a public expense point of view, informal waste recycling is, therefore, to be preferred over formal separation and collection schemes, that are usually operated on public funds and which can be quite costly. Informal recycling also provides low-income households with additional income, and reduces the quantity of waste (such as water bottles) thrown in the environment (littering). Wastes dispersed in the environment are often very expensive to manage using formal systems, due to the often high costs of collecting the wastes. Informal waste recycling can further be quite effective with respect to the fraction of recyclable materials in the waste stream that are actually collected and recycled. Several observations indicate, that for selected materials, informal recycling can be just as effective as, and sometimes even more effective than, formal recycling systems. The main disadvantage of informal waste recycling systems is that only materials which can be turned into a profit (materials that are in demand by the industry) are recycled (the so-called raisin picking), while management (including recycling) of remaining wastes (which has been reduced in value due to the ‘raisin picking’) must rely on a formal system. The key to a successful informal waste recycling sector where waste recycling is maximized is, therefore, that the profit generated from recycling is large enough compared with other sources of income to make the effort worthwhile. Globally, standards of living generally tend to increase over time, which means that the amount of disposable income and buying power per household increases. Informal waste recycling tends to decrease with increasing standard of living, and in highincome (developed) countries informal waste recycling is,
Waste Management & Research 2014, Vol. 32(10) 937–938 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0734242X14554874 wmr.sagepub.com
therefore, much less widespread. The main reason for decreasing informal waste recycling is likely that waste material prices are controlled by the global market and, therefore, often do not increase to the same extent as general income levels. This means that potential profits from waste recycling become relatively small compared with other sources of income, rendering informal waste recycling less attractive. Thus, in high-income countries, waste recycling is usually a public service responsibility, and is handled via formal systems usually funded by the tax-payers. The key to an effective formal recycling scheme for any waste material is a wellfunctioning source separation. Unfortunately formal recycling schemes often fail to achieve this (primarily because there is little or no incentive for individuals to separate their wastes) and large fractions of recyclable materials often end up in landfills or are incinerated for energy production instead. Maintaining a certain level of informal waste recycling may therefore be advantageous to reduce recycling costs and improve recycling efficiency. So how do we maintain a well-functioning informal waste recycling sector? The key to efficient informal recycling of any given waste material is to make recycling economically worthwhile. For those materials where world market prices are too low to prompt recycling, additional incentives are necessary. Such incentives may be provided by implementing a return fee system for those waste materials for which recycling are desired. Return fee systems are not a new idea, Denmark, for instance, has for many decades operated a very efficient return fee system for reusable glass beverage containers, where citizens pay a fee when purchasing the (full) containers and get the fee back when returning the (empty) containers to the retailer. Beverage manufacturers are then responsible for collecting the containers from the retailers and reusing them. With the introduction of aluminum and plastic beverage containers (which are not reusable but must be re-melted) the Danish return fee system was expanded to include these as well, and today these are recycled almost as efficiently as the reusable glass containers. The return fee system may be applied not only to products made from a single material such as beverage containers, but also to specific composite products such as consumer electronics (phones, computers etc.). Programs where manufacturers are obliged to take back used-up products are already in place in certain regions, and combining those with a return fee system will likely increase the quantity of products that are returned to
938 manufacturers for recycling. This type of system is already in use in Japan where consumers can deliver electronic appliances to collection points and redeem their return fee. As in the Danish case this system is very efficient. Ultimately, one may envision return fees being applied not only to specific products, but also to
Tjalfe G Poulsen Xi’an Jiaotong, Liverpool University, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, China Email: [email protected]
Waste Management & Research 32(10) specific recyclable materials such as packaging. Such a system will be able to reduce or eliminate the ‘raisin picking’ problem if applied to all waste materials. It will, however, require that return stations are equipped to detect both the specific material being returned and the weight of the materials.
editorial2014
WMR0010.1177/0734242X14554874Waste Management & Research
Editorial
Future informal waste material recycling: Implementation of return fees?
The collection and recycling of waste materials by private individuals for profit is usually referred to as informal waste material recycling. Informal recycling schemes typically involve individual waste pickers, who collect recyclable items from for instance landfills, waste dumps, public dust bins, waste collection containers, waste transfer stations, and public areas. The collected materials are sold to the industry, usually via an intermediate trader in recyclable materials. Informal waste recycling is very widespread especially in developing (low-income) countries, where living costs are sufficiently low, allowing waste picking to generate sufficient income for basic living necessities. Traditional informal waste recycling usually does not involve any form of public economic support, but is solely driven by the demand for specific recyclable materials by the industry. Seen from a public expense point of view, informal waste recycling is, therefore, to be preferred over formal separation and collection schemes, that are usually operated on public funds and which can be quite costly. Informal recycling also provides low-income households with additional income, and reduces the quantity of waste (such as water bottles) thrown in the environment (littering). Wastes dispersed in the environment are often very expensive to manage using formal systems, due to the often high costs of collecting the wastes. Informal waste recycling can further be quite effective with respect to the fraction of recyclable materials in the waste stream that are actually collected and recycled. Several observations indicate, that for selected materials, informal recycling can be just as effective as, and sometimes even more effective than, formal recycling systems. The main disadvantage of informal waste recycling systems is that only materials which can be turned into a profit (materials that are in demand by the industry) are recycled (the so-called raisin picking), while management (including recycling) of remaining wastes (which has been reduced in value due to the ‘raisin picking’) must rely on a formal system. The key to a successful informal waste recycling sector where waste recycling is maximized is, therefore, that the profit generated from recycling is large enough compared with other sources of income to make the effort worthwhile. Globally, standards of living generally tend to increase over time, which means that the amount of disposable income and buying power per household increases. Informal waste recycling tends to decrease with increasing standard of living, and in highincome (developed) countries informal waste recycling is,
Waste Management & Research 2014, Vol. 32(10) 937–938 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0734242X14554874 wmr.sagepub.com
therefore, much less widespread. The main reason for decreasing informal waste recycling is likely that waste material prices are controlled by the global market and, therefore, often do not increase to the same extent as general income levels. This means that potential profits from waste recycling become relatively small compared with other sources of income, rendering informal waste recycling less attractive. Thus, in high-income countries, waste recycling is usually a public service responsibility, and is handled via formal systems usually funded by the tax-payers. The key to an effective formal recycling scheme for any waste material is a wellfunctioning source separation. Unfortunately formal recycling schemes often fail to achieve this (primarily because there is little or no incentive for individuals to separate their wastes) and large fractions of recyclable materials often end up in landfills or are incinerated for energy production instead. Maintaining a certain level of informal waste recycling may therefore be advantageous to reduce recycling costs and improve recycling efficiency. So how do we maintain a well-functioning informal waste recycling sector? The key to efficient informal recycling of any given waste material is to make recycling economically worthwhile. For those materials where world market prices are too low to prompt recycling, additional incentives are necessary. Such incentives may be provided by implementing a return fee system for those waste materials for which recycling are desired. Return fee systems are not a new idea, Denmark, for instance, has for many decades operated a very efficient return fee system for reusable glass beverage containers, where citizens pay a fee when purchasing the (full) containers and get the fee back when returning the (empty) containers to the retailer. Beverage manufacturers are then responsible for collecting the containers from the retailers and reusing them. With the introduction of aluminum and plastic beverage containers (which are not reusable but must be re-melted) the Danish return fee system was expanded to include these as well, and today these are recycled almost as efficiently as the reusable glass containers. The return fee system may be applied not only to products made from a single material such as beverage containers, but also to specific composite products such as consumer electronics (phones, computers etc.). Programs where manufacturers are obliged to take back used-up products are already in place in certain regions, and combining those with a return fee system will likely increase the quantity of products that are returned to
938 manufacturers for recycling. This type of system is already in use in Japan where consumers can deliver electronic appliances to collection points and redeem their return fee. As in the Danish case this system is very efficient. Ultimately, one may envision return fees being applied not only to specific products, but also to
Tjalfe G Poulsen Xi’an Jiaotong, Liverpool University, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, China Email: [email protected]
Waste Management & Research 32(10) specific recyclable materials such as packaging. Such a system will be able to reduce or eliminate the ‘raisin picking’ problem if applied to all waste materials. It will, however, require that return stations are equipped to detect both the specific material being returned and the weight of the materials.
