SERBIA
Recycling Solutions The waste management system in Serbia is based on its 2009 environmental legislation, which includes the polluter pays principle. While most household and commercial waste is collected by public municipal companies there are three private companies collecting municipal waste, all Austrian. The 10 sanitary landfills are owned by the public utility companies with the cost of landfill being around €10-20 per tonne, but there are in addition hundreds of local waste dumps. The City of Belgrade in 2015 announced a public-private partnership tender for the huge Vinca landfill to also include an energy from waste facility. There is no landfill tax and unlikely to be until all the dump sites are closed. There are different aspects to the concept of sustainability so that in Serbia the collection and recycling of PET plastic bottles has a different aspect in that there are around 30,000 waste pickers collecting recyclable wastes in order to survive economically, from men with tricycles collecting cardboard from public waste bins in the centre of Novi Sad through to picking PET bottles from landfill sites, “sub-contracting” to landfill operators. Greentech, a Serbian company that buys PET bottles acquires 45% of its PET bottles from waste pickers, with a further 19% coming from landfill collection, 10% from industry and the remainder from the public utility companies. For the last few years around 33,000 tonnes of PET bottles have been collected with the majority repressed in Serbia, 10,000 tpa by Greentech at its plant at Backa Palanka, 45km west of Novi Sad, and by two other companies. Greentech also processes 3,000 tpa of polyethylene film at its site using a separate facility and different technology.
WORLD
Waste And Recycling Trends In 2017 While many of waste and recycling’s core functions haven’t changed too drastically coming into 2017, the year has just begun — and following 2016, it’s safe to say that anything can happen. Luckily, there is time to prepare. In the same way that organic waste and glass became the talk of 2016, there are new topics to buzz about this year that will likely transform the way the industry operates. Based on conversations with industry figures, here are the trends that Waste Dive will be watching in 2017. 1.Commodity prices likely to make a comeback 2. Recyclers to move away from weight-based goals 3. Flexible packaging to continue growing (and presenting challenges) 4. Shifts in politics to create more division 5. Increased infrastructure spending to present competitive opportunities 6. Technology to transform operations
UK
Biomass Recycling To Benefit From CHP A wood recycling site in the UK is expected to generate over $1.25 million in additional revenue after installing new combined heat and power (CHP) technology. The Pedigree Power recycling site in Northamptonshire converts around 25,000 tonnes per year of waste wood to biomass and includes a 30,000-tonne wastewater processing plant. The addition of a steam-raising boiler and a 580 kWe genset from Heliex Power will allow the facility to become energy self-sufficient, providing its own power and heat. Heliex Power said the 580 kWe system will be twinned with one of its 103 kWe units at the facility. The new system will allow Pedigree Power to benefit from enhanced Renewable Heat Incentives (RHI) and Contract for Difference (CfD) payments.
31
THINKING GREEN & LIVING CLEAN