Financed by:
Ref.:LIFE08 ENV/E/000135
FENIX - Giving Packaging a New Life Finding regional ENvironmental life cycle assessment Information on packaging waste management through fleXible sofwtare tools and databases
LIFE+ Programme Environment Policy & Governance Coordinator
Partners
LAYMAN´S REPORT
FENIX - Giving Packaging a New Life www.life-fenix.eu The beneficiary name: Escola Superior de Comerç Internacional Names of contributors: Ecoembes S.A., PE International, Sociedade Ponto Verde S.A. The project duration: 01/01/2010 - 30/03/2013 with an extension of three months (36 months) Total cost and EU contribution: 2.357.790 € and 1.174.395 €
Contact: UNESCO UNESCO Chair in Life Cyle and Climate Change Escola Superior de Comerç Interacional University Pompeu Fabra Passeo Pujades 1 08003 Barcelona, Spain www.unescochair.esci.upf.edu Dr. Pere Fullana i Palmer pere.fullana@esci.upf.edu
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Contents ntenido Project summary
page 1
The challenge of strategic planning on packaging waste management strategic in European Member States
page 2
Methodology and actions used
page 4
The results: FENIX tool and a database
page 6
What are the positive effects for the waste management sector? Transferability of the project results
page10
page 10
Project summary
T
he FENIX – Giving Packaging a New Life’ project aims at developing an ad-hoc flexible
and user-friendly software tool based on highquality technical and scientific data for evaluating alternative scenarios for the management of post-consumer packaging waste, enabling the selection of more environmentally sound waste management practices. The new FENIX tool assists Spanish and Portuguese local municipalities and waste management entities in the decision-making for performing more eco-efficient and sustainable management of packaging waste. This tool uses a life cycle thinking (LCT) approach by incorporating
• To share the knowledge outcomes among
the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology.
other Spanish and Portuguese institutions
Users of the FENIX tool can introduce and modify
(universities, technical institutes, etc.) aiming
a large number of parameters, such as km
at facilitating the establishment on an
travelled, selection between different collection
Iberian network of experts on LCA and waste
and treatment options, plant efficiency, etc. to
management.
adapt the models created in the tool to their real situation. Up to three different and independent waste management scenarios can be compared at the same time
Objetives: • To create a user-friendly and flexible tool for easily obtaining environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results of packaging waste management alternatives. • To show the usefulness of LCA to help public
• To create and adapt the new software to the user’s real needs. • To transfer the results to other European regions, in particular, the applicability of the project has been tested in Federal Czech Republic.
‘FENIX – Giving Packaging a New Life’ is a 39-month project funded by the European Union’s LIFE+ Programme from 2010 to 2013. The FENIX consortium has 4 partners from 3 European
authorities in different aspects related to waste
countries. In addition, 13 collaborating institutions
management issues.
from technological centers and Universities have
• To compile a specific database and
closely collaborated in gathering and modeling
parametrized models on waste treatment and
data and technologies. Independent experts have
recycling technologies, for Spain and Portugal.
also been involved in key phases of the project.
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The challenge of strategic planning on packaging waste management in European Member Member States
W
aste generation is a problem recognized
than resource consumption and pollution
in Europe. The environmental impacts
during those processes. This is particularly EU WASTE POLICY in countries like Spain and Portugal important
caused by the generation and treatment of waste are raising serious concerns among the
where geographical distribution is very disperse,
European population. In this context,
that means that the
it is clearly recognized that packaging
population in one single
waste merits special attention,
municipality lives in
thus the current European policy is
separate small towns
addressing this issue and trying to
without any physical
minimize its environmental load by
connection between
considering a life cycle approach and
them. Therefore, there
looking for a zero waste society. From
is a growing concern
an environmental perspective, raw
and open debate about
material used, energy consumption
the convenience, from
and emissions during packaging production
the economical, social and environmental point
are quantitatively comparable to the levels
of view,
consumed and emitted during the recycling
European Commission
of extending the selective collection of
different waste fractions to all remote areas.
Story book waste12.indd 1
13/12/2005 10:03:14
process of waste packaging materials. In order to obtain raw materials from waste recycling, it
Life Cycle Thinking approach in the management
is necessary to collect,
of packaging waste
transport, classify and
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has largely established itself as the methodology
finally process them, which
of choice for the evaluation of the potential environmental impacts of human-
also imply the consumption
dominated processes and systems along their full life cycles, ‘from cradle to
of water, energy and
grave’ (or even ‘from cradle to cradle’, thereby explicitly including material
additional materials. Thus,
recycling to give birth to second-generation product systems). LCA, which is a
it is necessary to make a
ISO-standardised environmental methodology, is especially useful in analysing
balance and check whether
alternative options, highlighting the trade-offs between them, and thereby
environmental benefits
helping to single out the most preferable one(s) overall, while avoiding the
of selective collection
pitfall of unintentional impact shifting (between different geographical areas,
and recycling are higher
life cycle stages or impact categories).
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Moreover the waste management sector is a particularly complex
What is packaging?
type of system due to its multi-branched structure and its closely
Packaging is defined as any
intertwining with primary and secondary material and energy
material which is used to contain,
production systems. Therefore, it is especially important to apply
protect, handle, deliver and
a rigorous LCA approach to its analysis, in order to arrive at sound
present goods. Packaging waste
and objective conclusions on its environmental performance. Most of
can arise from a wide range of
the existing software tools, however, are often either too general in
sources including
scope, requiring specific knowledge to set up and operate (making
supermarkets, retail outlets,
it a daunting task for non LCA experts), or on the other hand not
manufacturing industries,
flexible enough to fully take into account the broad spectrum of
households, hotels, hospitals,
available options.
restaurants and transport
bottles, plastic containers,
Packaging waste management in Spain and Portugal
aluminium cans, food wrappers,
The recently approved Waste Directive sets out the advisability of
timber pallets and drums are all
implementing selective collection of
classified as packaging.
different fractions (plastics, metals,
companies. Items like glass
(Source: Eurostat)
paper-cardboard and glass) and the convenience of collecting organic matter separately as well. These fractions differ from the ones currently being collected separately in Spain and Portugal, namely: light packaging (including both plastic and metals), papercardboard, glass and residual waste. Thus, it is necessary to analyze and find the most eco-efficient solution in order to fulfill the Directive´s requirements in these countries.
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Methodology and actions used
A
ctions that have been carried out during
• Identification of the best database format for
the 39 months of the project have been
environmental inventory data collection.
organized as follows: • Analysis of the current and future legal framework of waste management within Europe, with a special focus on Spain and Portugal. • Identification of user´s requirements by developing and submitting a questionnaire (after having interviewed experts on LCA software development and waste management) answered by 440 Management Units (MU) of Spain and all the MU of Portugal (34). • Analysis of the different packaging waste management options within the area of the study. • Assessment of the state of the art in the development of LCA based software tools to help decision-makers with waste management options in other countries.
• Definition of the technical requirements for the database and the software. • Critical reviewed of the technical requirements for the database and the software. • Identification and allocation of responsabilities among collaborators according to their experience in LCA and/or waste management. In total, 13 collaborators from 8 regions of Spain and 3 from Portugal were selected. • Training (basic and advanced) on GaBI modelling and on data collection to the collaborators. • Data search and development of the Life Cycle Inventory Reports by the collaborators. • Modelling of technologies and processes in Gabi 4.0. • Development of economic and social
Map 1: 13 institutions 13 collaborating institutions from technological centers and Universities have closely collaborated in gathering and modeling data and technologies.
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• Critical review of Life Cycle Inventories.
management practices is the Federal Czech
• Development of the first beta version of the
Republic to study its transferability.
tool.
• Critical revision of the final version of the
• Training and pilot test of the tool in different
software by external international experts.
municipalities, which were coordinated by the
• Development of the final version of the
Eixo-Atlántico1 and the Spanish Federation of
software, translation into Spanish and
Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP). In total,
Portuguese and development of a maintenance
10 Spanish and 5 Portuguese municipalities
plan.
participated.
• Development of a training, communication and
• Analysing the state of the art of waste
dissemination strategy. Critical review of...
Reviewer (affiliation)
TSS and TSDB
LCIs
Userfriendliness of the tool
Susana Xarà (UCP)
Paolo Massoni (ENEA)
Dr. Matthias Fischer (LBP)
Dr. Francesc Castells’ team (URV)
Gabriela Bienveniste/Marta Anglada (Cyclus Vitae)
Dr. Michael Hauschild (DTU)
The Eixo Atlântico do Noroeste Peninsular is a cross-border partnership that integrates the 34 main cities of Galicia and northern Portugal, establishing a Border Association of Municipalities, private law, non-profit organizations that make up the urban system in the Euroregion Galicia - North 1
of Portugal.
Review Panel (Chamber of Commerce of Valencia)
Dr. Emmanuel Gentil (DTU)
Bo Weidema (Int. LCA Academy; 2.0 LCA Consultant)
DIAGNOSIS DE LA SITUACIÓN ACTUAL DIAGNOSIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION
Social indicators
ESTUDIO DE LAS NECESIDADES DE LOS USUARIOS USER NEEDS ANALYSIS
Table 1: external international experts who carried out a critical revision of the final version of the software.
ANÁLISIS DE OTROS SOFTWARES OTHER SOFTWARE ANALYSIS
ANÁLISIS DEL FORMATO DE LA
REVISIÓN DE EXPERTOS EXPERT REVISIONS
ESPECIFICACIONES TÉCNICAS DEL SOFTWARE Y DE LA BASE DE DATOS TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE SOFTWARE AND THE DATABASE
BÚSQUEDA DE DATOS: parámetros, inventarios de ciclo de vida… DATA SEARCH: parameters, life cycle inventories…
Resultados previstos Expected results
MODELIZACIÓN DE LAS OPCIONES DE GESTIÓN DE RESIDUOS: recogida, selección, tratamiento y reciclaje WASTE MANAGEMENT OPTIONS MODELLING: collection, selection, recycling and treatment
BASE DE DATOS (Formato ELCD-ILCD) DATABASE (ELCD-ILCD format)
BASE DE DATOS
PRIMERA VERSIÓN DEL SOFTWARE SOFTWARE FIRST VERSION
REVISIÓN DE USUARIOS USER REVISIONS
VERSIÓN DEFINITIVA DEL SOFTWARE SOFTWARE FINAL VERSION
Fig 1: Project conceptual diagram
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The results: FENIX tool and a database FENIX tool
I
t is an ad-hoc software tool for evaluating
can be defined. Per each of them, up to three
alternative scenarios for the management of
ambits can also be defined. A large number of
post-consumer packaging waste, enabling the
parameters may be adjusted, such as: initial
selection of more sustainable waste management
waste composition, type(s) of collection system(s)
practices, in accordance with the current European
and relative distances, collection frequency/-ies,
policy principles.The tool is
type(s) of transference plant(s),
intended to be used directly by
selection plant(s) efficiency/-ies,
the local municipalities and waste
and end-of-life treatment options
management entities in Spain and
(recycling, incineration, landfill).
Portugal, and therefore a special
Access to the tool is web-based
effort was devoted to developing
at http://www.life-fenix.eu, free
a user-friendly on-line interface
of charge upon request and it´s
whereby the user is allowed to
possible to choose amongst one
build their own scenario by simply
of the three languages available:
typing in the waste quantities
English, Spanish and Portuguese.
and selecting the appropriate collection, sorting
Two categories of users (basic and advanced) are
and treatment (recycling, landfilling and/or
pre-defined, enabling access to increasing levels
incineration) processes. Up to three different
of model complexity.
and independent waste management scenarios
The innovative character The most remarkable advances of FENIX tool in comparison to other similar existing tools are: • Most of the data used in FENIX were derived from first-hand research on waste management processes and technologies representative of those currently deployed in Spain and Portugal, bringing unprecedented consistency and representativeness. • The waste collection by truck and associated truck model results are far more flexible than in the previously existing models with greatly improved predictive capabilities, which can be used to answer a number of key “what if” questions and thus allow the environmentally sound choice among alternative proposals. • Landfilling, incineration and combustion in cement kiln models have been significantly improved in comparison with the pre-existing models of currently available LCA databases. • A rigorous and thoroughly consistent approach to the assessment of the avoided impacts to all energy and material recovered has been adopted. An attributional approach has been used. • User-friendly for non LCA experts.
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How to use the FENIX tool?
T
he FENIX tool requires that your computer has internet access and the Microsoft Excel program installed.
What is an ambit?
1
Enter the FENIX tool via GaBI Envision
An ambit is a territorial structure that would be convenient to analyse from the point of view of overall management and waste collection differentially by having different characteristic in production, service, containerization, etc…A large number of parameters adapted to each of the 6 options can be introduced and modified by the users.
Download the FENIX excel file in 3 your computer
the option that you would like 2 toSelect analyse
4 Introduce the data in the excel file
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5 Upload the FENIX excel tool in the GaBi Envision
6 Pre-view the results on-line
7 Download the report with your results on pdf
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Which are the stages of the life cycle of packaging waste included in the FENIX tool?
T
he waste management processes that have
are considered as well.
been included at FENIX´s model are divided
• Valorization: this stage
into 3 stages. includes transport to the • Collection: this stage includes
recycling plant(s) - including
collection, transport to the
preconditioning operations,
waste until transference
if necessary (for paper and
or treatment plants and
cardboard and glass) - operation
operation of the transference
thereof and management of
plant(s) and the transport of
all generated residues. In the
waste from them to treatment
case of high-energy-content
plans.
plastic waste flows (LDPE and
• Treatment: this stage
plastic mix recovered from the sorting plant), the option of
includes the sorting plants (for light packaging waste and unsorted municipal waste), and also the direct incineration or landfilling of the unsorted waste. Final treatment of the residual flows of sorting plants to incineration, landfilling
their transport and incineration with energy recovery (either in municipal waste incinerators or cement kilns) apart from its mechanical recycling is also considered. Credits for recycling and energy recovery of all these valorization processes are included as well.
or cement kilns, and their respective transport to those
Credits are always shown as
treatments, are also included.
negative values in graphs.
Credits for treatment associated to energy recovery
Database of waste management technologies
A
specific database on waste treatment processes and recycling technologies, which is integrated in the software, has been developed. The database is compatible with the International Life Cycle Database
(ILCD), which is a common format to exchange inventory data among different LCA software tools and practitioners, promoted by the European Joint Research Center in Ispra, Italy.
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What are the positive effects for the waste management sector?
T
he most remarkable environmental benefit
of the collection system built in FENIX is broad
of the FENIX project in a mid and long term
enough to perform this type of evaluations.
perspective is the inclusion of a Life Cycle approach in packaging waste management. Assisting local and regional waste managers of Spain and Portugal by means of using the FENIX tool will lead to the implementation of more eco-efficient and sustainable solutions for packaging waste management. Situations in which the environmental inputs in terms of materials and energy expend to collect waste are not compensated (by the avoided impacts as a result
Moreover, environmentally efficient practices go
of the valorization of the recovered materials)
very often hand in hand with economical savings. In
should be avoided. In remote areas, a collection
that sense, long-term environmental benefits from
system in which all waste is collected jointly and
internalizing the use of LCT in packaging waste
sent to a Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT)
management will most likely derive in long-term
plant (where some materials will also be recovered
cost savings for the society as a whole.
to be recycled) may be preferable to their selective
The FENIX software tool is being adopted by the
collection. Evaluating different collection routes,
Spanish and Portuguese Green Dot Holders and it
integrating different municipalities with different
is expected to play a major role in improving the
waste production rates and singular particularities
management of packaging waste in these countries,
could also be assessed because the level of detail
based on sound life cycle principles.
Transferability of the project results With minor adaptations, its transferability to other European countries is also a foreseen possibility for the near future.
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Partners
UNESCO Chair in Life Cyle and Climate Change Escola Superior de Comerç Interacional University Pompeu Fabra Passeo Pujades 1 08003 Barcelona, Spain www.unescochair.esci.upd.edu
Ecoembes S.A. Paseo de la Castellana 83-85 11ª Planta 28046 Madrid, Spain www.ecoembes.com
PE International Hauptstrasse 111-113 70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany www.pe-international.com
Sociedade Ponto Verde, S.A. Sociedade Ponto Verde, S.A. Edificio Infante D. Henrique, Rua João Chagas, 53 1ºDt. Cruz Quebrada 1495-764 Dafundo www.pontoverde.pt
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Collaborators Universidad San Jorge www.usj.es Universidad de Cantabria www.unican.es Escola d’Enginyeria d’Igualada (UPC) www.euetii.upc.es Instituto Tecnológico Metalmecánico www.aimme.es Instituto Tecnológico del Mueble, Madera, Embalaje y Afines www.aidima.es Instituto Tecnológico del Plástico www.aimplas.es Cámara de Valencia www.camaravalencia.es Fundación Centro Tecnológico - Miranda de Ebro www.ctme.org Universidad de Santiago de Compostela www.usc.es Instituto Andaluz de Tecnología www.iat.es Cátedra Ecoembes de Medio Ambiente (UPM) www.catedraecoembes.com Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro www.utad.pt LNEG - Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia www.lneg.pt CCIAM - Climate Change Research Group www.sim.ul.pt
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CONTACT
Dr. Pere Fullana i Palmer Project Director pere.fullana@esci.upf.edu
Alba Bala Gala Technical Coordinator alba.bala@esci.upf.edu
The sole responsibility for the content of this leaflet lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Communities. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. This leaflet is printed on 100% recycled and totally chlorine free (TCF) paper and meets the criteria of the Blue Angel and the European Ecolabel.
© 2010 GiGa – Escola Superior de Comerç Internacional (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Barcelona, Spain All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without written permission of the author. Photos: Alba Bala & Stock exchange - www.sxc.hu
www.life-fenix.eu