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Resource and Waste Management Waste is a two-sided coin - both a potential danger and a resource. Although waste is a potential threat to human health and the environment if not handled correctly, it is also a resource that can minimize the use of virgin materials and generate energy. By using the waste as a resource we can connect production and consumption and create a more sustainable development. It is essential that we, both within EU and in the wider world, can develop effective solutions to both sides of the coin.
The Copenhagen Resource Institute will:
- Provide an overview of the development of recycling in the EU
- Develop projection of waste quantities and estimation of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the management of municipal waste and construction and demolition waste
- Analyse transboundary shipments of waste within and of the EU and its environmental and economic effects
- Provide an overview of waste legislation and policy instruments across the EU
- Generate ideas that will improve waste prevention
What is SCP? Sustainable consumption and Production (SCP) is a holistic approach to how society and the economy can be better aligned with the goals of sustainability through changes in consumption and production patterns.
Current patterns of consumption and production in rich industrialised countries are unsustainable and are the main cause of global environmental problems from climate change to biodiversity loss. The problem is becoming more acute as the global consumer class grows. It has been estimated that if everyone in the world live like Europeans do today we would need three planet Earths to provide us with sufficient resources and environmental services.
We urgently need a new sustainable blueprint for societies and economies. SCP can provide this blueprint by creating the framework conditions that can reduce emissions, increase efficiencies and prevent unnecessary wastage of resources. At the same time it should aim to raise quality of life and increase social equity within and between countries.
SCP engages all parts of the economy through the stages of investment, material extraction, production, distribution, consumption, to waste management. It also needs the active involvement of all stakeholders – government, business and civil society.
SCP policy can include adjusting economic and regulatory frameworks to favour the development and spread of low impact, innovative technologies and products and to penalise excessive resource use and emissions. Action can also be taken to increase citizen’s awareness over the impacts of their consumption, and to motivate and empower them to move towards more sustainable lifestyles as easily and painlessly as possible. Business has a key role to play in offering more sustainable products and services to consumers and reducing the environmental consequences of their own activities and the activities of their suppliers.
Life Cycle Thinking Life cycle assessment is an environmental tool designed primarily to assess impacts from products or services on the environment by taking into account the entire life-cycle. LCA has developed through time into an approach for policy making: When a system is under investigation, a life cycle perspective should be attributed to every decision-making process within the broader environmental field. The integration of LCA into management decisions has lead to the Life Cycle Thinking (LCT).
The Copenhagen Resource Institute believes that LCT is an essential element of every study that supports decision-making. By utilising LCT, many tools and features appear in the researcher’s kit that help us to:
- Maintain an overview of the entire system and adopt a more holistic perspective
- Identify the environmental “hotspots” and focus areas in a system, which allows targeted measures
- Track down the consequences of a decision through all the chains of a system
- Evaluate in environmental terms the differences between two options either when designing a system or when attempting to alter it
- Take into account the global dimension by examining activities in different regions and their global impacts
State of the art European policy We are extensively involved in collecting, synthesizing and analysing data and information about European and national policies related to our fields of expertise. Being the leaders of the European Environment Agency’s European Topic Centres since 1997 we have been working on the European arena of resource and waste management and SCP in support to the European Environment Agency and other European stakeholders with information about policies in place and their effectiveness.
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