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Environmental Standards

Material Recovery and Recycling of Waste















KSA Presidency of Meteorology and Environment PME Reference


Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Page 1 of 13






Article I Preliminary

1) Definitions

BPEO means Best Practicable Environmental
Option; this is the option that provides the most
benefits or least damage to the environment as a
whole, at acceptable cost, in the long term as well as
in the short term.

CFCs refers to chlorofluorocarbons.

Competent Agency where referenced, refers to
the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment or
its designated representative.

disposal means the discharge, deposit, injection,
dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any waste
into or on any land or water so that such waste or
any constituent thereof may enter the environment or
be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters,
including ground waters.

feedstock refers to the raw material required for
the process.

Generator is a commercial or industrial
organisation which produces or stores trackable
waste and arranges for this waste to be sent for
storage, recycling, treatment or disposal at another
location via an authorised transporter.

GER refers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabias
General Environmental Regulations 2001.

HCFCs refers to hydrochlorofluorocarbons.

hazardous waste is a waste with properties that
make it dangerous or capable of having a harmful
effect on human health and/or the environment.

KSA refers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

MRF refers to Materials Reclamation Facility.

mulch is any loose material placed over the soil to
control weeds and conserve soil moisture. Usually
this is a coarse organic matter, such as leaves,
clippings or bark, but plastic sheeting and other
commercial products can also be used.

parameter shall refer to a chemical, physical or
biological measurement factor as listed.

plant shall refer to the equipment, including
machinery, tools, instruments, and fixtures and the
buildings containing them, necessary for an industrial
or manufacturing operation









PME refers to the Presidency of Meteorology and
Environment, which is designated as the responsible
authority for the protection of the environment and
the development of environmental protection
standards in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

recyclable materials refers to post-use materials
that can be recycled for their original purpose or for
different purposes.

recycling is the separation and collection of
wastes materials for the subsequent transformation
or remanufacture into usable or marketable products
or materials.

storage means all operations intended to keep or
contain wastes and other hazardous, toxic or
radioactive substances for the purpose of treatment,
transportation, recycling or disposal.

transporter means a person engaged in the off-
site transportation of waste by air, rail, highway or
water and is anyone who transports the trackable
waste from its place of production or storage to
another location.

treatment is any means or technique of altering
the physical, chemical or biological properties of
wastes used to neutralize such wastes; utilize
substances or energy contained therein or released
by them; and transform the hazardous wastes into
wastes that are non-hazardous, less hazardous or
safer when transported, stored, disposed of,
prepared for storage, or reduced in volume.

2) Citation
a) This document may be cited as the National
Material Recovery and Recycling of Waste Guidance
Document for KSA. This guidance standard revises
the current General Standards for the Environment
(specifically document number 1409-01) issued by
the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment
(PME).

3) Timescales for implementation

a) The effective date of this standard is 01/05/1433H
corresponds to 24/03/2012G.



Kingdom of Saudi Arabia National Environmental Guidance

Material Recovery and Recycling of Waste
KSA Presidency of Meteorology and Environment PME Reference


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4) Purpose

a) This Guidance Document has been compiled to
provide PME with a foundation on which to develop
an effective programme to implement best practice
initiatives in relation to recovery and recycling of
waste materials within KSA.

b) Diverting waste for recovery or recycling, where
possible, not only reduces the environmental impact
of waste but also reduces demand on natural
resources. Recycling and recovery are therefore an
important part of the progressive transition towards
better resource management.

c) PME is charged with protecting the natural
environment and therefore is obliged to issue controls
over waste activities in KSA. This guidance document
aims to assist in minimising harm and ensuring the
protection of the environment, taking account of what
is affordable and practicable.

5) Scope

a) This Guidance Document relates to the recovery
and recycling of waste materials and follows the
internationally recognised waste management
hierarchy of;

i) prevention (incorporating waste
avoidance and waste reduction);

ii) recycling (incorporating reuse, recovery
and waste utilisation);

iii) treatment;

iv) disposal (as the last resort).

b) Therefore, PME should consider the
implementation of initiatives on waste prevention and
waste minimisation as a first step before relying on
waste recovery and recycling schemes to divert
waste from disposal.

c) This Guidance Document extends to municipal,
commercial, institutional and industrial wastes (see
Waste Classification Standard) so as to provide PME
with a holistic picture on which to consider the
introduction of recycling and recovery initiatives
across KSA. Preventing waste and making better
use of resources requires varied approaches and by
necessity must include the waste collected under the
control of the municipalities if recovery and recycling
are to be realistic options for waste diversion in KSA.

6) Periodic review

a) As a minimum, the Competent Agency shall
undertake a periodic review of this standard every 5
years.

b) Where new information suggests that adjustments
are required to this standard, all changes will be
subject to the appropriate consultation and will be
notified to facilities by the Competent Agency.



Article II Why Introduce Recovery and Recycling
Initiatives?

a) Recycling is a series of activities that includes
collecting recyclable materials that would otherwise
be considered waste, sorting and processing
recyclables into raw materials and manufacturing raw
materials into new products.

b) Recovering and making ongoing use of our
resources makes good sense for the KSA economy.
Finding new uses for recovered materials creates
jobs and income for KSA. It also reduces costs to
rehabilitate the environment, reduces disposal and
other costs of managing waste.

c) The recovery and recycling of waste materials has
the following resultant benefits;

i) preserves raw materials and natural
resources;

ii) reduces the amount of waste that requires
disposal;

iii) reduces energy use and associated
pollution;

iv) provides business and job opportunities;

v) reduces greenhouse gas emissions;

vi) reduces pollution associated with use of
virgin materials.

d) Recycling should be practised whenever waste
prevention is not possible, provided that any such
recycling is cost effective, taking into consideration
environmental benefits, financial costs and
community wishes.

e) The effectiveness of recycling schemes depends
on demand for returned material and an adequate
supply of recyclable waste.

f) Where recycling and recovery are the Best
Practicable Environmental Option for particular waste
streams, then these options should be encouraged
by PME. This is achieved by encouraging
development of recycling infrastructures, developing
the generator responsibility initiative, reviewing
manufacturing and purchasing standards to ensure
that they do not unnecessarily discriminate against
recycled materials.



Article III Considerations in Designing Recovery and
Recycling Programmes
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1) Approach

a) No single approach can be applied universally
across all sectors or waste streams. Geographic
location, population numbers and density, existing
infrastructure and socioeconomic circumstances all
affect programme design and performance.

b) In a country such as KSA with large distances and
a relatively low population density, local and regional
approaches are preferred where possible. Systems
need to balance the desirability of resource recovery
and re-use against the environmental, economic and
social disadvantages of transporting products and
materials long distances for treatment, recovery or
sale.

c) Designing an efficient recycling programme
requires a systems approach. Decisions about
collecting, marketing, and processing recyclables are
interrelated. Making a decision about one component
of a recycling programme without taking into account
the impact of that decision on other components may
lead to an inefficient and overly expensive
programme, prone to public criticism and low
participation. Since the public (citizens, families, and
businesses) must be relied on to participate by
separating a high percentage of uncontaminated
recyclable materials, the programme must be
designed with public convenience and support as a
primary objective.

d) Comprehensive publicity and information
campaigns, addressed at householders and
individuals in companies, are essential to encourage
the separation of recyclable material from waste and
also to ensure a high quality of sorted waste with the
minimum of contamination by incorrectly placed
materials.

e) Designing an effective recycling programme
requires a careful analysis of the variety of technical
options available in light of the resources and goals
specific to a community.

f) Each community is unique; others can provide
ideas, but each community or regional cooperative
should develop its own programme. Community
decision making should follow a coordinated process.
Following a sequential approach reduces the
likelihood of overlooking an essential issue or giving it
insufficient attention. The long-term success of a
programme can be jeopardized by inadequate
planning or poor implementation.

g) For recycling to work, everyone has to participate
in each phase of the loop. From government and
industry, to organisations, small businesses, and
people at home, every Saudi citizen can make
recycling a part of their daily routine.
2) Key Issues

a) Recycling may not always be the best
environmental or economic option for a particular
type of waste and a full analysis of the processes
involved in recycling versus treatment and disposal
should therefore be made. This is explained in the
Guidance Document Best Practicable Environmental
Option for Waste Disposal.

b) A range of economic instruments should be
introduced to encourage diversion of waste from
landfill and incineration and to develop more waste
recycling. These may include landfill taxes,
incineration taxes, direct waste charging schemes
and tradeable waste allowances. Increasing the costs
of waste disposal to the manufacturer through
increased waste disposal costs or the setting of
regulatory recycling targets encourages the
development of low-waste-producing processes and
is an incentive to recycle.

c) The recyclable components of waste include
paper and cardboard, plastics, glass, metals and
organic or putrescible materials, made up of garden
and food wastes, which are suitable for composting.
However, it is not technically feasible or economically
desirable to recycle all the components of waste.
Detailed analysis of the solid waste producing sectors
can highlight the potential areas where recycling of
specific materials would be most beneficial.

3) Promoting Demand for Waste Material

a) If recycling is to be viable, industries able to use
secondary or recyclable materials must be identified
in KSA.

b) The fundamental approach in recycling must be to
foster an environment in which development and the
commercialisation of recycled products are
encouraged.

c) Actions to promote recycling and increasing
demand for recyclable products in KSA may include;

i) governmental assistance to provide
incentives to develop technology which
can use waste and ensure its introduction
in KSA; particular attention should be
given to establishing viable recycling
industries in regional areas;

ii) the promotion of research and
development into recycling of materials;

iii) co-operative action with industry
associations to establish guidelines for
industry practice which encourage
voluntary selection of products with
recycled content;

iv) the implementation and operation of a
Waste Exchange Register or an Industrial
Symbiosis Programme.

4) Overcoming Resistance to Recycling

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Where technologies to recycle materials exist but are
not fully used, incentives should be used to
encourage their use. Providing information to industry
about the availability of wastes suitable for recycling
is necessary and waste exchange registers can be
effective in this regard.

b) Industry waste reduction targets and agreements
may also have advantages and these should be
reviewed for potential application in KSA.

Article IV The Recycling Process
a) Collecting and processing secondary materials,
manufacturing recycled-content products, and then
purchasing recycled products creates a circle or loop
that ensures the overall success and value of
recycling.
1) Collection and Processing
a) Collecting recyclables varies from community to
community, but there are four primary methods:
kerbside, bring centres, buy-back centres, and
deposit/refund programmes.
b) Regardless of the method used to collect the
recyclables, the next leg of their journey is usually the
same. Recyclables are sent to a Materials
Reclamation Facility (MRF) to be sorted and
prepared into marketable commodities for
manufacturing. Recyclables are bought and sold just
like any other commodity, and prices for the materials
change and fluctuate with the market. The recovery
of waste materials may involve their transfer to a
composting facility or a waste-to-energy facility.
c) At the outset, collection programme developers
must decide the best way for citizens, institutions and
businesses to prepare recyclables for collection and
the best way to collect the materials. Local conditions
should be taken into account when designing a
collection programme.

2) Bring System

a) The bring system involves the segregation of
recyclable materials, for example, paper, plastic and
glass bottles, from municipal waste by the public and
delivery to a centralised collection site. The sites may
be bottle and paper banks for the disposal of many
types of material or the local scrap merchant.

b) This system has the advantage of being low in
capital costs, easily accessible and can also provide
an easy method of segregating clean readily
marketable materials. The disadvantage is that the
acceptance of the schemes by the public can be low.
Additionally, the sites may become unsightly with
litter spillage and can be an attraction for vandalism.

c) The collected materials are taken either directly to
a materials reprocessor or to a MRF where further
processing takes place to sort, clean and grade the
waste before transfer to the reprocessing plant.

3) Collect System

a) The collect system involves house-to-house
kerbside collection of designated recyclable
materials, source separated by the householder and
placed in separate containers. Equally, recyclable
commercial and industrial waste that has been
segregated at source by the Generator from other
non-recyclable waste streams may be collected
directly from the waste generators premises.

b) Wastes may be placed in one container for sorting
after delivery to the MRF. Alternatively, waste may be
segregated into separate containers or sections of a
container.

c) The advantages of the collect system include
convenience for the waste Generator and higher
recovery rates of recyclable materials.

4) Direct Recycling

Industrial waste recycling includes direct recycling,
where waste material is recycled back into the
manufacturing process in-house within the factory.
Consequently, the material does not enter the waste
management process.

5) Manufacturing
a) Once cleaned and separated, the recyclables are
ready to undergo the second part of the recycling
loop. More and more of today's products are being
manufactured with total or partial recycled content.
b) Common items that contain recycled materials
include newspapers and paper towels; aluminium,
plastic, and glass soft drink containers; steel cans;
and plastic laundry detergent bottles.
c) Recovered materials are also used in innovative
applications such as recovered glass in roadway
asphalt or recovered plastic in carpeting, park
benches and pedestrian bridges.
6) Purchasing Recycled Products
Purchasing recycled products completes the
recycling loop. By "buying recycled", governments, as
well as businesses and individual consumers, each
play an important role in making the recycling
process a success.

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Article V Preparing an Effective Recycling Programme

1) Twelve Component Process

a) Regardless of whether or not national recycling
legislation or standards are in place, developing and
implementing a recycling programme should involve
a 12-component process. By following this systematic
approach, programme managers will improve the
likelihood of programme success. The process
consists of the following components:

i) identify goals;

ii) characterize recyclable quantity,
composition and accessibility;

iii) assess and generate political support;

iv) assess markets and market development
strategies for recyclables;

v) assess and choose technologies for
collection and processing;

vi) develop budget and organisation;

vii) address legal and siting issues;

viii) develop start-up approach;

ix) implement education and publicity
programme;

x) begin programme operation;

xi) supervise ongoing programme and
continue publicity and education; and

xii) review and adjust programme.

2) Identify Goals and Scope of the Programme

a) Each region or community should begin planning
for source reduction and waste management
programmes by first discussing the goals it is trying to
achieve.

b) A key goal should be source reduction which will
eliminate the need to manage waste. There are also
many other valid goals; these include protecting the
environment, providing local business and job
opportunities, and saving resources.

c) By defining goals, each region or community can
better determine the type of programme it wants. For
example, if a community is interested only in the
economic benefits of a recycling program, it may
choose to recycle only the most cost-effective items,
such as aluminium. Items that are more costly to
collect or have low market prices such as plastic may
be excluded from the programme.

d) Alternatively, if a communitys goal is to preserve
landfill space and conserve resources, the
community may decide to strongly support source
reduction and to collect a larger variety of items, even
if collecting some materials results in higher unit
costs.

e) Once goals are determined, the scope of the
intended programme must be defined. Will the
programme be community wide? Will a regional
approach cover all sectors, including residential,
commercial, institutional and industrial sectors? By
answering these questions, the proposed programme
will be put into focus. Defining programme scope will
help develop programme organisation and ensure
waste characterisation analyses are useful and cost
effective.

3) Characterise Quantity and Composition of
Material

a) The cornerstone of successful planning for a waste
management programme is reliable information about
the quantity and type of material being generated and
how much of that material collection programme
managers can expect to prevent or capture.

b) Without a good idea of the quantities that can be
expected, decisions about equipment and space
needs, facilities, markets, and personnel cannot be
reliably made.

c) This also identifies large weight and volume waste
items to target for source reduction and recycling
programmes and gives baseline data for assessing
whether goals were achieved.

d) Depending on the size of the programme and the
resources available to the community, there are a
variety of waste characterisation techniques that can
be used. First, there are modelling techniques that
apply generic waste generation rates and other
community features to predict the waste quantities
and types. These techniques are inexpensive and
can provide a general idea of the quantities and types
of waste expected for a programme just starting up.

e) More accurate in describing the waste stream, but
also more expensive and time consuming to
implement, are the physical separation techniques.
These techniques sample the community waste
stream itself, using statistically significant sampling
techniques to determine a community waste
generation profile. Depending on community goals,
both have a place in developing an effective waste
management programme.

f) Some form of waste characterization estimate is
crucial to programme success, because later
decisions will be based on this information.

g) The waste management option being considered
will help determine the degree of detail needed from
the waste characterisation study. For a landfill
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project, only gross waste volume estimates are
needed to help determine space needs. This is also
true of estimating garden waste volumes for a
windrow composting programme.

h) For these types of management strategies, generic
and historically based waste generation rates may
provide acceptable accuracy.

i) For other alternatives, accurate predictions of
waste volumes and composition are crucial to long-
term programme success. Accurate characterisation
will allow certain waste to be targeted for source
reduction efforts. Many facets of a recycling
programme, including the size of an MRF, the volume
of recyclable material to be sold, and equipment and
personnel requirements for collection are dependent
on accurate characterisation of the waste stream.

j) For a waste-to-energy project, both sizing the
facility and calculating the quantity of energy that the
facility will generate are based on characterising
waste volume and type.

k) In the long term, the quantity of waste available for
the facility will be affected by other options, including
source reduction, recycling and composting.
Inaccuracies in waste characterisation studies for
these alternatives can severely and negatively impact
the economic viability of the programme.

4) Assess Markets and Market Development
Strategies for Recyclables

a) The ultimate success of recycling may be
dependent on stable, reliable markets for recyclables.
Unless a community has markets for the materials it
collects, it may end up temporarily storing some
materials and later landfilling some or all of them.

b) If citizens are asked to separate materials for
recycling and some are subsequently landfilled
because markets are depressed or nonexistent, a
negative political backlash may result; community
support for recycling could fail and the program may
be jeopardized.

c) Securing stable, reliable markets for recyclables is
a twofold process;

i) it requires marketing decisions based on a
clear understanding of the infrastructure
of recycling;

ii) it demands that recycling planners,
government officials and the public share
responsibility with the private sector in
adopting and implementing market
development strategies.

d) In recycling, the market infrastructure includes two
tiers: intermediate markets and end-use markets.
Intermediate markets are commonly categorized as
transporters, processors, brokers and converters.
End-use markets use recovered materials as
feedstock to manufacture new products.

e) Transporters are companies that collect
recyclables or are waste haulers who have expanded
their business to include collecting recyclables from
residents and businesses. Most waste transporters
will accept unprocessed recyclables, either source-
separated or mixed. These materials are commonly
marketed to another intermediate materials handler
or domestic market; collectors usually do not export
materials.

f) Processors accept and modify recyclables from
residential or business sources by sorting, baling,
crushing or granulating. Processors include local,
private buyback centres and privately or publicly
operated MRFs. These buyers sell to other
intermediate buyers or domestic end-use markets
and do not generally use export markets. Processors
may be material-specific (for example, processing
mixed paper into various goods).

g) Brokers buy and sell recyclable materials, often
arranging to have them shipped from one location to
another by transporters or processors. The broker
receives a fee for this service. Depending on the
situation, some brokers provide processing services,
while others only move pre-processed recyclables.
Brokers generally sell to converters or to end-use
markets and commonly export materials to foreign
countries. The advantage of brokering is that brokers
have a variety of markets available to them and can
switch materials from one market to another
depending on demand and other factors. Sometimes
brokers are able to quickly market a slightly
contaminated load for a lower price through other
market contacts. Brokers may require all materials
collected to be marketed through them so that they
receive the more lucrative materials as well as
materials with higher levels of marketing risk.

h) Converters are companies that take recyclable
materials in a raw form and alter them so they are
readily usable by a manufacturer. An example of a
converter is a company that produces pulp from
paper; the pulp is then used by a paper mill.

i) End-use markets are public or private sector
entities that purchase recovered materials from a
number of sources and use those materials as
feedstock to manufacture new products.
Communities may want to market some materials
directly to end-use markets. Although direct
marketing eliminates the need to pay a broker, the
community assumes the risk if the buyer rejects a
slightly contaminated load and there is no alternative
market readily available. If, however, a community
has a well-run programme producing high-quality
recyclable material, direct marketing can work well.
Direct marketing to end users can relieve the
community of broad swings in market prices and
provide benefits to local manufacturers. As with any
operation of this kind, local marketing must be
carefully developed and the materials value well
publicised.
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j) Market development involves the attempt to create
an even balance between the supply of recyclables
and demand for products manufactured from those
materials. J ust as each recyclable material has
unique marketing characteristics, so market
development initiatives vary by material. Depending
on the material, strategies can be demand or supply
directed, require more stringent material
specifications or be a combination of two or more
types of strategies.

5) Developments and Improvements

a) Part of an ongoing continuum, technology
developments such as those described above
depend on effective public/private partnerships that
provide funding opportunities and guarantee supplies
of recyclables.

b) Consumer demand, government research and
regulations, and private sector initiatives will
necessitate continuing these efforts.

c) Local governments can work with businesses to
encourage them to adopt new technologies that will
advance local recycling markets; providing financial
assistance when possible will be an additional
incentive.

d) Guaranteed supplies of recyclables, along with
guarantees from local governments or businesses to
purchase products manufactured with local
recyclables, can also be an incentive.

e) Development of better vehicle, rail and overseas
transportation networks to move recyclables to
domestic and export markets may strengthen
markets for many recyclables.

f) Three primary approaches to developing new
markets for recyclables are generally associated with
business development:

i) attracting an established recycling
industry to locate a manufacturing facility;

ii) encouraging existing local manufacturers
to use or increase their use of recyclables;
and

iii) assisting local entrepreneurs with the
start-up of small-scale manufacturing
businesses, which utilize recyclables.

g) However, it is important to note that most
legitimate businesses will not be attracted or
encouraged by a supply of recyclables alone; they
need to know that sufficient demand for their
products exists to make their operation financially
viable.

h) The most traditional approach to recycling market
and economic development has been to encourage
large companies to locate a plant in a given region by
providing incentives.

i) More recent business development concepts for
encouraging market growth focus on establishing
local linkages. Linkage studies identify the flow of
goods and services in a specified region. Conducting
a linkage study is one of the first steps toward
eventually encouraging existing industries to use
recovered materials generated locally and to
encourage new business start-ups to do the same.
This market development concept also lends itself
well to local economic development.

6) Education Strategies

a) Education is one of the most vital components to
help foster market development among the public
and private sectors. Educational programmes must
involve every sector of the population, including
government officials, industry representatives,
transporters, haulers and processors of recyclables
and the general public.

b) PME officials responsible for setting solid waste
policy at the local and national levels must be
educated to understand the impact of policy
decisions. Whether procurement of recycled products
is mandatory or voluntary, government employees
should be educated to pursue procurement practices
favourable to recycled products whenever possible.

c) Industry officials need to be made aware of the
importance of recycling at their facilities and of using
recycled products. Perhaps even more important,
industry managers should be provided with
information regarding available supplies of
recyclables, developing recycling technologies and
funding sources.

d) Creating a working group including industry and
PME officials is an important mechanism to facilitate
such information sharing.

e) The transport and processing sector is a vital link
to market development, since it is through this sector
that a reliable supply of quality recyclables is
generated. Education programmes geared toward
helping transporters understand the importance of
quality control at the kerb or bring sites are vital.

f) Likewise, educating public and private sector
processing facility employees is important to ensure
that manufacturers specifications will be met.

g) The general public may be one of the most vital
links to market development and educational
programmes for this sector are, therefore, of utmost
importance. The public must be educated to
understand the importance of participating in
recycling programmes and following local
requirements regarding contaminants and acceptable
materials.

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h) In addition, efforts must be made to increase
public awareness of recycled products sold at retail
outlets.

i) Finally, information about standardised definitions
for recycled products needs to be disseminated to
the public so individuals can understand and assess
the environmental and recycled claims made by
manufacturers.

j) To implement an effective local education
programme, it is useful to appoint an education
committee to work with recycling staff or volunteers.
Committee members should include representatives
from the local Competent Agency, manufacturing
industries, the commercial sector, recyclers
(transporters/processors), and the public. The
committee should devise a comprehensive local
education strategy. The members will also educate
the other members of their respective interest groups.

7) Start-Up Approach

a) After deciding what materials will be recycled and
estimating the quantities of each, the community is
ready to develop a basic programme design. For
most communities, developing a design will involve
making three important decisions;

i) the community must decide what
collection method(s) to use;

ii) the community must decide how the
mechanics of the collection system will
work;

iii) the community must decide what type of
processing and storage facility is needed
to prepare materials for marketing.

b) To develop a unified, efficient programme, each
decision must be made in relation to the others.

c) When analyzing available collection and
processing arrangements, the interaction between
the public and private sectors should be carefully
considered.

d) A thorough analysis of potential collection and
processing options should include an analysis of the
benefits and costs associated with all public and
private sector alternatives, including a combined
approach.

e) Recycling collection and processing systems must
be designed to incorporate the requirements of the
provisions in national Waste Standards and
Regulations, where relevant.


Article VI Waste Recycling Materials

The list of potentially recyclable materials is long and
it continues to grow as technological developments
enable more materials to be recycled into more
products. To simplify a discussion of these materials,
the list can be grouped into six major categories of
post consumer recyclables:

i) Plastics;

ii) Paper;

iii) Glass;

iv) Metals;

v) Tyres; and

vi) Green waste.

1) Plastics

a) Plastic polymers make up a high proportion of
waste. There are two main types of plastic:

i) thermoplastics: these soften when heated
and harden again when cooled; and

ii) thermosets: these harden by curing and
cannot be re-moulded.

b) Thermoplastics are the most common type of
plastics and they are the most easily recyclable.

c) Table 1 shows typical applications of the main
plastic types.

Table 1: Primary Applications of Plastics

Plastic Type Typical Application
Thermoplastics
High density
polyethylene (HDPE)
Bottles for household
chemicals, bottle caps,
toys, housewares
Low density
polyethylene (LDPE)
Bags, sacks, bin liners,
bottles, cling film,
containers
Polyvinyl chloride
(PVC)
Food trays, bottles, toys,
cable insulation, flooring
Polystyrene (PS) Egg cartons, yoghurt
pots, drinking cups, tape
cassettes
Polyethylene
terephthalate (PET)
Carbonated drinks
bottles, food packaging
Polypropylene (PP) Margarine tubs, crisp
packets, packaging film
Thermosets
Epoxy resins Automotive parts,
electrical equipment,
adhesives
Phenolics Appliances, adhesives,
automotive parts,
electrical components
Polyurethane Coatings, cushions,
mattresses, car seats
Polyamide Packaging film
Polymethylmethacrylate Transparent all weather
electrical insulators
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Styrene copolymers General appliance
mouldings

d) The market structure for plastics is the least
developed among recyclables because of the recent
development in recycling capabilities. However, most
plastics can be densified locally by flattening, baling
or granulating, and sold either to converters, where
the resins are turned into pellets, or directly to
domestic or export end users for remanufacture into
such products as soda bottles, lumber, carpet and
carpet backing, flower pots and insulation.

e) In many countries, plastic is collected from
commercial and industrial sources as separate plastic
fractions, much of which is recycled back into the
plastic product manufacturing process.

f) The plastics in municipal waste are mainly in the
form of plastic film and rigid containers. Plastic film is
extremely difficult and highly impractical to recycle.
However, plastic containers and bottles are more
easily collected separately or segregated from the
waste stream.

g) The separated plastic material is processed by the
end user by being granulated or pelletised, melted or
partially melted, and extruded to form the end
product. The recycled plastic may be added to virgin
plastic during the process.

h) Applications for plastic mixtures include plastic
fencing, industrial plastic pellets, traffic cones,
playground equipment and garden furniture.

2) Paper

a) Recovered paper is classified as newsprint,
cardboard, mixed paper (including magazines, junk
mail and boxboard), high-grade de-inked paper
(white office paper) and pulp substitute (usually mill
scrap).

b) Paper mills, the most common end users of
recovered paper, use the material as a feedstock to
manufacture recycled paper and paper products,
such as newsprint, corrugating medium and tissue
products. Other uses of recovered paper include
roofing felt and chipboard.

c) Shredded paper can be used to make animal
bedding, mulch, moulded pulp products, and
cellulose insulation.

d) The major use for recycled paper is in the
packaging sector for such applications as packaging
case materials, carton boards and wrappings.

e) The use of recycled paper for quality printing and
writing paper is low due to quality issues. The
demand for recycled waste paper is very dependent
on market conditions, particularly as waste paper is
an internationally traded commodity.

f) Waste paper is graded by countries in Europe into
different categories based on quality:

i) Group 1: Ordinary;

ii) Group 2: Medium;

iii) Group 3: High;

iv) Group 4: Kraft (chemical sulphate pulp);
and

v) Group 5: Special.

g) Within each group the different categories of
waste paper and board are designated using a
standard numbering system. The degree of
reprocessing of the recycled paper and board
required depends on the grade of paper collected as
waste and the end use.

h) The higher quality grades collected, such as paper
mill production scrap and office waste, require less
processing and are used as a primary paper pulp
substitute in applications such as printing paper and
tissues.

i) Intermediate grades of waste paper, such as
newspapers, require further processing to de-ink the
paper and can be recycled back into the newspaper
industry for newsprint.

j) Lower quality waste paper is used mainly for
packaging material and constitutes the main route for
recycled paper and cardboard.

k) Emissions to air and water and solid waste can be
reduced when recycled paper is used in comparison
to virgin paper. In addition, recycling can reduce
energy requirements by up to 40% and water
consumption by as much as 60%.

l) However, there is a practical limit to the number of
times that paper can be recycled because the fibres
eventually break down and become too small for the
papermaking process. Estimates suggest that a
maximum number of four recycles is possible.

3) Glass

a) Glass is made from the relatively cheap raw
materials of silica sand, limestone and sodium
carbonate. However, glass making is energy
intensive and glass recycling can reduce the energy
used, since recycled glass melts at a lower
temperature than the raw materials. For example,
increasing the amount of glass waste or cullet in the
furnace to 50% can result in a 15% savings in
energy.

b) Glass may therefore be typically broken for size
reduction or crushed into cullet and ultimately sold to
glass manufacturers as furnace-ready cullet after
metal caps and rings, labels, and other contaminants
are removed.
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c) Waste glass bottles, jars and other containers
comprise the main glass waste in municipal waste.
The main system for collecting glass is through bottle
banks, kerbside collection schemes and through
MRFs.

d) Municipal glass waste consists mainly of clear,
brown and green bottles and jars and must be
separated into the colour categories to avoid potential
contamination. Glass waste in the form of mixed
colour cullet is rarely recycled.

e) Alternative markets for glass include road
surfacing material, art glass, sandblasting grit and
fibreglass insulation from post industrial window pane
glass.

f) Recovered glass markets usually opt for the least
contamination. Recycling programme planners must
address this concern for high-quality recovered glass,
as well as for other materials.

4) Metals

a) Scrap metals are derived either from industrial
operations or as post-consumer metal products
collected from the waste stream.

b) The industrial operations scrap metal is a purer
form of the metal since it comes directly from the
manufacturing industry. It is usually of known quality
and composition and often uncoated and is therefore
readily recycled back into the metal production
process.

c) Scrap metal collected as post-consumer scrap is
made up of discarded, used or worn-out products
and, as such, usually contain residues of other
contaminant components.

d) Metals have the advantage over other recyclable
materials in that the characteristics of the metal are
not changed by the recycling process and metals can
be recycled over and over again.

e) Ferrous scrap derived from the recycling of iron
and steel comes mainly in the form of bulky waste
such as vehicles, household appliances, equipment,
bridges, cans and other iron and steel products.

f) Nonferrous scrap metals include aluminium,
copper, lead, tin and precious metals.

g) Both ferrous and nonferrous metals can be
prepared for sale to markets through some
combination of processing by flattening, baling and
shredding of the material. In some cases, processors
may melt the metal into ingots before selling it to end-
use markets.

5) Tyres

a) Tyres represent a special challenge to solid waste
and recycling managers. In the past most tyres were
re-treaded but with the advent of steel-belted radials
and cheaper new tyres, fewer tyres are being re-
treaded.

b) There has been growing resistance to landfilling of
tyres, since tyres do not degrade easily in landfills as
they are bulky and take up valuable landfill space
while preventing waste compaction. They can also
cause instability within the landfill and may float to
the surface of the landfill site.

c) Open dumping and stockpiling of tyres creates the
risk potential for accidental fires or arson resulting in
high pollution emissions to the atmosphere and water
courses.

d) Consequently, there is a requirement for an
increase in re-use, re-treading, recycling and energy
recovery from scrap tyres.

e) Using chipped or shredded tyres as a fuel source
is a growth area. Electricity generating facilities, pulp
and paper mills and cement kilns are the most
common processes to use scrap tyres in this manner.

f) Crumb is fine-grained or granulated tyre material
obtained from the shredding and/or grinding of tyres.
The main uses for rubber crumb are as childrens
playground surfaces, sports surfaces, carpet backing
and as absorbents for oils and hazardous and
chemical wastes.

6) Green Waste

a) Green waste includes vegetation and plant matter
from household gardens, municipal parks and
gardens and commercial landscaped gardens.

b) Composting of green waste is a viable alternative
to landfilling. In addition to composting green waste,
some sites may also accept source separated kitchen
waste.

c) Composting of green waste is not as widely used
as it might be for two reasons in particular:

i) the low cost of landfill relative to
composting: until recently, it has not been
cost effective for waste management
companies to select composting over
landfill; and

ii) the lack of a market for the product: the
principal barrier to more widespread use
is the negative perception of composted
waste as a product and the problem of the
absence of recognised standards for
waste derived compost.

d) Obtaining a consistent quality product from
composting requires a consistent quality waste
feedstock with little or no contamination. Countries
with composting plants have frequently been beset
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with problems over odour and public nuisance,
particularly where controls on accepted materials
and/or operational practices are inadequate.

e) In order to ensure composting is a success it
needs to be carefully managed. It can require
expensive capital investment for shredders, plant,
drainage, roofing and enclosed housing.

f) Alternatives for green waste include incineration
with energy recovery and chipping or shredding to
create mulches.


Article VII Hazardous Waste Recycling

a) Hazardous wastes do not cease to be dangerous
simply because they are being reused, recycled or
recovered. Many hazardous waste recycling
operations may pose serious health and
environmental hazards and must be subject to
compliance with national Waste Standards and
Regulations.

b) Reuse, recycling and reclamation should be
viewed instead as ways of managing hazardous
wastes which, if properly conducted, can avoid
environmental hazards, protect scarce natural
resources and reduce reliance on raw materials and
energy.

c) The list of potentially recyclable hazardous wastes
is long and it continues to grow as technological
developments enable more wastes to be recycled
into more products. To simplify a discussion of these
wastes, three categories of hazardous recyclable
wastes: batteries, CFCs and waste oils, are provided
as examples below. Other hazardous waste
categories could be similarly analyzed.

1) Batteries

a) Apart from a number of specialist varieties,
batteries can conveniently be classified into two main
types: automotive and consumer. The former can
normally be recycled, but the vast majority of the
latter are usually thrown away.

b) The components of lead acid, automotive batteries
can be separated for recycling purposes. The lead
and acid contents of used batteries are classified as
hazardous and whole batteries may be delivered to a
central point for recovery. The lead plates can be
sent to smelters for re-smelting, the polypropylene
cases can be sent for recycling into other
polypropylene items such as video casings, and the
sulphuric acid can be re-used as low grade acid,
regenerated or sent for neutralisation and disposal.

c) There is generally an economic incentive for the
recycling of lead acid batteries, due to the value of
the lead metal in the battery plates.

d) Similar lead acid batteries are used for purposes
other than motor vehicles such as telephone
exchanges and back-up power supplies. These can
be considered in the same way as automotive
batteries.

e) Consumer batteries can be categorised into single-
life types such as zinc-carbon, alkaline manganese
and various button cells, and rechargeable varieties
such as nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride.
Much of these types of batteries are disposed of as
municipal wastes.

f) All batteries contain hazardous substances in
various quantities. Where consumer batteries are not
municipal wastes, for example batteries for business
appliances, then they may be classified as hazardous
waste (such as nickel cadmium batteries or mercury
dry cells).

g) However, consumer battery recycling is restricted
by the cost of collecting, segregation and recycling of
the materials compared with their value. In the past
there were also problems with hazardous
components, especially mercury, in batteries which
made recovery of other materials technically difficult.

h) Recycling of batteries is becoming more
commercially viable as mixed battery feedstock
becomes mercury free. Further, clearer labelling of
different battery types or standard colour coding can
make segregation at source or after collection easier.

i) Waste reduction (by volume and by
hazardousness) might be achieved by greater use of
rechargeable batteries and/or reducing the power
requirements of battery driven appliances.

j) As part of designing an effective recycling
programme, assessment of the range of collection
infrastructures and reprocessing options that might
have the potential to recover large quantities of spent
consumer batteries from industrial, institutional,
commercial and municipal sources should be made.

2) CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) and HCFCs
(hydrochlorofluorocarbons)

a) Refrigerators and freezers contain dangerous CFC
and HCFC gases that damage the ozone layer. They
are found in both the cooling circuits and the
polyurethane insulation foam.

b) Each unit must be carefully processed to remove
these compounds and to prevent their escape into
the atmosphere.

c) They should be taken away for degassing, where
the coolant gases are removed and stored by a
specialist for recycling. The compressor is drained
and carefully removed and then the appliance is
shredded. This enables the recovery and recycling of
the steel, copper, aluminium and plastic components.

d) The polyurethane foam can be powdered and
degassed. It can then be used in a range of products.
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3) Waste Oils

a) Waste oils include waste mineral (petroleum) oils
from automotive, industrial and other sources. Most
lubricating oils contain additives which produce a
specified performance from the oils. Additives may
include rust inhibitors, detergents or alkaline
compounds, and constitute between 5% and 25% of
their formulation. Waste oils can contain traces of the
additives and contaminants following use, including
metals or combustion products.

b) All waste oils are classified as hazardous waste
(see the Waste Classification Standard). However,
improved refining and formulation have reduced the
hazardousness of many oil products. Oil is a highly
polluting substance and is often responsible for more
pollution incidents than any other group of
substances.

c) There are a number of sources of waste oil,
including: automotive engine, transmission and gear
oils; industrial gear, hydraulic, compressor,
transformer and cutting oils; and others including
marine and aviation oils.

d) There are three main waste management options
for dealing with waste oils: regeneration; combustion
after treatment; and combustion without treatment.

e) Regenerating waste oil: waste industrial
lubricants can be regenerated through laundering,
reclamation or re-refining;

i) laundering is most appropriate for waste oils
of a known composition. Laundering
involves heating, filtration, de-watering and
the addition of fresh additives before the oil
can be re-used;

ii) reclaimed waste oils can be used for
secondary purposes, for example, as a
mould release in foundries. Treatment may
involve centrifuging and/or filtering to
remove impurities;

iii) waste oil can be re-refined into a base stock
oil ready for blending. A number of
processes are used, with varying success
both in terms of environmental and
economic performance.

f) Combustion after treatment: waste oil can be
combusted after treatment. Different levels of
treatment can be applied to the waste oil depending
on the desired application. Low level treatment allows
waste oil to be blended into fuel oil which, for
example, can be used in road-stone plants to dry
limestone for road construction.

g) Waste oil can also be treated to produce a fuel
with similar properties and emissions levels to that of
virgin fuel. Waste oil is passed through a flash
column to remove water, and then through distillation,
sediments, heavy hydrocarbons, metals and
additives are removed.

h) Direct combustion of waste oils: waste oil is
also burned in small space heaters without any pre-
treatment.

i) Vegetable Oil from commercial and industrial
waste origins is a relatively small source of waste oil.
This should be dealt with through specialist
contractors, who will normally pay for sufficiently
large collections on the order of 80 litres or more.

j) Oil Filter Recycling: Most garages and workshops
should be able to send oil filters for recovery at
specialist plants. The standard process is to
compress the filters, squeezing out the oil, which can
then be treated. The solid remainder, compressed
into a block, can then be passed to metal
reprocessing plants, although the contaminated
nature of the filters means that the consignment has
to be treated as hazardous waste.

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