European Union Towards Circular Economy From Waste Management to Circular Economy-Material Efficiency: The role of Municipal Waste Management in the European Union A comparative study.

Abstract

Since the Industrial Revolution, the increase of human action is reducing environmental self-organizing properties. Mankind’s activities became so extensive to influence natural processes and to produce long-lasting biophysical effects. According to P. J. Crutzen, these changes suggest that the Earth system entered into a new geological era: the Anthropocene. The relationship between man and nature changed. As a consequence planet is moving towards «a less biologically diverse, less forested, much warmer, and probably wetter and stormier state» (Steffen, 2007). Beside this, current human-driven natural phenomena are further contributing to create new economic and social challenges. After the industrialization, resources’ extraction has significantly increased due to a rise in world’s inhabitants and an enhancement of the standard of living. At the same time, it seems there may be a kind of correlation between the main growth inidcators and waste accumulation. It follows that while societies are experiencing an economic growth without precedent, the environmental pollution and global resource scarcity represent an emerging challenge for the world’s economy (Michael Lieder, 2016). Under this perspective, the traditional linear-based economic approach should turn toward more sustainable circular schemes aimed at resource value maximization and waste prevention. Specifically, while within the current business models raw materials are extracted, processed, consumed and straightforward returned into the environment as waste, Circular Economy (CE) strives for the development of a circular system able to turn waste into a valuable resource (EPRS, 2014). The role of Waste Mmanagement (WM) clearly plays a fundamental role in CE transition. Nonetheless, not only the shift does require sustainable waste management (SWM) practices, but a new paradigm aimed at supplying secondary raw material (SRMs) to industries. This represents a win-win solution for both the economy and the environment. Against this background, recently the European Union has hold its attention in promoting resource efficiency (RE) and developing an entirely CE. With the aim to both, protecting environmental safety and reinforcing EU countries’ growth and competitiveness on the global scale. In line with this,the objective of this research is to understand whether the EU framework does facilitate a convergence of the Member States (MSs) policies and outcomes, and go beyond it through analysing whether is there any convergence process at EU and MSs levels in CE. In order to answer to the question, several countries have been analysed and compared respectively on WM and Municipal Waste Management (MWM) regulatory framework toward CE. The countries are: France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. Above all, it will be carried out a review of the overarching legislation on WM and CE in each country. Particular attention will be devoted to assess the synergy between WM and CE to close the material loop. Hence, its relevance to transform waste in raw and intermediate materials whose need a shift on production and waste paradigms.