Table of contents

    Raw material must be removed from the waste label

    2 minutes
    22 March 2022

    Table of contents

      Many raw materials extracted from waste are still incorrectly labeled 'waste'. This not only makes the recycling and use of the raw materials difficult, but also makes it difficult to start up companies in the Netherlands that recover the raw materials. D66 MP Kiki Hagen recently asked parliamentary questions about it again.

      It is not new that waste laws and regulations stand in the way of extracting raw materials from waste. Several companies have encountered this in recent years. A few make themselves heard in the media. Such as the Dutch N+P Group. The company extracts as many reusable materials from waste as possible. What remains goes into the incinerators. The company has grown significantly in recent months. Last year, for example, it already took over the sorting factory for PMDs from PreZero, and the company recently acquired the English company Crayford MRF. But N+P is also best known as a producer of alternative fuels. A factory for this is located in Groningen. What is produced there may not be used in the Netherlands, N+P Group founder Karel Jenissen told newspaper De Limburger. In the Netherlands, this product is considered waste by law. Not abroad.

       

      Carbon Black


      Another recent example of raw materials that are labeled waste is the substance Carbon Black. This is recovered from end-of-life car tires by the company Black Bear Carbon. The company is stuck on Dutch legislation that makes carbon black waste and not a raw material. This means that Black Bear Carbon's new production facility is regarded as a waste processing plant. This hinders the granting of permits. With this matter, the company spoke in various media. D66 Member of Parliament Kiki Hagen steered on this
      some political questions to the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, Vivianne Heijnen. The first question: 'Are you familiar with the article 'Future of recycler Black Bear uncertain due to definition issue?'

       

      Advisory report Taskforce Reassessment of Waste


      As mentioned, the dossier on waste legislation and regulations that hinders the extraction of raw materials is not new. In 2018, the Waste Reassessment Task Force met to draw up an advisory report. This was commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Association of Water Authorities. The report followed in 2019. Hagen now asks to what extent something has already been done with the solutions as described in the report of the Waste Reassessment Task Force. She also asks about new laws and regulations that ensure that waste that has already been processed as a raw material does not receive a so-called 'red flag'.

      The Netherlands has set itself the goal of being fully circular by 2050, but the transition to a circular economy was already ten years behind at the time of the report by the Waste Reassessment Taskforce. The call for a breakthrough that was made at that time has not yet been answered, if we read Hagen's parliamentary questions.

      Source: https://www.recyclingmagazine.nl/ – february 22, 2022