Legislation packaging waste

Confusion as to what constitutes municipal waste is presenting an obstacle to the use of packaging waste as a fuel in cement kilns. Whilst cement kilns can bum hazardous waste, they cannot bum a wide range of non-hazardous materials, it is reported. The case of Castle Cement is described which planned to bum a range of non-hazardous commercial and industrial wastes. Some waste-fired combustion processes, however, such as UK Waste s Fibre Fuel operation have been granted derogations where fuel is manufactured by advanced mechanical processes, which includes the production of fuel pellets. This latter process would be pointless for the cement industry since their fuels have to be pulverised. The problems are further discussed with reference to current European legislation. 

This article reviews packaging legislation in the USA, and includes details of the laws in several states. It also briefly outlines various packaging waste policies in other parts of the world. 

PET is an ideal material for recycling. It can be reprocessed multiple times and the source material is available in large quantities, mostly as a mono-material . The main focus today is on PET bottles which are collected in dedicated collection systems [108] or separated from other waste streams. Around the world, countries are planning to or have already adopted legislation to reduce packaging waste by the following approaches ... 

EC Legislation Council Directive of 27 July 1976 76/768/EEC Laws relating to Cosmetic Products. EC Directive, 4th Amendment, Art. 6 labelling. EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste. 

In recent years, conventional plastics have been widely used, which cause severe environmental problems with the increase in their waste. With mounting the environmental and legislative pressure to reduce plastic and packaging wastes, there has been an increased demand for biodegradable or biomass-based plastics that are compatible with the environment. Therefore, alternative materials that can be biodegraded have emerged [1, 2]. 

Packaging en packaging Waste Directive (1994) http //europa.eu/ legislation summaries/environment/waste management/121207 en.htm. Accessed 13 Oct 2013... 

Legislation concerning packaging, waste paper, and waste... 

Secondary Fiber. Increasing costs of taw fiber, legislative mandates for recycling (qv), and avadabdity of inexpensive waste papers have contfibuted to the increased use of recycled fibers. The use of secondary fiber in the United States has grown from 22% of pulp from all sources in 1978 to close to 31% (24 x 10 metric tons) in 1993 (3). Recycled fibers ate sometimes used in special writing papers, but the principal use is for the manufacture of linetboatd, newsprint, tissue, cereal boxes, towels, and molded paper products such as paper plates and egg cartons (see Packaging materials, containers AND INDUSTRIAL materials). 

In addition to the solid waste problem, we can also expect that with expanding population or expanding demands of a static population, there will be societal pressure to reduce material usage over and above cost factors. These pressures could result in legislation to expand the environmental protection philosophy. For example, since plant materials are a renewable resource as well as readily recyclable, we may expect forced increases in paper-based packages. 

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