Brussels, 18/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - Insisting on the inevitable lapse of time between the beginning of research and the achievement of tangible results, Commissioner Philippe Busquin gave his support for sustainable development during the presentation, on Tuesday, of certain innovative projects on clean technology and recycling processes.
Aid to decontamination and waste recycling technologies will allow even greater change in the methods of production and even the design of products, it will allow discharge and disposal problems to be resolved and will make it possible to stimulate responsible behaviour among users, said Mr Busquin. There also seems to be an economic interest as, according to the report by the European Commission (on "ecotechnology to the service of sustainable development", 13 March 2002), these technologies would generate over 500,000 jobs in Europe and a turnover of EUR 180 billion with annual growth of 10%. The EU, which hopes to move towards zero waste and 100% recycling, has for more than ten years been present through many research and development programmes and actions, said Mr Busquin. This will continue with the sixth framework programme, he continued, before going on to speak of the creation of the Virtual European Recycling Centre start-up (verc.net) financed under the 5th FPRD, able to create conditions of good dialogue on recycling.
Successes already recorded by Community programmes include the research project, TOZELIWA (Towards Zero Liquid Waste), which groups 11 partner companies in the context of the fifth FPRD. This consortium aims at on-site processing of liquid effluent resulting from rinse baths (full of heavy metals) used in the plating process. Techniques to be developed and confirmed (evapo-concentration, ultra-filtration, electrodialysis, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, etc. ) must allow recycling not only of the chemical products contained in the rinse baths but also of the rinse water itself. Jacques Halut, administrator for the society for the protection of metals, considers it is quite possible to reach a zero level of pollution on site from a technical point of view, but the economic cost linked to the strong consumption of water makes things less certain in the large worksites. The PROGRES network, formed by several universities such as Cork, Messina, Cantabria, etc., and companies such as the Dutch advisory firm Kema, has been supported since 1998 by the thematic programme "Brite-Euram". It provides an exchange platform for solutions concerning the elimination of volatile cinders (60 million tonnes are produced annually by electricity power plants) and carries out a study on the basis of which a White Paper will be published over coming months. Effective action from conception of the product is a primordial approach, as can be seen by the thematic network ECOLIFE. The latter aims to reduce electronic waste, such as integrated circuit-boards, by developing products with a low environmental impact during their life cycle and by defining an optimal end of life strategy for each of them. On this subject, Community legislation on electrical and electronic waste is expected for end 2002.
Furthermore, Commissioner Busquin went to the site of the Scoribel company in Seneffe, the town of which he was mayor in the nineties. This subsidiary of the Obourg cement works (Holcim group), which, when it was created, had enjoyed ERDF support in particular, is now a world leader in recycling and the joint processing of industrial waste, specialised in processing waste (sawdust, solvents, oils, plastics, textiles or meat and bone meal, etc. …) into fuels for cement works. According to Jean-Pierre Degré, responsible for diffusion of Scoribel know-how in 70 countries where the Holcim group is present, the use of alternative fuels by all cement industries could reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 50-60% in a sector that accounts for 5% of all world CO2 emissions. In his view, the impact of waste concerning gas emissions and on the product is negligible when the process is well managed. Alternative solid fuel from waste presents the advantage of not producing toxic residues as the organic matter is burnt at very great heat during the cement manufacturing process and mineral matters will be integrated in the finished product. Bernard Küng, President of Holcim (France-Benelux), took advantage of this to call for open borders allowing the free movement of waste that can be re-used.