Too much waste ends up in the ocean >>>

I just want to congratulate Bowman and Gibson for their article on methane emission from landfills. The actual methane emissions from some landfills serving Indianapolis were included in a recent nationwide study of methane emissions from landfills, by N.J. Themelis and A.C. Bourtsalas of Columbia University. Please see more about this study, in your "Context" question below. Prof. Nickolas Themelis, Columbia University

Across the EU the legacy of that is an estimated 150,000 to 500,000 historic landfill sites – many not built to today’s sanitary standards. A four-year EU funded project investigate the potential to recover materials, energy and land from these sites concluded.

A team of waste experts from the digital waste marketplace Cyrkl has published a guide aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of large companies and reducing their waste management costs. The first company out of many can save 230 000 EUR on closed-loop recycling of plastic boxes, the second earns 534 000 EUR a year by crushing cables. What other numbers does Cyrkl share in the publication? And why does waste management help during the crisis?

Together with the recognition of anaerobic digestion, the broader inclusion of Waste-to-Energy in the EU Taxonomy would have been a positive signal for the whole waste management sector.

The Waste Wise Cities Tool (WaCT)supports cities and countries in establishing better waste and resource management strategies, creating business and livelihood opportunities, and transiting towards a circular economy. Globally basic data on municipal solid waste (MSW) generation and management is lacking, especially in low- and middle-income settings. This lack of data hinders the development of management strategies and investments in infrastructure, leading in many countries to insufficient or absent MSW management services.

Under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union agreed on a European Climate Law this morning 22nd of April, 2021. Significant progress had been made on the draft law under the German Council Presidency.

As of January 01, 2021, stricter regulations apply to plastic waste exports from the EU. Unsorted or contaminated plastic mixtures may no longer be traded inter-nationally. The reason for this is that this waste is difficult to recycle and thus often ends up illegally in the environment. Therefore, only clean and well-sorted plastic waste may be traded.

Kumbakonam is a municipal town in Tamil Nadu, India, well known for its farm-based activities. It is also known as the granary of South India. As per the 2011 Census, the city has a population of 0.14 million and stretches over 12.5 sq. km.

The environmental and energy performances of the Italian municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) system was investigated by a life cycle assessment approach. On average the 39 MSWIs operating in Italy in 2018 treated about 6,000,000 Mg of residual municipal solid waste (RMSW) recovering on average from 448 kWh Mg−1 RMSW to 762 kWh Mg−1 RMSW of electricity and from 732 kWh Mg−1 RMSW to 1102 kWh Mg−1 RMSW of heat.

ESWET welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Industrial Emission Directive revision. Better implementation of the IED would further strengthen the waste management sector's leading role in pollution prevention.

Personal protective equipment (PPE), e.g. the face covering to avoid the COVID-19, is spread in public and private spaces. Since the pandemics, the amount of PPE production has increased, likewise the amount disposed in the environment, especially in the ocean and the communities around.

The WtE power plant in Istanbul is expected to be operable in 2021 which will be the first one in Turkey and will enhance the beneficial use of solid waste in Turkey.