Sewage sludges as well as ashes from waste incineration plants are known accumulation sinks of many elements that are either important nutrients for biological organisms (phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, etc.) or valuable metals when considered on their own in pure form (nickel, chrome, zinc, etc.); they are also serious pollutants when they occur in wild mixtures at localized anthropogenic end-of-stream points.

Polishing agents containing high amounts of cerium oxides and lanthanum oxides are used during the production process of Swarovski Crystal items, since polishing of the cut and grind-ed surfaces is the fi nal step required to achieve the characteristic radiance and brilliance. Currently, the amount of these REE oxides used annually is up to 300 tons. Before the start of this recycling Project in 2011, the used REE oxides were deposited alongside other production slurries, since their price on the world market was relatively low and recycling was not feasible for various reasons.

The contaminated site ST19 (Gerbereideponie Schmidt), a former tannery waste disposal site, is situated in the southern part of the city of Weiz (Styria, Austria). The area is split up into two parts by a main road passing the landfill.

European political initiatives like for example Horizon 2020, the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on raw materials, the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) for raw materials, and the European Technology Platform on Sustainable Mineral Resources (ETP SMR) show the vital importance of a secure raw material supply to our industry.

During the first half of the 20th century, several different dumping sites, distributed in two different town districts of Leoben, were used for the disposal of collected municipal solid waste.

In the bifa Text No 64, the collection of biowaste without biowaste bags was compared to collection in paper bags, PE bags and biowaste bags made of the compostable plastic ecovio.

The recent Brazilian Solid Waste Policy establishes that the Municipality is responsible for awarding separate collection systems, composting system to implant biowaste and articulate with the economic and social agents ways to use the compost produced, however, there are operational hurdles that hinder their implementation. The biowaste in Brazil represent about 60% of total domestic waste collected, and in most cities these wastes are destined for landfills or dumps. In Campo Grande, MS, there is selective collection for dry waste and the biowaste is collected as undifferentiated. Therefore, this paper proposes an analysis of the operational viability of including biowaste in the selective collection of the Municipality, inclusion of recyclable materials in the organic recycling process and the identification of potential consumers for the generated compost.

Separate collection of organics is a key part of schemes to achieve highest rates of recovery of materials. Also, it allows recovery of clean organic resources, which are then suitable for application onto farmlands, thereby causing multiple beneficial effects as - locking C in soils (which helps tackling climate change) - fighting desertification and erosion - reducing use of mineral fertilisers (and eutrophication that may occur in sensitive areas and wetlands) - preventing pathogens thanks to the suppressive power (which reduces use of pesticides), etc.

According to Waste Framework Directive (directive 2008/98/EC), waste prevention are the measures taken before a substance, material or product has become waste, that reduce the quantity of waste, the adverse impacts of the generated waste on environmental and human health or the content of harmful substances.

The challenge of collecting the separate fractions of urban waste is at its highest when doing so from areas of high population densities with high levels of multi-occupancy housing. The City of Milan is one such area with a population density of 7000/km2 and over 80% of housing classified as multi-occupancy. In this respect it is similar to other European cities like Barcelona, Berlin and Vienna but unlike these cities, since 2012 Milan has been collecting food waste using the intensive door to door system widely adopted in less dense territories.

The study by the bifa environmental institute describes a future-orientated view of the ecological and economic effects of photovoltaic (PV) systems along their whole life cycle.

Polymer production and utilization are currently widespread and have greatly improved people's standards of living. However, due to their stable and nonbiodegradable nature, postconsumer polymers pose challenging issues to the environment and ecosystems. Efforts are being made not only to contain the generation of polymer wastes and associated littering but, also, to find ways of utilizing them sustainably. Aside from mechanical recycling, which turns postconsumer polymers into new polymer products, and thermal recycling, which releases the thermal energy contained within waste plastics through combustion, chemical recycling converts waste polymers into feedstock for chemicals/materials/fuels production.

Environmental legislation is mostly established as a Framework at European Level. It thus defines the conditions for the activities of Member States as well as local waste Management utilities. VKU welcomes the fact that the authors of the study "Implementing EU Waste Legislation for Green Growth"¹ acknowledge the important role of local and regional public entities for the implementation of the EU waste legislation.

The matter of biological byproducts exploitation is discussed in the Czech Republic for several reasons. One of them is a necessity to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste dumped in a disposal site and another one is an effort to increase the exploitation of renewable energy sources for both electric and heat energy production.

Optical sorting appeared for the first time in 1994 in Germany, France and in the USA. Initially, it was limited to the recognition of the main packaging types, as found in the "yellow bin", using the NIR spectroscopy to differentiate molecular bonds: PET, HDPE, PVC, Tetrapak were the main targets. Colour sorting was later introduced for very fine colour nuances (e.g. clear vs light blue bottles). Today, most MRFs in Europe use Optical Sorting for packaging.

Recycling schemes for post-consumer plastic packaging waste are politically motivated, create environmental benefits for the society and increase the business costs in general. These recycling schemes are shaped by the local presence of converting industries that are able to use the recyclates as raw materials. Choices for recycling schemes should therefore be based on the expected compliance, efficiency (the lowest environmental impacts for the least costs) and the present local industry.