The International Solid Waste Association held their annual world congress in Bilbao on 7-9 October 2019. Over 1200 delegates attended to hear from industry leaders and specialists from across the globe. EucoLight’s Secretary General, Marc Guiraud was honoured to be included in the programme.
Extended Producer Responsibility in the spotlight
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) was on the agenda. Contributors to the ISWA EPR project were invited by Joachim Quoden; Managing Director, EXPRA and Chair of the ISWA Working Group on Governance and Legal Issues. They shared their experience, knowledge, and opinions for EPR; presenting the overall picture of the EPR concept, analysing its origins, evolution and results.
On the panel with Marc were:
- José Manuel Núñez Lagos, CEO, Ecovidrio (Spain) – EPR for packaging
- Agnes Bünemanm, Managing Director, Cyclos GmbH (Germany) – EPR for textiles
- Garth Hickle, Senior Lecturer, Univ. Minnesota (USA) – EPR outside Europe
- Christof Delattre, VVSG (Belgium) – EPR approach in a region; the Flanders experience
The session concluded with a panel discussion chaired by Joachim Quoden.
Extended Producer Responsibility for lighting
Marc presented the work undertaken by EucoLight and it’s 19 Lighting Producer Compliance Scheme members; outlining the position of EPR for lighting products: lamps and luminaires. He explained that EPR is a key driver to ensure high performance of collection and recycling for the circular economy. Ensuring the right implementation of the EU WEEE Directive is key. He stated that free-riding online must be addressed and tackled. And that harmonisation of scope and calculation methods for collection have to be harmonised at European level.
About the ISWA 2019 World Congress
The three day program of the ISWA World Congress was a scientific one and focused on a vast range of topics. These included:
- Sustainable waste management
- Circular economy and resource efficiency
- Waste management in developing countries
- Waste to energy,
- Waste reduction, prevention, reuse and recycling
- Climate change
- Health,
- Urban mining
- The problem of marine litter
- Environmental responsibility
- Future strategies, new & smart technologies.
For more information on the conference, visit the ISWA website
