To exceed European standards

A region that is among the most industrialized in Northern Europe, Wallonia can no longer accommodate waste at the rate at which it is produced, even if, for many years, it has been amongst the European leaders in terms of sorting and recycling household waste thanks to its ambitious policy. Producing less waste, buying better and throwing away less, sorting more and better, recovering waste and promoting local jobs are therefore the challenges faced by the Walloon government and the companies active in the sector.

Walloon competence with regard to the treatment of waste, if we are allowed to say so, is obvious! The Walloon Region has been recognized as a pioneer on the subject for several years. It doesn´t intend stopping now. In fact it intends exceeding the standards set by the new European framework directive on waste, adopted on 19 November 2008. This sets the priorities, that is: the prevention of waste, then its preparation with a view to its reuse, then recycling, before other types of recovery, in particular that of energy, and finally its elimination. The European directive also sets other important targets: in particular, the need to reach a rate of recycling of household waste and similar of 50% by 2020 and inert building and demolition waste of 70%.

In order to reach its own targets, the government has decided to promote the use of waste in the place of raw materials as much as possible, ensuring that the impact on health and the environment is taken into account. In terms of energy recovery, it will carry out life cycle analysis and analysis of the social and economic impact in order to avoid any counter-productive competition between energy policy objectives and recycling and reuse objectives. The Government will start preparing a new Walloon waste plan for 2020. This plan will participate in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and contribute actively to reducing their impact on the environment. Encouraged by this ambitious policy, companies are constantly improving the products and services that they put on the regional and international market.

Some have specialized in composting techniques based on a natural and organic process involving the conversion and recovery of organic matter from the food industry, the maintenance of green spaces and from the fermentable part of household waste that means that within a few months, a stable and hygienic product is obtained: compost. Organic processes are also promoted concerning the treatment of contaminated soils. A technique using hydrocarbons called bioremediation offers the advantage of being organic, natural and economic in comparison with traditional methods of treatment. Another example: the selection of waste with energy value with a view to reconverting it.
We could mention other companies specializing in neutralizing polluting odours produced by public refuse tips, water treatment plants, factories processing or collecting waste, trade in and the recycling of non-ferrous metal waste, the recycling of plastics using grinders or mobile shredders.

Another new initiative: Recywall, an economic interest group founded in 1991 on the initiative of the Collective Research Centres of various industrial sectors, directly involved in the recycling and recovery of matter, materials and energy of all sorts. Recywall´s objective is to promote the recycling and recovery of solid waste. Its field of activity is research and development. It conducts studies in order to find a solution for recovering a type of waste and, when the results are positive, it can help the company to find outlets for its waste as well as making contact with other companies that may be interested in this type of by-product.
Recywall provides industrialists and public authorities with potential that is unique in Europe combining 600 researchers and engineers, as well as infrastructure and investigation and testing equipment worth close to 25 million euros.