Waste and recycling - All Publications

Find below the User Manual and necessary documents for applying and earning the EU Ecolabel on products under Paints and Varnishes category.

Making European agriculture more sustainable means carefully managing the negative environmental impacts of manure and fertiliser. This paper investigates the cost/benefits of nutrient recovery from these waste products and how the recovery of nutrients from manure can be managed via policy.   

European iron and steel foundries produce 9 million tonnes of sand waste per year. 25% of this sand is recycled in concrete production, but chemical residues limit its use. Alternatively, composting can reduce these chemical residues. This study gives practical guidance for foundry sand composting.

This paper explores a plastics sustainability challenge, suggests novel solutions and opportunities to capture value in business transition. It considers biodegradable plastics, an orthopaedics library for product re-use, a plastics ‘value map’ for market regulation and manufacturing efficiency.

Several obstacles prevent the uptake of circular economy practices within EU photovoltaic solar panel production, including reliance on Chinese imports and economic obstacles to recycling components. This study offers a practical decision-making tool to evaluate and address these challenges.

Plastic seed trays used to grow seedlings in plant nurseries are a harmful agrifood waste product. This study trialled new seed trays that align with circular economy principles. These alternatives had less environmental impact than traditional trays.

Aquaculture, or fish farming, faces significant environmental challenges that could be addressed by adopting circular economy practices and principles. This Italian study investigates the opportunities, knowledge gaps and perceptions of circular economy policies amongst producers.

Plastic industry producers can be held accountable through policies on extending producer responsibility for treating and managing waste. This research examines the effectiveness of policy frameworks that predict future plastic waste, and highlights the need for an EU-wide approach.

An investigation of groundwater contamination has found 54 hazardous pharmaceutical and hygiene micropollutants are still leaching from a closed, unlined landfill site in Poland, highlighting the importance of protectively lining landfills.