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Waste Management 28 (2008) 245259 www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

Potentials for the prevention of municipal solid waste

Stefan Salhofer *, Gudrun Obersteiner, Felicitas Schneider, Sandra Lebersorger
Institute of Waste Management, Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, BOKU University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Muthgasse 107, 1190 Vienna, Austria Accepted 5 February 2007 Available online 17 April 2007

Abstract Waste prevention has been assigned the highest priority under European waste management law. However, the initiatives which have been taken so far have not reduced the regular annual increase in total waste arising across Europe. The purpose of this paper is to quantify and analyze in depth the prevention potential for selected case studies (advertising material, beverage packaging, diapers, food waste, waste from events). Only such measures are considered, which do not require a reduction of consumption. The prevention potentials for household waste in theory are exemplied for the city of Vienna, also with a view to barriers that may reduce the achievable prevention potential. The results show that the prevention potentials for the analyzed individual measures can reach an order of magnitude of some 10% of the relevant waste stream (e.g., advertising material, beverage packaging), or rather 13% of municipal solid waste. The prevention potentials appear to be relatively small in relation to the total municipal waste quantities. Methodological shortcomings, such as the missing availability of basic data, make it dicult to exactly estimate the impact of waste prevention measures on waste quantities, which is only one of the eects of waste prevention among other ecological, social and economic aspects. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction With a rising level of prosperity in industrialized countries, an increasing number of products and services are being produced and consumed. This development is reected in the amount of waste generated. Data from the past three decades show that the total amount of municipal solid waste is continuously rising. Fig. 1 shows the quantities of household waste (without demolition waste) in a number of European countries. A rise of about 2 3% each year can be seen (Beigl et al., 2003). According to the OECD (2004), the generation of municipal solid waste increased by approximately 54% in the OECD area between 1980 and 2000. Local communities are thus facing a growing waste burden that is becoming increasingly more dicult to manage. The problem here is not only the quantity of waste but also the quality, i.e., the intrinsic hazardous nature of some
Corresponding author. Tel.: +43 1 3189900 319; fax: +43 1 3189900 350. E-mail address: Stefan.Salhofer@mail.boku.ac.at (S. Salhofer). 0956-053X/$ - see front matter 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2007.02.026
*

types of waste, especially industrial waste. Industry today in general uses a wider range of materials and produces more complex products than in past decades. There has also been an overall increase in the quantity and variety of products and services and a continuous creation of new products (Commission of the European Community, 2003a). In the past, various eorts were taken on both a national and international level to institutionalize waste minimization and waste prevention by setting legal guidelines to attain an eective waste prevention. The Council Directive of 15 July 1975 on waste (75/442/EEC) requested that the nine member states support appropriate actions for reducing the quantities of certain wastes. Based on this directive, the rst Community Strategy for Waste Management (SEC (89) 934 Final 1989) established the hierarchical system for waste management, under which waste prevention and minimization were given the highest priority, followed by recycling and disposal. This development was continued in the Community Strategy for Waste Management of 1996 (COM (96) 399) and in the Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste (COM (2003) 301

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700 600 500

DK CH NL PT

kg/cap/yr

400 300 200 100 0 1971 1981 1991

DK-Denmark CH-Switzerland NL-Netherlands PT-Portugal GR-Greece

GR

2001

year
Fig. 1. The development of municipal solid waste quantities in selected European countries (Beigl et al., 2003).

nal, COM (2005) 666 nal). The aim of qualitative waste prevention has been specied by proposals for a future chemicals policy strategy, i.e. the REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) system and a Communication on Integrated Product Policy (COM (2003) 302 nal). Additionally, the implementation of waste prevention plans at a European, national and local level is discussed. At a national level, for example, the principle of waste prevention was embodied in German (AbfG, 1986; KrW-/AbfG, 1994) and Austrian waste management law (AWG, 1990) as the ultimate goal. Some nations specied this goal by setting targets for waste prevention, as for example Scotland, which stated its aim of stabilizing the growth in waste (i.e., 0%) by 2010 and to continue this progress thereafter with an actual reduction in waste generation in its National Waste Plan for Scotland 2003 (Hughes, 2005). In Austria, several initiatives at a local level have expounded upon the various federal legal measures. The City of Vienna dened a set of measures for the Vienna Waste Management Plan as a result of a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in 2001. The main end result of the SEA was to stimulate qualitative and quantitative waste prevention and to allocate an adequate budget of 5 million EUR/yr (Bu tter, 2005). To this chl-Krammersta end a strategic group was established for waste prevention, consisting of representatives of the municipal government. Among other activities, this committee arranged a competition in 2003 and 2004, as a result of which 42 projects (17 basic studies, 13 awareness raising projects and 12 implementation projects) were funded. It is reported that these projects prevented a total of 2190 t of non-hazardous waste (1.3 kg/cap/yr) and 4.5 t (0.03 kg/cap/yr) of hazardous waste (MA 48, 2006b).

However, in general, these regional, national and local eorts have not shown any perceptible eect on waste generation, as indicated by steadily increasing quantities of total waste in Europe (EEA, 2002). Past attempts to dene waste prevention targets have been proven unsuccessful, such as Spains National Plan for Municipal Waste, Denmarks Waste 21 policy or the European Communitys 5th Environmental Action Program (5EAP), which aimed to stabilize MSW generation at the level of a certain year (Commission of the European Community, 2003b). An analysis of the eect of Finlands waste policy (Melanen et al., 2002) showed that waste policy instruments were not considered to have contributed to waste prevention, whereas the infrastructure for waste management and the recovery of wastes greatly improved in the 1990s. This discrepancy between the paramount signicance of waste prevention in policy measures and the lack of progress in reality can be explained by inconsistent denitions, problems in measuring waste prevention, the absence of a comprehensive strategy and/or a conict of interests. For example, environmental regulations on industrial activity, as well as waste reduction, are generally believed to be costly for companies and to have a negative impact on industry (Chapple et al., 2005; Beaumont and Tinch, 2004). Waste prevention is a long-term process (EEA, 2002) which requires modifying the behaviors of households, producers and other participants in the economy. Regulatory measures can play a role, but they are rarely eective in isolation (Commission of the European Community, 2003b). The purpose of this paper is to quantify and analyze the prevention potential in depth for selected examples, i.e., advertising material, beverage packaging, diapers, food waste and waste from events. The theoretical prevention potential is shown for dened case studies (with regard to

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waste type, measure, time and region), at the same time taking into consideration obstacles that may reduce the achievable prevention potential, as well as available results from the life cycle assessment. 2. Classication and indicators Although the terms waste prevention and minimization are commonly used, there are no strict denitions for these terms and distinguishing between them can be dicult. At the Berlin meeting in 1996, the OECD dened waste prevention as one of the measures for waste minimization, which includes preventive measures, as well as some other kinds of waste management measures. Preventive measures cover prevention, reduction at source and the reuse of products, while waste minimization additionally includes the waste management measures of quality improvements and recycling (EEA, 2002). The rst attempts to reach waste prevention targets focused on the weight or, for example in the case of lightweight packaging, on the volume of the generated waste; i.e., on quantitative waste prevention (reduction in the amount of generated waste). Because the environmental eects of waste depend not only on the quantity but also on the composition of the generated waste, qualitative waste prevention (reduction in the hazardousness of waste generated) was soon also included in waste management targets. The focus of this paper is on the quantitative waste prevention of MSW, using the denition of waste prevention in conformity with the OECD. In addition to the dierentiation in quantitative and qualitative waste prevention, there are also several options for classifying waste prevention activities. Table 1 shows a number of possible classication criteria. Waste stream refers to the type of waste intended to be reduced. Target group refers to the actors who are asked to prevent waste. Instruments refer to the basic way in which an actor chooses to inuence the behavior of another actor (cf. Kaufmann-Hayoz et al., 2001). By contrast, the term measure is used to indicate the concrete realization of an instrument. The term purpose denes the result intended by a measure. As waste prevention covers a variety of dierent options (such as stopping the production of certain goods, substitution for one product by another, or extending the utilization phase for items), there is no general method which can be applied to evaluate the eectiveness of dierent specic measures. A set of dierent objective benchmarks would be required. For waste prevention for the short to medium term, the OECD (2004) recommends as indicators the number of certied environmental management systems (in total number, per capita, or per GDP), the consumption and recycling of selected materials (e.g., glass, paper and metals) and no thanks stickers for unsolicited mail (number in percentage of households or by type of household). For waste prevention over the long term, the OECD proposes national waste prevention plans and strategies, extended

Table 1 Classication of waste prevention activities Criteria Waste stream Classication By material (paper, hazardous waste, . . .) By product (packaging, diapers, . . .) By source of generation (household, industry . . .) By eld of application (big events, procurement . . .) Private households Retail (commerce and service) Industry Public administration Regulatory instruments (licencing, laws, product standards, . . .) Economic instruments (subsidies, incentive taxes, charges, . . .) Collaborative agreements (public-private agreements, certications and labels, . . .) Service and infrastructure (repairing, second-hand shops, . . .) Communication and diusion (presenting information, persuading about options, . . .) Reduction at source (complete avoidance, reduction by optimisation of processes, . . .) Substitution (one-way by rellable packaging, by a less hazardous material, . . .) Reuse (extension of product use-phase, increased use of a product by sharing, . . .)

Target group

Instruments

Purpose

producer responsibility schemes (list of products covered) and households with variable-rate pricing (in total or as a share of the total number of households). These indicators can be helpful for the assessment and comparison of waste prevention activities on an international level, but they are inappropriate for evaluating the eectiveness of specic waste prevention measures on waste quantities. The development of combined indicators with respect to environmental impacts (as used in Life Cycle Assessment) for waste prevention is a rather complex task (see, e.g., nier and Collins, 2005). Thus in Detzel et al., 2004; Aumo most cases, reduction in quantity (mass) or volume is used as an indicator for the success of waste prevention measures. The range of goods and consumption patterns (e.g., the use of certain beverage packaging) varies from region to region and by time. So the eects displayed in kilograms per capita and year (kg/cap/yr) or percentage of total MSW generated can be calculated only for dened basic conditions in a certain area and year. Also the regional differences in the extent of the separate collection of recyclables have to be considered, as the eectiveness of a specic measure on separate waste streams (residual waste, separately collected materials) depends upon the performance of a collection scheme. For example, the reduction of one-way plastic bottles would not aect the residual waste stream, if all plastic bottles were collected separately. 3. Data and methods The selection of the case studies presented in this paper is based upon an extensive literature review on case studies

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for the prevention of municipal solid waste (Salhofer et al., 1999) and a subsequent analysis of the potential for selected measures for the city of Vienna (Salhofer et al., 2000). The ndings from this research were specied by detailed follow-up case studies on a particular measure, such as the avoidance of advertising material (Wassermann et al., 2004) or the avoidance of food waste from retail by means of food banks (Schneider and Wassermann, 2004). Additional investigations were conducted in order to identify basic conditions which might have changed in the meantime, as for example the rapidly decreasing reusable share of beverage packaging, and to identify possible recent areas for waste prevention. In this paper, case studies relating to ve dierent waste streams were selected, considering that there is a relevant prevention potential for the respective waste stream, that the measure appears basically applicable, and the availability of data. Table 2 classies the selected case studies. Due to the diversity of the examples, a hybrid classication is used for the waste stream. To calculate the prevention potential, meaning the potential reduction of waste (in kg/cap/yr) through a specic measure, two dierent approaches were used:  For products with available detailed gures on consumption and waste generation (like beverage packaging), the eects were calculated using a ratio model.  For measures where the implementation is reported from other regions (e.g., reusable diapers), the eect was estimated by using participation gures which were taken from the literature or from diverse statistics. As far as additional background information was available, it was tried to estimate plausible participation rates for the specic situation in Vienna. Details about the methods which were used for calculating the potentials are presented in the context of the casestudies. It has to be noted that the numerical results are valid only for the dened conditions (the situation in Vienna and Austria respectively, at any one time), whereas the methodology and the general implications can be transferred to other regions and situations.
Table 2 Classication of the discussed case studies Waste stream Advertising material (paper) Beverage packaging (plastics, glass, metal) Diapers Food waste Target group Private households Private households, retail, industry Private households Retail, industry Private households Big events (beverage and food packaging) Retail, public Administration, event organizers Instrument Regulatory communication Regulatory Economic

4. Case studies The case studies classied in Table 2 are discussed consecutively in detail. 4.1. Advertising material In Vienna, about 24% of the MSW or 120 kg/cap/yr is waste paper and cardboard (MA 48, 1999). Quite a substantial part of this is represented by advertising material. Composition analyses of residual waste and waste paper from households (Wassermann et al., 2004) showed that advertising material accounts for about 28 kg/cap/yr. This includes advertising material without any specic addressee (unaddressed or rather to the household) which is placed into mailboxes or hung onto doors, mail advertising which is addressed to a member of the household, advertising circulars included in newspapers and magazines as well as advertising folders added to bills (for example, from mobile phone providers). In 2003, 12% of the households had already refused unaddressed advertising in their mailboxes and 22% on their doors (no thanks stickers) (Wassermann et al., 2004). By refusing unaddressed advertising in the mailbox and on the door, an individual household can prevent a total of about 33 kg of unaddressed advertising material per year (Wassermann et al., 2004) or 16.5 kg/ cap/yr relating to the average household size in Vienna which was 2.0 people per household in 2001 (Statistik Austria, 2006). In order to reduce the amount of waste paper due to advertising material, two possible measures were assessed:  Measure 1 Advertising on request is equivalent to a prohibition on unsolicited advertising. Advertising should be delivered only to households that wish to receive advertising and formally arm this.  Measure 2 Information about advertising aims at improving the knowledge of households about the existing possibilities for canceling the delivery of unsolicited advertising (sticker on the door Please, no advertising, sticker on the mailbox etc.).

Measure 1-advertising on request 2-information Fixing rell quotas (tradable permits) Sponsering use of reusable diapers Food bank Not specied Not specied

Purpose Reduction at source Substituting one-way packaging by rellable ones Substituting one-way diapers by reusable ones Reduction at source Reduction at source Substituting one-way by reusable dishes, qualitative prevention

Collaborative, infrastructure Communication, economic Regulatory, Collaborative

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18

prevention potential (kg/cap/yr)

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 10 20 30 40
53 measure 2 3.3 kg/cap/yr additional 20% of hh refuse advertising prevention potential measure 1 5.7 kg/cap/yr 13.5 kg/cap/yr unadressed advertising in MSW in Vienna at present

Baseline situation in Vienna

50

60

70

80

90

100

% of households not receiving unaddressed advertising

Fig. 2. Prevention potential of unaddressed advertising, calculated for the situation in Vienna.

If all the households refused unaddressed advertising which would amount to a total annulment in advertising in mailboxes and at the door (Measure 1) this would result in a hypothetical prevention potential of 13.5 kg/ cap/yr (see Fig. 2), which is equal to 11% of the total amount of generated waste paper in Vienna (Wassermann et al., 2004). These gures consider that several households already refuse unaddressed advertising. However, in reality the prevention potential will be much lower, since the attitudes of the population towards advertising material and possible reactions from the industry have to be taken into account, in particular the extent of peoples willingness to reject advertising. This was investigated in a survey involving 140 households in Vienna (Wassermann et al., 2004). The survey revealed that advertising by mail and on the doorstep is used as the predominant source of information by households. Particularly popular are yers and handouts from food retailers, which are reportedly read by 50% of the respondents. Although 50% of the households state that they use advertising material as a regular source of information, many people say they are irritated by the volume of junk mail on their doorstep and in their mailbox: 53% of the respondents nd advertising in their mailbox annoying, while 63% would prefer not to have it on their doorstep, and 47% of the people interviewed explicitly state that they want to receive advertising (Wassermann and Schneider, 2005a). Assuming that the remaining 53% will not request advertising material, a prevention potential of 5.7 kg/cap/ yr could be achieved by Measure 1 (Advertising on request). The calculation method is illustrated in Fig. 2. The baseline situation takes into account that some households already refuse unaddressed advertising by mail or onto their door. As the calculation was simplied by not dierentiating between these two modes of delivery, the starting point (18%) was calculated by converting the

quantity of advertising mail which has already been prevented into a notional overall participation rate. Given the interest in advertising among survey participants, it is expected that a general ban on advertising would result in protests not only from industry but also from the general public, as many people selectively read advertising, particularly from food retailers. A more intensive information campaign for households about the existing possibilities for stopping the delivery of unsolicited advertising (Measure 2) is considered to result in a smaller prevention potential, since only 38% of the respondents who have not yet decided to refuse unsolicited advertising say that they could envision this. Furthermore it has to be considered that an information campaign will likely not reach all of them and that nally not each of them will actually cancel advertising. Thus it was assumed that only those 20% who had stated in the survey that they never read advertising material, could be persuaded to cancel unsolicited advertising material in addition to those households who have already done so. This results in a prevention potential of 3.3 kg/cap/yr for Measure 2 (information campaign), which amounts to 2.8% of the total quantity of waste paper in residual waste and in separate collection in Vienna. Additionally about 0.4 kg/cap/yr of waste paper could be prevented if the deliveries were optimized so that no double deliveries would occur (Wassermann et al., 2004). 4.2. Beverage packaging Beverage packaging can be distinguished into one-way (non-rellable, single-use) systems and rellable systems which have to be returned and can be relled several times. One-way packaging includes one-way glass bottles, packaging from composite paper board (from polyethylene, board and aluminum), plastic bottles (e.g., polyethylene

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terephthalate PET) and cans. Rellable packaging is mostly made from glass, sometimes also from PET or PC (polycarbonate). In Austria, rellable glass bottles traditionally were used for beverages, particularly for mineral water and beer, but also for more than half of the soft drinks. In recent years, however, the shift to one-way packaging particularly PET has accelerated, since this type of packaging can easily be handled by bottlers, suppliers and retail (lightweight, nearly unbreakable, no additional space required for returned bottles at point of sale), as well as by consumers (no need for redistribution). Legal measures, which were aimed at sustaining high shares of rellable beverage packaging, failed. The Austrian Packaging Ordinance from 1990 and the supplementary Packaging Target Ordinance, which originally had been aimed at increasing shares for reuse (including rellable packaging as well as recycling) and set higher quotas than the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (94/62/EC) were modied several times. In 2001, the Packaging Target Ordinance was nally repealed by the Austrian Constitutional Court. Also a voluntary commitment to rell and to recycle beverage packaging in an environmentally sound way by Austrian industry from 2000 to 2004 has not been successful. According to calculations by the Austrian Federal Eco , 2003, 2005), the share of rellable nomic Chamber (WKO packaging dropped from 65% in 1994 to 46% in 2004. However, these numbers are likely to overestimate the actual rell shares, because signicant quantities of beverages which are almost exclusively lled in one-way systems (milk, alcoholic beverages, sparkling wine and wine) have not been included in the calculation. Germany has chosen a dierent way and introduced mandatory deposits on non-rellable beverage containers as of 1 January 2003 in line with provisions in the German Packaging Ordinance, after the market share for drinks in

rellable containers had dropped below 72% since 1997. After several initial diculties with the practical implementation and following the decision of the European Court of Justice in December 2004, the Ordinance was amended. As of 1 May 2006 the deposit applies to all drinks in environmentally unfavorable containers, which include cans, nonrellable glass and non-rellable plastic. Stores that sell drink cans, glass or plastic bottles are obliged to take back corresponding packaging from other drink manufacturers (BMU, 2005). At present, eects have been reported for 2003 and 2004. The share of drinks in rellable containers rose to 63% in 2003, from 56% in 2002 and 61% in 2001 (BMU, 2006), but decreased to 60% in 2004. Apparently, there is again an ongoing trend towards non-rellable bottles. A validation of the eects by the government is due at the earliest by 1 January 2010. As waste from one-way beverage packaging comprises dierent materials (plastics, metals and glass), the actual quantity of waste from beverage packaging usually cannot be seen directly in waste statistics, but rather has to be determined. This can be done either by conducting a waste composition analysis or through a calculation based on production and consumption data. The latter requires the availability of adequate data, which usually is only partly given, so that data from several sources have to be compiled and additional assumptions are necessary. For Fig. 3, waste quantities from beverage packaging were calculated from production and consumption data for dierent years and were compared to results from waste composition analyses in Vienna which were available for the years 1997/98 and 2003/04 (MA 48, 1999, 2006a). The calculation of the waste quantities for the years 1997, 2000 and 2002 is based upon data on the lled volumes of dierent types of beverages and their share in rellable packaging dierentiated by material for each year , 2003; Gastronomie, 2006; Sal(Scharf et al., 1999; WKO

80 70 60

shares of refillables (national average in Austria): 59% 59% 46% 39% unknown 0%

kg/cap/yr

50 40 30

plastics & composite metal glass

20 10 0 1997 calculated Austria

(cf. Salhofer et al., 2000)

1997/98 waste-data Vienna

(MA 48, 1999)

2000 calculated Austria

(new calculation)

2002 calculated Austria

2003/04 waste data Vienna

scenario one-way only

(new calculation)

(new calculation) (MA 48, 2006a)

Fig. 3. Waste from one-way beverage packaging for dierent scenarios.

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hofer et al., 2000; Technisches Bu ro Hauer and Stenum, 2000) and upon assumptions for the weight of packaging material per lled volume (such as kg of glass per liter of juice) (Scharf et al., 1999), which was considered time invariant. In contrast to the calculations by the WKO (2003), all types of beverages, including milk, alcoholic beverages, sparkling wine and wine, were included. This results in lower shares of beverages in rellable packaging calculations. The share than results shown in the WKO of rellables was calculated on a national basis, as the ratio of the volume of beverages sold in reusable bottles to the total volume of beverages sold per year. With a decreasing share of rellable beverage packaging, the waste quantities from beverage packaging have been rising steadily. In 1997 a share of rellable beverage packaging of 59% was calculated, which caused 23 kg/cap/yr of waste from beverage packaging in Austria (see Fig. 3). For the same year composition analysis in Vienna resulted in higher quantities (29 kg/cap/yr). This dierence is considered to be plausible since the share of rellable beverage packaging has been generally lower in Vienna than the Austrian average. The comparison of waste data from 1997/98 and 2003/04 indicates that there has been a shift towards one-way plastics and composite material, whereas the quantity of one-way glass has increased only slightly. If only one-way packaging were used, which is equal to a share of zero, 72 kg/cap/yr of waste from beverage packaging could be expected. This estimation is based upon the sold volume of beverages in 2002 and upon the assumptions that the shares of the dierent materials for oneway beverage packaging, as well as the specic weights of the packaging materials, have not changed since 1997. Uncertainties include the assumption of which material will be used in the future for one-way packaging, e.g., one-way glass or cans or one-way bottles for beer. With regard to waste minimization, rellable systems clearly have to be favored. A life cycle assessment by Detzel et al. (2004), which compared three packaging systems for water and soft drinks (1.5 l one-way PET bottle, 1.5 l rellable PET bottle, 1.0 l rellable glass bottle) for the situation in Austria, resulted in rellable PET bottles having the lowest environmental impact. In terms of ranking the PET one-way and the rellable glass bottles, the transport distance for the lled bottles is a main factor. Within a regional distribution system the rellable glass system is ecologically more favorable than PET one-way. Similar results were obtained in a German study (Umweltbundesamt, 2000), which showed that beverage packaging from composite paper board can have ecological advantages if a high share is recovered separately and the cardboard is recycled at the paper mill. The measures for the prevention of beverage packaging aim to stabilize or increase the share for rellable packaging. For example this could be achieved by providing tradable permits for one-way beverage packaging or by legally regulating mandatory quotas for rellable packaging for each retail enterprise. The waste prevention potential was

analyzed for two scenarios for the city of Vienna: (1) stabilizing the quota of rellable beverage packaging at the level of 1997 at 60%, and (2) an ambitious compulsory quota of 82%. Hence, tradable permits for one-way beverage packaging would be placed respectively on 40% and 18% of the total volume of beverages sold in Austria. Related to the situation in Vienna in 1999, a compulsory quota of rellable beverage packaging of 60% would prevent 2.4 kg/cap/yr of waste, and a quota of 82% would result in a prevention of 12.1 kg/cap/yr. The potential of scenario 1 (quota of 60%) was calculated as the dierence in the waste quantities of beverage packaging in 1997 and 1999. For the year 1999 data about rellable shares per type of beverage which were water, beer, non-alcoholics, juice, milk, wine and sparkling wine/spirituous beverages were available (Technisches Bu ro Hauer and Stenum, 2000). It was assumed that the sold volume had not changed since 1997. As the rellable share had decreased, further assumptions had to be made about the packaging material for those one-way packaging which had substituted the volume in rellable packaging. For scenario 2, it was assumed that the waste quantity of one-way beverage packaging per type of beverage and material would decrease proportionally to the sold volume. For each type of beverage, individual shares of rellables were dened, so that this resulted in an overall quota of 82%. The potential was calculated as the dierence of this future waste quantity and the waste quantity of beverage packaging in 1999 (for a detailed description see Salhofer et al., 2000). However, it has to be considered that these calculations are based upon data from 1999, and that in the meantime the shares for rellable packages have further decreased. On the one hand, this implies that the theoretical prevention potential is now even higher. Considering that the quantity of beverage packaging in the municipal solid waste of Vienna increased to 36.4 kg/cap/yr in 2003/04 (see Fig. 3), the present prevention potential is 7.0 kg/ cap/yr (for a rell quota of 60%) and 16.7 kg/cap/yr (for a rell quota of 82%). On the other hand, successful realizing such high quotas has become very unlikely under actual circumstances. Reorganizing the production process from one-way to rellable packaging involves high costs and considerable diculties. In the event that no measures will be taken, we are driven towards such a scenario as oneway only, which will double the waste quantities from beverage packaging in 2002 (see Fig. 3). 4.3. Reusable diapers In industrialized countries, most babies are swaddled in one-way diapers. This produces about 1 t of one-way diapers during a babys diapering period. In Vienna in 2003, one-way diapers accounted for 4.3% by weight of residual waste (MA 48, 2005), which is about 21,200 t (13.3 kg/cap/ yr). As an alternative to one-way diapers, dierent systems of reusable diapers are available. A very common one consists of a diaper eece which is placed into the diaper pant-

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one-way diapers
1000

reusable diapers reusable diapers, subsidized 360 EUR

800

EUR

600

400

200

0 0 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28
30

months of swaddling period

Fig. 4. Costs incurred by households when using reusable or one-way diapers (Salhofer et al., 2000, modied).

ies. When the diaper needs to be changed, the diaper eece is removed and thrown into the toilet. The panties are placed in a bucket. Inside the bucket is a special net which can be washed together with the used panties in the washing machine at 60 C. As soon as the panties are dry, they can be used again. An alternative is the collective pick-up of the used panties, transporting and washing them in a central facility and nally redistributing them. With regard to municipal solid waste generation reusable diapers should be preferred to disposable ones. However, the results can be dierent if the environmental eects are considered for the whole life cycle and depending on the geographical region. A comparison of the environmental footprint of dierent swaddling systems in Austria showed that consumer behavior regarding transport, energy and washing detergents is crucial for a better performance for reusable diapers (Krotscheck, 1997). For the nier United Kingdom, a life cycle assessment by Aumo and Collins (2005) found no signicant dierence among any of the environmental impacts for a disposable (oneway) diaper system, a reusable diaper system for home laundry and a commercial laundry system. Since the national energy grid, which is used for assessing the environmental impact of a diaper system, has an important impact on the results, just as the nal waste treatment option does, no general conclusions can be drawn without considering the specic local conditions. In Austria, several local waste authorities grant subsidies in order to encourage parents to use reusable diapers. In the city of Vienna, the purchase of the basic equipment for reusable diapers at a price of 250 euros or more is subsidized with 100 euros (Verein WIWA, 2006a). Even without this incentive, the total costs for the reusable diapers during the swaddling period are far less than those for one-way diapers. Fig. 4 compares the total costs incurred by households for one-way diapers to those for reusable diapers with a subsidized model. All costs material costs

as well as water, washing detergent and energy have been taken into consideration. Salhofer et al. (2000) estimated that given a parental participation rate of 1020%, the quantity of residual waste could be reduced by 2 kg/cap/yr in the city of Vienna. However, current participation rates are far lower, as can be seen in the interpretation of data obtained from WIWA (Verein WIWA, 2006a, 2006b), which manages the subsidization program. In 2004 a large number of communities in seven of the nine Austrian federal states oered this incentive. In four federal states virtually all communities participated. On average, a subsidized basic package of reusable diapers was purchased for 1.4% (in Styria) to 3.3% (in Upper Austria) of the babies born in 2004. However, individual communities achieved higher participation rates, with a maximum of 10.5% in Upper Austria (Rohrbach) and 5.8% (Lilienfeld) in Lower Austria. In Vienna the current participation rate is 1.5%. The discrepancy between the expected and the actual participation rates is ascribed to a lack of information about the availability of the subsidy, the greater need for information about the handling of reusable diapers, and particularly the competition generated from the professional promotion for one-way diapers. Practical experience also shows dierences between rural and urban areas. In urban areas, such as Vienna, there seems to be less willingness to wash reusable diapers. In addition, some of the (immigrant) target groups are dicult to reach due to their dierent language or culture. 4.4. Food waste Signicant amounts of food waste originate from the industrial production of food at various stages along the production line. Apart from discards from the production process, even products edibles still suitable for consumption are disposed of early on for dierent reasons. Composition analyses of household waste indicate that

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signicant amounts of unconsumed foodstus have also been thrown out by private households. This new type of waste is regarded as a promising eld for waste prevention, considering the relevant quantities and their rising trend. There are quite a few references around now on this topic, particularly regarding the prevention of food waste and possible measures which can be taken in private households. 4.4.1. Food waste from production and retail Waste from the food and beverage industry and retail can be roughly distinguished into raw material wastage and wastage of food products. It is estimated that between 30% and 40%, and even as much as 50% of the gross raw material input of vegetables and salads in production is wasted (Hyde et al., 2000). This raw material wastage could be reduced by improvements in the production process. A demonstration project in East Anglia in the UK (Hyde et al., 2000) showed that in so doing a waste reduction of 12% in raw materials could be achieved. Food products are discarded if their quality is considered unsatisfactory with regard to visual, physical, microbiological, or compositional (chemical or biochemical) attributes. With regard to waste prevention measures, two groups of products can be distinguished:  products which do not meet hygiene and quality requirements under food safety regulations; and  second-grade or substandard food products (Hyde et al., 2000) with physical or visual aws, but without an impairment to hygiene or nutritional quality. While the rst group of products has to be discarded for safety reasons, the use of the latter is restricted rather by market barriers. Day-old bread, fruit and vegetables with dents, or food sold just prior to best before date are nearly non-sellable for retailers (Von Normann, 2003). Additional reasons for discarding food products include overproduction, a surplus already in storage, seasonal goods, incorrect labeling of goods, and damage during transport or work routines in supermarkets. Frequently the whole package is discarded if just one item from a crate has been removed or damaged. Since these products would not be harmful to anybodys health, they could still be sold if there were better market opportunities and incentives for supplying second-grade food products (cf. Hyde et al., 2000). Schneider and Wassermann (2004) conducted a case study at two stores operated by a discount supermarket chain in Vienna. They found that an average of 45 kg per day (13.5 t per yr) of second-grade food products still suitable for consumption were disposed of by each retail food store. Extrapolating from this amount to the total number of stores operated by the three market-dominating discount supermarket chains would result a prevention potential of 1300 t per yr (0.8 kg/cap/yr). Similar gures were obtained by Jones (2004), who found that about 0.8% of

the total food products oered by supermarkets in the US is wasted. In general, food wastage from supermarkets is comprised of: 50% vegetables, about 30% fruits, and 9% grain products. The remaining wastage is from dairy products (Schneider and Wassermann, 2004; Jones, 2004). Furthermore, based on an environmental report of a Viennese bakery chain, it was calculated that 38 kg per day and store (11.6 t per yr and store) of wasted bakery products would have still been edible. Thus, a total prevention potential of about 3900 t per yr (2.5 kg/cap/yr) of bakery products was roughly estimated, taking into consideration the 340 stores of the 13 largest bakery chains in Vienna. The creation and promotion of food banks is considered a promising measure for making these second-grade products available to other consumers. In the late 1960s the worlds rst food bank was founded in Phoenix (Arizona) in order to bridge the gap between the wealth on the one hand and the increasing poverty on the other hand. The food bank solicits, receives, inventories and stores donated food and redistributes these products to social welfare services, which in turn provide the products directly to people in need through various types of programs. Today food banks and similar organizations, such as food rescue programs, boards (in German: Tafeln) or social supermarkets, can be found all over the world. In 2004, the European Food banks collected 185,000 t of food (European Federation of Food Banks, 2006). In the same year, the largest food bank network in the US distributed more than 900,000 t of food (ASH, 2005). Although food banks aim primarily at social welfare, benets for waste prevention are achieved as well. Making second-grade products available to people in need rather than discarding them can thus represent a very sustainable measure for waste prevention. Currently, the quantity of second-grade food which is redistributed is only a fraction of the amount which is generated and of the quantity which would be needed to supply people in need (cf. Wassermann and Schneider, 2005c). 4.4.2. Food waste from private households Wasted food that is food intended for consumption but later discarded by households, at times without even opening the original packaging has only recently been considered as a target for waste prevention. Composition analyses of 3418 kg of residual waste in Vienna (Wassermann and Schneider, 2003) showed that up to 60% by weight of household waste originates from food, food packaging, food preparation residues and leftovers. Waste from food preparation include peelings, coee grounds etc., which are considered inherently inedible. Leftovers are food scraps from plates. Wasted food can be distinguished into food in its original condition, as for example an unopened yogurt or a loaf of bread, and into only partially consumed food, such as half a bag of our. On average, wasted food amounted to 12% by weight of the residual waste from households; the maximal proportion was 20%. Expressed in specic quantities, between 13 and 79 kg/cap/yr of wasted food (an average of 35.6 kg/cap/

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yr) had been discarded in the investigated area. The maximum of wasted food in its original condition (i.e., in unopened packaging, untouched), which is a fraction of wasted food, approached almost 40 kg/cap/yr. Composition analyses of 5660 kg of residual waste from households in the federal state of Lower Austria showed similar results. On average, 4.6% of the residual waste was leftovers and food preparation residues and 6.6% was wasted food. In individual containers, a maximum of 37.6% of wasted food could be found in its original condition (Wassermann and Schneider, 2005b). The availability of bio bins does not aect the quantities of wasted food in residual waste, since wasted food is usually discarded into residual waste unlike residues from food preparation and leftovers (Wassermann and Schneider, 2003; Lebersorger et al., 2005). Though little data are available on trends in food wasted in the EU, there are some indications that the quantities of wasted food have been rising in recent years. The wastage of food is attributed to various reasons, such as the more variety-seeking behavior of modern households (cf. Thogersen, 1996), an increase in purchasing power, impulsive food shopping, special promotions by supermarkets (buy 3, pay for 2), insucient planning for household consumption, insucient competence in the appropriate storage of food (cf. Pfau and Piekarski, 2003) or a shortage of time. The lifestyle and personal habits of the population have an important impact, as for example the time spent at home or the frequency of meal preparation. A correlation between the quantity of wasted food on the one hand and socio-demographic and geographic parameters on the other hand could be identied (Wassermann and Schneider, 2003, 2005b; Lebersorger, 2004). Wassermann and Schneider (2005b) found a highly signicant dierence in the proportion of wasted food among communities in urban areas, in rural areas with regional centers, and in scattered rural areas with a high percentage of agriculture. The proportion of wasted food found in residual waste was highest in urban communities and lowest in rural communities with a high percentage of agriculture. Upon initial examination, there seems to be a 100% theoretical prevention potential for wasted food, since wasted foods do not represent unintended by-products of consumption (as packaging or residues from food preparation) but rather represent products which have been purchased but have not been used for the intended purpose (eating or drinking). However, it must be considered that the act of buying is not aimed solely at satisfying physical human needs, but involves a variety of other non-physical needs, such as the need for approval, acceptance or self-armation (cf. Piorkowsky, 1997). As the act of buying has an important intrinsic value in itself, the successful prevention of wasted food will also have to consider this aspect. Conventional measures are consumer education or economic incentives (Kantor et al., 1997), for example motivating people to plan their weekly consumption or to use a shop-

ping list, providing information on the appropriate storage and handling of food or providing a cookbook with recipes from leftovers. So far, little research has been conducted either on measures for the prevention of wasted food or on their eects. Further research on possible approaches in theory as well as their implementation and eects is required. 4.5. Events Regardless of the various kinds of big events, such as exhibitions, sporting events, fairs or folk festivals, the consumption of food and beverages in one-way dishes can be identied as the main source of waste generation. Waste from big events includes:  Packaging (one-way beverage cups from polypropylene or polystyrene, one-way dishes from plastics or paper, plastic cutlery, tin and aluminum cans, one-way bottles from glass or PET, other food packages, cigarette packets).  Paper (advertisement, cardboard).  Biological waste (leftover food). In addition to the local and temporary concentration of signicant waste quantities, littering in public places is also a problem, leading not only to costs for clean-up but also to a negative image. Exact data on the quantity of waste generated from events in the city of Vienna per year are not available. Taking data from Berlin (Mund, 1999) and applying them to Vienna, Salhofer et al. (2000) estimated a quantity of 9000 t of municipal solid waste per year (5.5 kg/cap/yr) as a consequence of big events. An eective measure is the substitution of one-way dishes and cutlery by reusable dishes made of ceramic or even plastics. The choice of the material depends on the local conditions, such as security regulations, available storage area or health/safety issues. Washing the dishes can take place either on site, at each individual concession stand or at a central station, or at an o-site facility. The former requires an adequate water supply, a sewer and adequate space. In order to encourage the customers to return the dishes, a monetary deposit should be higher than the value of the dish. Mund (1999) estimated that the amount of waste per person and event could be decreased from 390 to 39 g just through the use of returnable dishes. In Austria, communities can convince event organizers to use returnable dishes by means of regulatory instruments or collaborative agreements. While a general legal prohibition on the use of one-way dishes has rarely been implemented, events are frequently awarded a local license only once organizers agree to use exclusively returnable dishes. Salhofer et al. (2000) estimated that strict regulatory instruments, such as prohibiting the use of one-way dishes at events, could prevent 30% of the waste from events in the city of Vienna, which is equal to a prevention potential of 1.7 kg/cap/yr.

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In 2005, a collaborative agreement was made with organizers of the Life Ball, an AIDS charity event held every year in and around the Viennese town hall and attracting some 35,000 visitors. In the exterior area of the event, 30,600 reusable cups made of polypropylene were handed out instead of one-way cups. The decorations were taken down carefully after the ball in order to reuse them the following year. Separate collection of recyclables was also promoted by strategically positioning watched waste collection points at the event and separating recyclable materials before the nal clean-up of the location. Thus the overall amount of residual waste showed a 14% reduction compared to the previous years (Hundstorfer, 2005). Assuming that this successful reduction rate could be extended to all events in Vienna and that the actual quantity of separately collected recyclables from events is negligible, a prevention potential of 0.8 kg/cap/yr of residual waste could be achieved. An alternative measure is the substitution of one-way dishes made of plastics (polypropylene, polystyrene) by one-way dishes made of biodegradable materials (e.g., polylactide), particularly in areas where the implementation of reusable dishes is dicult due to a lack of infrastructure or other reason. These products have similar properties to those made from common plastics. A variety of products from dierent biodegradable materials have been introduced onto the market. Although the use of one-way dishes from biodegradable materials does not truly result in a reduction in the total waste quantity, it can lead to qualitative waste prevention, as well as a reduction in the amount of residual waste, since these products can be treated by composting or anaerobic digestion. In order to achieve high recovery rates and to prevent littering, it is suggested that customers are charged a monetary deposit as an incentive to return the dishes. As a second aspect, biodegradable materials are also considered more favorable to the environment. Life cycle assessment studies indicate a lower requirement of fossil resources for polylactide compared to such com-

mon plastics as polypropylene or polystyrene (Vink et al., 2003; Hu sing et al., 2003). It is expected that the environmental eects can be further reduced if increased demand for biodegradable products would stimulate their mass production, and by the optimization of biotechnological processes. So far the costs for biodegradable one-way dishes serve as an impediment to their widespread application. Compared to common one-way dishes made from plastics, biodegradable dishes involve higher costs for their purchase, as well as for waste treatment by composting or anaerobic digestion (Lemser, 2003). However, it is likely that changing general conditions, such as the rising price for crude oil, increased demand for biodegradable materials and optimization of production technology, will reduce this dierence. In 2005, some 400,000 biodegradable cups made of polylactide were successfully tested in initial trials at a large festival with some 3 million visitors in Vienna (Hundstorfer, 2005). A deposit was charged for the biodegradable cups and was refunded when the cup was returned to one of the collection points in the festival area. The separately collected cups were subsequently transported to a composting facility near Vienna where they were co-composted with mixed bio-wastes. 5. Discussion Table 3 summarizes the prevention potentials calculated for selected examples and the present situation in the city of Vienna. In the city of Vienna the amount of municipal solid waste is currently about 500 kg/cap/yr. Some 310 kg/cap/ yr is residual waste; the remainder is comprised of separately recovered recyclables and bio-waste. In terms of their absolute quantity in the MSW, advertising material, beverage packaging and food waste are the most important from the waste streams considered here. These waste streams, which amount to about 30 to 40 kg/cap/yr each, are also the most promising ones with regard to the prevention potential. Related to the waste quantities of the rele-

Table 3 Calculated waste prevention potentials for the city of Vienna for selected examples Waste stream Measure Quantity of relevant waste stream in MSW (kg/cap/yr) Prevention potential In kg/cap/yr 5.7 3.7 (3.3 + 0.4) 7.0 16.7 2.0 3.3 (0.8 + 2.5) n.q. 0.81 % of relevant waste stream 20% 13% 19% 46% 15% n.q. n.q. 14%1 % of total MSW 1.1% 0.7% 1.4% 3.3% 0.4% 0.7%2 11.5%l,2 0.2%1

Advertising material Beverage packaging Diapers Food waste

Events

1-Advertising on request 2-Information & optimised delivery Fixing rell quotas at 60% Fixing rell quotas at 82% Sponsering reuseable diapers Food banks (retail: discount supermarkets & bakeries) Not specied (households) Substituting one-way dishes

28.0 36.4 36.4 13.3 n.q. 35.61 5.51

n.q not quantied. 1 only residual waste considered (not sucient data on recyclables). 2 upper limit (prevention potential 100%).

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vant waste stream, the prevention potentials of the analyzed measures can reach a signicant magnitude. However, related to the total quantities of MSW, the prevention potential only amounts to a maximum of 3% provided that radical measures concerning beverage packaging are implemented. The highest prevention potential in theory could be achieved by a reduction of food waste, but eective measures for the prevention of food waste have been unknown so far. This study included only those measures not requiring a reduction in consumption. These measures are either the substitution by alternatives that cause less waste or the prevention of the kinds of waste that are considered useless to consumers (unread advertising material, food products that are discarded without ever having been opened). This approach is in agreement with the common understanding that waste prevention [...] means changing the way resources are used in production processes and in products (Commission of the European Community, 2003b). Still there are also conicting views. For example, Fricker (2003) says that prevention and greater eciency have only limited benets and that reducing consumption is the only choice in view of sustainability. The calculation of the prevention potentials for the selected case studies aimed at estimating practicable prevention potentials, by following and taking into account the experience from prior case studies in other regions. However, the prevention potentials achieved under actual conditions are usually lower than the expected (calculated) ones. Possible reasons for this discrepancy are: 1. disregard for some important impacts relevant to the measure; 2. the diculty of correctly anticipating and quantifying the reaction of relevant actors and the eects of relevant impacts; and 3. the problem of estimating impacts on waste quantity. Based upon the case studies, the following barriers to the eective realization of a specic waste prevention measure can be identied:  a lower-than-expected participation of the public (e.g., canceling subscription to advertising material, use of reusable diapers);  costs, e.g., the higher cost of dishes from biodegradable materials (Lemser, 2003) or costs incurred by industry for waste reduction measures (Chapple et al., 2005; Beaumont and Tinch, 2004);  the reaction from industry and potential substitution eects, which are dicult to anticipate (e.g., deposits on non-rellable beverage containers in Germany); and  the dynamics of economic developments (e.g., the further the trend goes towards one-way beverage packaging, the greater the extent of adjustments which need to be made and the less likely a successful turnaround to rellable systems becomes).

A discrepancy between the expected participation rates of the public in waste prevention activities and actual participation rates can result from not having taken into consideration relevant motives (e.g., advertising material from food retailers as a popular source of information, saving time and eort when using one-way diapers, intrinsic value of purchasing food), as well as from shortcomings in the practical implementation of a measure (intensity of public relations: form and content of the information, diusion instruments, coverage regarding the target group, frequency of information). The diculties of measuring waste prevention have frequently been cited in the literature. These diculties range from determining the baseline position for waste avoidance (Wilson, 1996) to identifying appropriate measurements and to the variety of other impacts which are dicult to control. Even if a decrease in waste quantities can be determined after a waste prevention measure has been implemented, an analysis must follow of which eects can be credited to the measure and which to other impacts. Chappin et al. (2005) used decomposition analysis, which is a method widely used in energy studies, in order to determine the inuence of the beverage packaging policy in the Netherlands. They analyzed how individual material management options have changed the amount of waste, by dierentiating four materials and six underlying factors (change in consumption, substitution of packaging material, change in packaging size, lighter packaging concepts, change in product use, change in material recycling). Thus it was possible to gain insight into the contributions of the underlying factors. 6. Conclusions Waste prevention has been awarded the highest priority under European waste management law. However, the initiatives which so far have been taken seem to have had no eect on the total amount of municipal solid waste. Conservative measures which do not require a reduction in consumption can only prevent 13% of MSW. It is assumed that the prevention of food waste could achieve higher potentials, but no eective measures are known so far. There is obviously a discrepancy between the priority given to waste prevention and the eciency of waste prevention activities. Waste prevention is an essential and eective strategy in waste management, but the targets and measures should be specied with regard to the particular waste stream concerned. As for methodological aspects, shortcomings in measuring the eects of waste prevention activities can be identied. Basic data, which are necessary for evaluating waste prevention measures, are missing, as for example market data on the quantity of sold beverages in reusable and non-reusable packaging. In this regard, a legal basis should be created in order to provide a good data base.

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The case studies illustrated, that waste prevention involves a lot of dierent players beyond waste management, as for example private households, food retailing or advertising industry. Thus the successful implementation of a measure for the prevention of waste requires accurate advance planning and should include a detailed analysis or the potential impacts and barriers. The focus in this paper was on the eects on waste quantities, which is only one aspect of waste prevention. Other aspects are economic, ecological and social eects of waste prevention. Combining waste prevention targets with social targets, as for example by establishing food banks, might possibly show only a marginal prevention potential, but could implicate signicant other (social) benets. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the City of Vienna, in particular the MA 48, for the funding of several studies upon which this paper is based and for the provision of data. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the funding bodies. References
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