Kenk Kadi, Kerge Kristiina, Kriipsalu Mait, Grivins Mikelis, Brobakk Jostein, Värnik Rando
Institute of Forestry and Engineering, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia.
Institute of Economics and Social Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia.
Waste Manag Res. 2025 Jul;43(7):984-993. doi: 10.1177/0734242X241276088. Epub 2024 Sep 15.
The European Union (EU) circular economy action plan aims to double its use of recycled material by 2030. We argue that waste-centric approach to resources may have adverse consequences to this ambition. The aim of the work was to find out the factors limiting or promoting the use of waste from primary food sector in countries with the same cultural background and similar climate in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Norway. Biomass from the primary food production sector is of good quality and excellent to use, but its use may be limited if given waste status. From numerous management decision trigger clusters, which may affect valorisation of the biomass, we focus on technology and policy. Our semi-structured interviews addressed the analysis and management of waste or by-products and explored the end-of-waste and alternative mechanisms that allowed the biomass to be valorised. However, the interviews revealed that none of the companies regard anything becoming waste, but as raw material or production left-over. Any obstacles hypothesised turned out not to be acknowledged by companies at all. This appears to be a very good example of the use of resources, but the approach is haphazard and may conflict with official understanding and waste reporting requirements. Definition of waste is the same in the EU, and arbitrary treatment can be misleading. There is a need for better management of the material flow to ensure effective biomass circulation avoiding its becoming waste. We recommend that this be addressed by introducing environmental, social, governance and a self-control system.
欧盟的循环经济行动计划旨在到2030年将其回收材料的使用量增加一倍。我们认为，以废物为中心的资源利用方式可能会对这一目标产生不利影响。这项工作的目的是找出在爱沙尼亚、拉脱维亚、立陶宛和挪威等文化背景相同、气候相似的国家中，限制或促进初级食品部门废物利用的因素。初级食品生产部门的生物质质量良好，非常适合利用，但如果被认定为废物，其利用可能会受到限制。在众多可能影响生物质价值化的管理决策触发因素中，我们关注技术和政策。我们的半结构化访谈涉及废物或副产品的分析与管理，并探讨了使生物质实现价值化的废物终结和替代机制。然而，访谈显示，没有一家公司将任何东西视为废物，而是将其视为原材料或生产剩余物。任何假设的障碍实际上都未得到公司的认可。这似乎是一个很好的资源利用例子，但这种方式是随意的，可能与官方的理解和废物报告要求相冲突。欧盟对废物的定义是相同的，随意处理可能会产生误导。需要更好地管理物质流，以确保生物质有效循环，避免其成为废物。我们建议通过引入环境、社会、治理和自我控制系统来解决这一问题。
