VNR WASTE – Script Long Version
Insulating your home with blue jeans; perhaps not as crazy as it sounds?
We’re in Rochdale, a few miles from Manchester. For Michael, each day follows the same
ritual.
Michael Walsh, Operations Director, Anglo:
“There are a number of companies in our area who specialize in sorting and reclaiming
clothing. We ask one of these companies to segregate the denim waste, so that we can
manufacture them in other products, kind of giving them a second life.”
To move on to this second life, the jeans have to undergo a process. The trousers are laid on
a conveyor belt and shredded bit by bit. Metal parts, buttons and zips are all removed by
machine.
Michael Walsh, Operations Director, Anglo:
“At this point of the process here, it’s already had an initial pull. As you can see there are still
several large unpulled pieces of denim which need to be reduced in size further, before we
can actually manufacture with it.”
Once the fibres have been separated, they are compressed to form a kind of mattress.
These will then receive fire protection treatment before being used as efficient insulation for
homes.
Nick Parsons, Installer:
“It doesn't itch. You can do it by yourself, it’s very straight forward as you can see putting in a
piece there where this is quite a length, so that we have smaller pieces easy to tear and then
that fills in there.”
These denim-based materials, which are very easy to install, are more environmentally
friendly than most other insulation products. Admittedly, they are still more expensive at the
moment...
But textile recycling offers great local economic potential. And it’s not just jeans...
Michael Walsh, Operations Director, Anglo:
“This is wool rich, we use this in other areas like horticulture and in flooring. We take
collected waste streams and then we remanufacture it in other products using a very small
amount of energy relative to making virgin products from virgin materials. As time goes by
that we switch on to using more and more recycled products.”
Individuals, businesses, governments. We all constantly produce waste. Every year up to 3
billion tonnes of waste is produced in the EU - that's an average of more than 5 tonnes per
person including half a tonne of household waste.
For environmental and for economic reasons, we need to reduce our waste production. We
also need to sort, process and recycle waste better.
Commissioner Potocnik:
“There is no doubt that recycling is a huge opportunity for jobs creation and for our economic
growth. It’s important that we understand that waste is actually not a burden but a new
resource that we have to use. For example the mobile phones we have in our pockets, if we
recycle 40 mobile phones, we would get 1 gram of gold..“
Improving resource efficiency is a top priority for the European Commission And using waste
as a resource is becoming more and more important, given the ever increasing global
pressure on raw materials.
Dr Gisèle Jung, Senior Research Fellow, ULB:
“Reclaiming waste is not a choice, it’s a necessity. When we look at how resources are
depleting and at our dependency on those resources, it’s clear that we must recycle and
recover as much as we can from our waste.”
We still have some way to go before Europe becomes a true ‘recycling society’. To achieve
this goal, the EU has passed a range of legislation on waste with ambitious recycling targets
covering different waste streams, for example in the automotive sector – a major consumer
of raw materials – where end-of-life vehicles represent a waste issue.
Mihai and Raluca live in Bucharest. They use this car to travel around the Romanian capital,
and it’s over 15 years old.
Mihai Martin:
“Maintenance is very hard and costly. It uses a lot of fuel and is very polluting. It’s done its
job! Time to take it to the recycling centre.”
Romania now has over 200 processing and recycling centres like this one. Mihai’s car will be
put through the same process as the 50 000 other Romanian vehicles that end up there
every year.
The cars are first cleared and taken apart. Their oils and other liquids are drained, the
windows and wheels are removed. The vehicle shells are then placed onto trucks and
transported to another site. They are then dismantled into small pieces. The ferrous and
nonferrous metals are then separated. This whole process has one core objective: maximum
reuse of all these resources.
Dr Ing Mihai Sofian, DG Rematholding:
“We sort and recycle in Romania. There are markets for glass, paper, plastics, rubber,
ferrous and nonferrous metals, motor oils and antifreeze.”
The metals are either reused as spare parts or recycled. Meanwhile, tyres and engine fluids
are now frequently used for fuel, primarily for the cement industry. In Romania today, over
85% of the materials found in a car are reused in one way or another. These waste materials
are an important resource for the country. And there’s potential, given the state of most cars
in Romania.
Dr Ing Mihai Sofian, DG Rematholding:
“In Romania, we have over 1.4 million cars aged 10 years or older. This programme is what
the country needs.”
To encourage motorists to recycle their old vehicles, the government pays incentives of
around 1000 euros. This is used to buy a new car that meets current fuel consumption and
CO2 emissions standards. New cars are also better designed for recycling.
We are at the research centre of Dacia-Renault, the market leader in Romania. Like other
car manufacturers, for several years the company has had to implement an ambitious policy
to meet European laws that require integrating the ‘recycling’ dimension when designing a
car.
Stefan Macea, local Technical Leader for bumper compounds, Dacia:
“We are trying to comply as early as possible with the stricter targets of the European
Directive on end of life vehicles which will come into effect in 2015. This will be a huge
challenge as it means that nearly all of the vehicle will have to be reused, recycled or
recovered for example as energy."
(Note for info only): The ELV Directive 2000/53/EC requires that not later than 1 Jan 2015,
for all end of life vehicles, the reuse and recovery shall be increased to minimum 95% by av
weight per vehicle and year. Within the same limit reuse and recycling shall be increased to
85% per vehicle and year. (the ref to energy at the end is an example of a type of recovery)
Dacia researchers are also trying to include recycled materials in their new cars. Their latest
models contain around 15% recycled plastic. For now this is only used to manufacture parts
such as mud guards and shock absorbers.
Georgiana-Luciana ENACHE, Customer Recycling Service Manager, Dacia:
“In our labs, we are exploring solutions for including recycled plastics in visible parts like this
one. As well as being environmentally friendly, there are also cost savings!.”
Europe is facing a major challenge. It is vital that we reduce our waste production. But we
must also see waste materials as important resources and improve how we manage and use
them. Protecting our environment and the long-term sustainability of our economic growth
are at stake.