A Review of Effective Waste Management from an EU, National, and Local Perspective and Its Influence: The Management of Biowaste and Anaerobic Digestion of Municipal Solid Waste

Abstract

The waste management industry across the European Union (EU) has undergone radical change following the recognition that a move towards a sustainable society is essential for humankind. To this end, the EU has targeted household recycling targets of 50% by 2020 and 70% by 2030 in a bid to move towards a more sustainable and resource efficient society. Despite such targets and a number of relevant progresses in technology (such as incineration, composting, and anaerobic digestion), there are several challenges facing the municipal solid waste sector. The purpose of this review is to assess the EU, UK and local policies that are affecting the way waste is treated, Greater Manchester (GM) in the United Kingdom (UK), will be used as an example. The review focuses upon anaerobic digestion as a choice technology for waste management and assesses the influences of policies upon the application of anaerobic digestion at the EU and local level, finding that at current rates of recycling, local and national targets will be missed by approximately 7.3% in the year 2030, even in the best case scenario where the maximum amount of biowaste is managed under the current operational capacity. The review concludes that in order to improve the recycling bio-waste capacity on a local, national, and EU level, the introduction of the AD must be increased tremendously.