Moving Up the EU Waste Hierarchy in Remote Area Exploring the Case of Lesvos Island, Greece Faikham Harnnarong Supervisors Iosif Botetzagias Department of Environment, University of the Aegean Associate Professor Naoko Tojo IIIEE, Lund University Thesis for the fulfilment of the Master of Science in Environmental Sciences, Policy & Management Lund, Sweden & Mytilene, Greece June 2009 MESPOM Programme: Lund University – University of Manchester – University of the Aegean – Central European University Erasmus Mundus Masters Course in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management MESPOM This thesis is submitted in fulfillment of the Master of Science degree awarded as a result of successful completion of the Erasmus Mundus Masters course in Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management (MESPOM) jointly operated by the University of the Aegean (Greece), Central European University (Hungary), Lund University (Sweden) and the University of Manchester (United Kingdom). 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ISSN 1401-9191 Moving Up the EU Waste Hierarchy - exploring the case of Lesvos Island, Greece Acknowledgements As I have learned via the process of this thesis, the most important ingredients for success of a project, may it be implementation of waste management policy or any other kinds of life projects, is the people and their wills. With this, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the people who have patiently walked me through this intense and interesting path: First and foremost, thank you my supervisors, Naoko Tojo of the IIIEE and Iosif Botetzagias of the University of the Aegean for insightful discussions and their determined patient and encouragement. Then my earnest gratitude to the interviewees for their time and valuable insights which helped form the basis of this research. Additionally, thank you Professors Constantinos Halvadakis of the University of the Aegean for his encouragement and supports through out my research at the Waste Management Laboratory; Philip Peck, Panate Manomaivibool, and Thomas Lindhqvist of the IIIEE who have helped at the very beginning in developing my interest into this research topic; Nikoleta Jones of the UoA for sharing her experiences and guidance in field research and interviews; also my genuine appreciations to the staffs at the three Universities for their continuous efforts to facilitate our learning and our stay: Kriszta, Irina, Gunilla, Elna, Hakan, Fredrik, Ingela, and Mihalis Bakas. Thank you polli έλληνες γονείς µου, Karagianni Valado & Georgios Giouzepas of the University of the Aegean, for all their mental and physical supports, their organization, too many translations, and every effort to facilitate my research and maintain my social and cultural life. -- Βεντουζάκια και φιλάκια! Ευχαριστώ πολλοί για the students, staffs, and faculties at the Department of Environment, UoA, whose many names appear here transparently, in their companies which have tremendously helped me to understand the context of my case study. Special thanks go to Eleftherios Kromidas for his friendship, patient, and tirelessly translations, without which this research can not be completed. Deepest thanks to my dear friends for your various supports during the long journey of this thesis: Yanin Chivakidakarn, Pornsiri Cheevapattananuwong, and Tatirose Vijitpan for letting me stay, B.M.Krishna, Chol&Patchar, Lili & Dalia for packages of sweet surprises, Sashko&Grace for tea nuts and chocolates, the corridormates of Vildanden 26A&9A 3rd flr., Yok & Yim for staying touch. Thank you immensely to my fellow MESPOMers for their colourful selves, friendships, openness and honesty, in sharing their academic and personal life experiences, insightful discussions, and fun -- the memories I will treasure. Then I would love to extend my gratitude to the European Union and its tax payers for the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship which has made these brilliant academic and cultural experiences possible. Also, my sincere gratitude to the Central European University Foundation for the research grant, and to Aleh Cherp for facilitating my proposal. Last but not least, my parents and my niece, for their unconditional love, guidance, and inspiration. ขอบคุณคะ Faikham Harnnarong Lund, June 2009 Moving Up the EU Waste Hierarchy in Remote Area - exploring the case of Lesvos Island, Greece Abstract The main purpose of this research is to contribute to sustainable waste management in remote areas of the European Union (EU) by specifically employing the concept of ‘waste hierarchy’ as a mean to reach this goal. The last three decades see the EU waste management approach evolve from pollution control (disposal/end-of-pipe) toward more strategic approach focusing on waste prevention and recycling. This evolution has been instrumental for many Member States’ waste policy transformation notwithstanding; many remote areas of the EU are still lag behind in their waste management situation. Lesvos Island of Greece is one such areas still dealing with numerous dumpsites scattering around the island, anticipating a single central landfill, and having no formal recycling system - therefore chosen as a case study. To learn how to improve this situation, relationship between the EU policy implications and factors which condition waste management in the remote/rural Island was investigated. The factors were explored through in-depth interviews with stakeholders, chosen by triangulation method, representing local government authorities, academics, and civil society. The research has confirmed that transposition of the EU waste Directives into the Greek national policy does not imply effective implementation; its implications on the local waste policy and implementation in Lesvos are very limited. Factors influencing the current local waste policy agenda have been identified. This includes: keep to conventional perception of waste management, low pressures from citizens and from regulation obligations, lack of willingness to change, and limited resources and funding. However, the current situation of uncontrolled dumpsites, growing amount of waste, opposition to construct more landfill, and high cost of waste transport (characteristic of remote areas and islands) suggest that Lesvos needs more sustainable alternatives for waste management. The research has concluded that the Island should pursue a more holistic approach to waste management, considering socio- economic and environmental benefits that waste management can contribute to its sustainable development. Correspondingly, community source-separation, recycling, and composting are proposed as they may contribute to the Island’s energy and resources independency. Moreover, some voluntary recycling initiatives/systems run by private companies and local NGO exist in Lesvos. It is therefore wise to maximize these systems in order to increase the resource-use efficiency. Furthermore, recycling of some specific waste streams (e.g. packaging waste) which have low material prices can not be economically viable for the remote Island where costs of energy and transportation are high. Since these waste streams are regulated by relevant EU Directives and having established national (collective or individual producers responsibility) systems for their alternative management; involvement (e.g. financial support) from the national systems will be instrumental in their recycling in Lesvos as well as other remote areas of the EU. Key words: European Union, EU waste management, EU waste policy, waste policy, waste hierarchy, recycling, recovery, sustainable development, community recycling, municipal solid waste management, municipal solid waste, solid waste management, waste management in remote areas, remote areas, island waste management, Greece, Lesvos i Faikham Harnnarong, IIIEE, Lund University ii Moving Up the EU Waste Hierarchy in Remote Area - exploring the case of Lesvos Island, Greece Executive Summary The main purpose of this research is to contribute to sustainable waste management in remote areas of the European Union (EU) by specifically employing the concept of ‘waste hierarchy’ as a mean to reach this goal. Waste hierarchy establishes the rule of thumb as to which waste management operations are best for the environment; consecutively suggesting waste prevention over reuse, over material recycling or composting, over energy recovery, over landfill disposal. Lesvos Island of the Northern Aegean of Greece is chosen as a case study, representing a remote/rural area of the EU. The summary of this research is presented here. Background of the research Waste is one of the major environmental problems that the European Community is facing. Currently having to deal with approximately 241 million tonnes of municipal solid waste each year, the amount of municipal waste generated within