Focus Session II
Do we need new definition and regulations for landfilling in Circular Economy?

FOCUS SESSION II / 11 October 2023 / 17:00 - 18:30
Do we need new definition and regulations for landfilling in Circular Economy?

Moderator:
Raffaello Cossu - University of Padua (IT)

Panelists:
Robert Gregory - Gregory Environmental Consulting Ltd (UK)
Kerstin Kuchta - Hamburg University of Technology (DE)
Peter Wessman - Desk Officer for the Landfill Directive in DG Evironment (EU)


Representation of Circular Economy as a perfect cycle is not realistic. For many reasons:

• not all materials are recyclable, and those that are cannot be recycled ad infinitum;
• hazardous and persistent chemical substances present in the products forwarded to recycling tend to accumulate in the recycled materials and residues;
• the material cycle in Circular Economy should necessarily be closed in line with the principle of Back to Earth to control the global diffusion of contaminants; accordingly, if what is taken from the land is not returned to the land in an uncontaminated form, it will linger perilously in the environment (Grossule, 2020);
• in closing the material loop, the strategically important role as a sink played by landfill should be not taken into account.

Landfilling in order to act as a sink should undergo a profound revision either in terminology (to make clearly the difference between traditional landfills where contaminants are present in a mobile form and sustainable landfill where waste is pretreated in order to stabilize/immobilize contaminants) either in the regulation.

The Focus Session will discuss if a landfill is necessary for closing the material loops in Circular Economy and conversely if alternative sink could substitute it.