E-waste – moving beyond good and evil
Öko-Institut report shows possibilities for sustainable e-waste recycling in Ghana
E-waste contains many valuable metals such as gold, silver, palladium, aluminium, steel and cooper. Recovery of aluminium, steel and copper from e-waste is an important livelihood strategy for many poor people in West Africa. However, e-waste also contains many hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium, brominated flame retardants and PVC. Due to a lack of recycling and waste management infrastructure, e-waste is not treated appropriately in West Africa, thereby causing huge damage to the environment, and the health of the workers and local communities. The results of a project on e-waste recycling in Ghana, carried out by Öko-Institut on behalf of the Inspectorate of the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM-Inspectorate) and the Dutch Recycling Association (NVMP), show how e-waste can be recycled and managed in an environmentally-friendly way and how to comply with social standards at the same time.
28.07.2010
Resources fever – A cool head for hot resource debates
Öko-Institut presents recent studies and reports on the sustainable use of resources on its website www.resourcefever.org. We discuss, for example, how resources can be used more efficiently within the EU as well as issues related to the recycling of electronic waste in newly industrialising and developing countries. A new report by Öko-Institut and Eurometaux (the EU Association of Non-Ferrous Metals Industry) addresses the standards and guidelines which the European Union and its member states have to develop further for sustainable resource management worldwide.
27.07.2010
Nanotechnology in the Food Sector – Study now available in English
The study “Nanotechnology in the Food Sector”, commissioned by the Swiss Centre for Technology Assessment TA-SWISS, is now available in English.
The study provides an overview of nanomaterials already used in the food sector with a focus on the Swiss market and an analysis of the existing legal framework. Today, nanotechnology is virtually insignificant in terms of environmentally sound and health-promoting nutrition, and even in the future it is likely to play a relatively subordinate role in making nutrition more sustainable. But nanotechnology is already used in food packaging, an area that is regarded as having considerable potential for innovation. The study assesses these products in respect of environmental issues and sustainability and where there is a need for caution and for adaption of regulations with regard to labelling and traceability.
28.06.2010
Climate assessors under scrutiny
An Öko-Institut study hot off the press reveals that the United Nations continues to be dissatisfied with the performance of the companies validating climate change mitigation projects in the developing world. Such projects can be initiated under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in order to deliver emissions reductions wherever such reductions are most cost-efficient. It is already the second evaluation by the Öko-Institut of the work of the companies (termed Designed Operational Entities, DOEs). The verdict is that they have failed to clean up their act since the first in 2009.09.02.2010
Getting moving on climate protection – sustainable transport strategies
The new eco@work is online
How can we make transport more climate-friendly in the face of increasing mobility? This is the question tackled in the current issue of eco@work, which is published today. We present the findings of the Renewbility study, which show how Germany could reduce its transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by a quarter by 2030. Another article quantifies the climate benefits of public transport: each passenger who uses bus or rail instead of the car for local journeys saves on average 2.5 kilograms CO2 per trip. And in the interview we introduce Michael Sailer, the institute's new CEO.
The current issue "Getting moving on climate protection" is available here >>
26.01.2010
How useful are climate labels?
Öko-Institut makes recommendations on the use of product carbon footprints
What greenhouse gas emissions are associated with a beef steak or a pack of frozen vegetables? What carbon emissions arise during the manufacture, use and disposal of a TV or a freezer? In recent years a number of new schemes for analysing product carbon footprints (PCFs) have emerged all over the world, accompanied by private or state-run product labelling schemes. A new international standard (ISO 14067) for the calculation of carbon footprints is due to be developed by 2010.
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