Documents waste 38 results

"About 320,000 workers worldwide die every year of communicable diseases, some 5,000 in the European Union. In the last decade, media coverage has raised public awareness of biological hazards, such as anthrax at work due to bioterrorist activities, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the threat of avian flu. But biological agents are ubiquitous and, in many workplaces, workers face considerably harmful biological risks. The Community strategy 2002-06 called on the Agency to ‘set up a risk observatory' to ‘anticipate new and emerging risks'. This report sets out to present the results of the forecast on emerging OSH biological risks, which is the second forecast of emerging risks carried out in this context. "

"The coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the world, and its impact has permeated virtually all facets of society. The next wave of the COVID-19 shock will trigger another or more protracted recession in many countries, with annual growth projected to fall below recessionary thresholds. The resulting hit to global income as compared with forecasts for 2020 and 2021 will be enormous. The situation will be more precarious for developing countries across different income categories that are struggling with unsustainable debt burdens. Firms should implement business-continuity plans and ensure readiness for business constraints by prioritizing critical business activities and creating contingency plans for disruption. Governments should implement support programs to avert these difficulties. The shock to labor supply in each country should be managed in a manner that does not leave a post-COVID-19 world more disastrous. Close cooperation among all relevant actors is key to containing COVID-19 and mitigating its economic repercussions on countries around the globe. In addition, better waste management and commitment to climate change must take center stage to reduce the environmental impacts of COVID-19 on countries and the world."

"A new EPSU report on waste highlights alarming risks faced by nearly one million workers keeping Europe's towns and cities clean. Waste collection remains one of Europe's most dangerous jobs, with accident and illness rates significantly higher than the average for all workers. The report identifies urgent safety concerns linked to climate change, technological developments, and outsourcing of public services.
One major issue raised by the report is extreme heat. Much of Europe is currently in the grip of a dangerous heatwave, with temperatures soaring to 46°C in southern regions and hitting 40°C in many others. On Saturday 28 June, a street cleaner in Barcelona died after finishing an outdoor shift in what is suspected to be a heat-related death.
Across Europe, heat-related workplace fatalities have increased by 42% since 2000. Waste workers, who spend long hours exposed to the elements, are particularly at risk. EPSU is calling for new European legislation to establish maximum safe working temperatures. This must include guaranteed breaks, access to drinking water, suitable protective clothing, and the right to stop work when conditions become unsafe.
Outsourcing and privatisation have further compromised worker safety. Private contractors, driven by profit, frequently cut corners on essential safety training, protective gear, and equipment maintenance. Conversely, cities bringing waste services back under public control see fewer accidents, better-trained workers, and safer workplaces. EPSU urges municipalities to prioritise safety by returning waste services to public hands.
The growth of recycling and the circular economy, while positive environmentally, poses new threats. Fires caused by improperly disposed lithium-ion batteries have sharply increased. In the UK alone, 670 waste depot fires occurred in a single year, with nearly 40% attributed to these batteries. Stricter rules on hazardous waste disposal and public education campaigns funded by producers are needed to tackle this danger.
Finally, the study considers Europe's informal waste collectors - such as bottle collectors operating under deposit-return schemes - who lack formal recognition and protections. These workers should be officially included in policies governing the circular economy, ensuring their fair treatment and safety.
As Europe advances its goals for sustainability and the circular economy, waste management is growing more complex - and more vital. Waste workers already play a key role in protecting public health and the environment, yet their contributions and needs are often overlooked in policy and planning. EPSU calls for immediate action at EU, national and local levels to ensure these workers are fully recognised, properly protected, and treated with the dignity they deserve."

"Law 7/2022 transformed the taxation on waste deposits in Spain. From a series of own autonomous taxes, we have moved on to the establishment of a single state tax transferred – or agreed upon with the foral territories – whose performance is entirely attributed to the Autonomous Communities, which, in addition, can assume its management and modify relevant aspects of their quantification elements. Catalonia, which was a pioneer in the establishment of this type of taxes, can very well contribute to strengthening the state system, in a climate of collaboration and coordination in which to share a good part of the experience accumulated in this regard. In this article, from the background and context of this tax (section 1), each and every one of its structural elements is reviewed, trying to highlight both its strengths (section 2) and weaknesses (section 4), threats (section 5), opportunities and challenges that presents its next evolution (section 6), to finish with a kind of conclusion (section 7)."

This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

"This volume addresses the controversial nature of the relationship between science and environmental law. Much as politicians might wish otherwise, environmental decisions cannot be made solely by a scientific analysis of the situation, since they ultimately involve political choices, frequently between fundamentally divided interests. There is an increasingly apparent tension between the need for independent expert input, in technical areas such as cost benefit assessment as well as in the natural sciences, and adequate public involvement. The second part of this volume looks at the area of waste, in particular the Landfill Directive and the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive and their implementation in Italy and the UK. These essays demonstrate very clearly that waste regulation is far from a simple technical or scientific issue, but is capable of provoking serious political and cultural questions.

This volume includes contributions from some of Europe's leading commentators in this area, from diverse professional and national backgrounds."

"Time to connect the dots: what is the link between climate change policy and the circular economy?
In December 2015, the European Commission published the new Circular Economy Package, containing a host of initiatives to reduce waste and to increase the longevity of products and materials, but it failed to set a headline target for reducing the EU's use of resources. Such a target could help to increase political attention and visibility of the issue, stimulate long-term ambitions and streamline the action of all actors – both public and private – towards reducing the consumption of natural resources.

In order to gain political support for such a target, this CEPS Policy Brief highlights two preconditions that need to be obtained:

i. First, the target needs to be based on an attractive vision for change shared by a majority of stakeholders (including business and industry).

ii. Second, it needs to be based on robust and consistent indicators across the EU – both on the public and on the company level.

Meeting these two preconditions will considerably ease the introduction of a policy mix aimed at fostering more circular business models."

"Nanomaterials are employed in extensive variety of commercial products such as electronic components, cosmetics, food, sports equipment, biomedical applications, and medicine. With the increasing utilization of engineered nanomaterials, the potential exposure of human to nanoparticles is rapidly increasing. Nowadays when new nanomaterials with new applications are introduced, mostly good and positive effects are mentioned whereas possible hazards arising from nanosize of the compounds are undermined. Toxicology studies of nanomaterials demonstrate some adverse effects in some human organs such as central nerve system, immune system, and lung. There is lack of complete information about human toxicity and environmental waste of nanomaterials. We aimed to highlight current toxicological concerns of potentially useful nanomaterials which are now used in pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences."