ENSURE Environmental Assessment of European Waste and the Sustainable Use of Resources

Country: European Union
Start Date:           Duration:          Project Type: RTD
Contract Number: FP7 - WP2008 - Action n°22005
Organisation Type:  Agency, regulator or other governmental or inter-governmental body
Topics: 
Contaminated land-->Wider impacts / sustainability-->Assessment tools
Contaminated land-->Wider impacts / sustainability-->Economic
Contaminated land-->Wider impacts / sustainability-->Environmental
Contaminated land-->Wider impacts / sustainability-->Social
Contaminated land-->Wider impacts / sustainability-->Sustainable / green remediation
Project objectives:
In combination with traditional approaches that address e.g. local impacts and peak environmental pressures of resource use and the associated waste production, 
life cycle thinking is rapidly becoming a cornerstone in the assessment and monitoring of the sustainability of goods and services (products) in business
and in public administrations. The full life cycle of products must be taken into account when assessing the consumption of resources and the management of
resultant wastes; from the extraction of raw materials to the disposal of wastes (the 'cradle-to-grave'). The shifting of burdens within the life cycle, among
political regions or across impacts such as climate change, damage to aquatic ecosystems, health effects and others is to be avoided. Applications range from
the optimisation of waste management systems when addressing e.g. whether to recycle, to recover energy and/or to compost, through to the monitoring of environmental
and economic decoupling in relation to European consumption accounting for its full global impacts. Life cycle thinking, in combination with traditional
modelling and analytical approaches, is therefore indispensable, as highlighted in e.g. the Commission's Thematic Strategies on the Sustainable Use of
Natural Resources (COM(2005) 670) and on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste (COM(2005) 666), in the Integrated Product Policy Communication (COM (2003)
302), as well as in the developing Sustainable Consumption and Production Action Plan. Yet, while there have been important achievements, there are still
knowledge barriers that inhibit the broader and effective implementation of both the traditional approaches as well as life cycle thinking.
Project Summary:
This Action develops the reference data systems, recommended technical guidance documents, pilot studies, laboratory analyses, maps, and decoupling indicators 
that provide the knowledge-basis that is essential to support decision making for the integrated environmental assessment of resource use and the associated
waste production. This relies on a combination of the cutting-edge modelling and monitoring focused on both traditional approaches complimented with life
cycle assessment. The main aim is to increase awareness, enhance knowledge availability, and ensure acceptance through the availability of scientifically
robust data and international consensus building. With the aid of administrative arrangements to support the European Platform on Life Cycle Assessment,
the life cycle-based guidelines for waste management, and the development of life cycle-based decoupling/sustainability indicators, the Action directly
supports the Commission's Thematic Strategies on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources (COM(2005) 670) and on the Prevention and Recycling of Waste (COM(2005)
666), ongoing revisions to the Waste Framework Directive, implementation of the Integrated Product Policy Communication (COM (2003) 302), as well as key
inputs to the Sustainable Consumption and Production Action Plan.
Achieved Objectives:

            
Product Descriptions:

            
Additional Information:

            
Project Resources:
Weblink:
http://projects-2008.jrc.ec.europa.eu/show.gx?Object.object_id=PROJECTS0000000003016E2E
Funding Programme(s): 
EC FP7: Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development.
Link to Organisations:

Joint Research Centre ISPRA
Submitted by: EUGRIS Team Professor Paul Bardos  Who does what?  23/05/2009 17:22:00