Waste collection systems assessed and good practices identified

COLLECTORS project came to its end in November 2020. It was a European-funded, Horizon 2020 project, which aimed to identify and highlight existing good practices of waste collection and sorting. It focused on three waste streams: paper and packaging, WEEE, and construction and demolition waste (CDW).

The main objectives of the COLLECTORS project were to:

  • Harmonize and disclose available information on different waste collection systems;
  • Gain better insight into the overall performance of systems; and
  • Support decision-makers in shifting to better-performing systems via capacity-building and establishing implementation guidelines.

To reach this goal, COLLECTORS was working in three phases:

  1. Inventory: map, harmonize and disclose existing information on waste collection systems throughout Europe for packaging and paper waste, WEEE, and CDW. 
  2. Assessment: assess the overall performance of waste collection systems in different geographical areas., using life-cycle assessments and cost-benefit analyses.
  3. Implementation: stimulate successful implementation of better-performing waste collection systems by providing implementation guidelines for the collection of the three waste streams, which will include tailored instructions per type of location.

COLLECTORS reached its end with the final event on 17 November during which project partners and experts provided insights on how to shift to better-performing waste collection systems. The need to harmonise data, waste collection systems and quality requirements came back several times in the discussions. Lear more about the outcomes of the conference here.

After 3 years of research and exchanges with different players in the recycling value-chain, the COLLECTORS consortium is happy to share its findings: 

The COLLECTORS platform: a database on Waste Collection Systems;

The COLLECTORS guidelines, which aim to provide recommendations and good practice information for local waste collection systems to better assess their situation and improve their performances; 

The COLLECTORS policy recommendations, which provide propositions on how to improve national and regional framework conditions;

Waste Library

See the project's results in detail here.