LIFE and resource efficiency Decouplinggrowthfromresourceuse
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
More information on the European Union is availa�le on the �nternet ��le on the �nternet �http://europa.eu).
Cataloguing data can �e found at the end of this pu�lication..
Luxem�ourg: Pu�lications Office of the European Union, 2011
�SBN 978-92-79-19764-2
�SSN 1725-5619
doi:10.2779/74370
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Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
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EuropEan CommissionEnvironmEnt DirECtoratE-GEnEral
LIFE (“The Financial Instrument for the Environment”) is a programme launched �y the European Commission and co-ordinated �y
the Environment Directorate-General �L�FE Units - E.3. and E.4.).
The contents of the pu�lication “L�FE and Resource Efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use” do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of the institutions of the European Union.
Authors: Ga�riella Camarsa �Environment expert), Justin Toland, Eamon O’Hara, Tim Hudson, Wendy Jones, Ed Thorpe, Christophe
Thévignot �AE�DL, Communications Team Coordinator). Managing Editor: Hervé Martin, European Commission, Environment DG,
L�FE E.4 – BU-9, 02/1, 200 rue de la Loi, B-1049 Brussels. LIFE Focus series coordination: Simon Goss �L�FE Communications
Coordinator), Evelyne Jussiant �DG Environment Communications Coordinator). Technical assistance: Audrey Thénard, Nicolas
Tavitian, Agnese Roccato �Astrale GE�E). The following people also worked on this issue: Al�an De Villepin, Federico Nogara,
Simona Bacchereti, Santiago Urquijo-Zamora, Sylvie Ludain �Environment DG, L�FE Environment and Eco-innovation Unit), Carina
Vopel, Jonathan Murphy �Environment DG, Communication Unit), Ro�in Miege �Environment DG, Green Week Task Force).
Production: Monique Braem �AE�DL). Graphic design: Daniel Renders, Anita Cortés �AE�DL). Photos database: Sophie Brynart.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to all L�FE project �eneficiaries who contri�uted comments, photos and other useful material for this
report. Photos: Unless otherwise specified; photos are from the respective projects.
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Resource efficiency is a cross-cutting issue that affects our daily lives and economy. We rely
on natural resources to provide us with shelter, food, employment, quality of life and a host of
other services. �n order to protect the long-term availa�ility of these resources, we need to take care
to use them wisely in sustaina�le ways. For this to happen, new approaches are required, approaches
that need to involve long-term considerations aimed at achieving a �etter �alance �etween economic,
environmental and social interests.
The L�FE Programme has �een at the forefront of such moves to promote more resource efficient
solutions for today’s environmental challenges, and a large portfolio of good practices in this area has
�een gathered �y L�FE since its launch in 1992. A sample of some of these approaches is highlighted
in the following L�FE Focus �rochure, which presents some of the practical actions �eing implemented
throughout the EU.
Topics featured in the �rochure span the full sustaina�le development spectrum and aim to illustrate
how L�FE’s �road remit is a�le to assist a multitude of different environmental activities in a variety of
different contexts. Pu�lic, private and voluntary sector organisations throughout Europe have all used
L�FE co-finance for good effect and the results of their efforts are explained in the following articles.
Over 120 L�FE projects are featured, which demonstrates the critical mass of knowledge that is held
�y the Programme in key fields such as waste management techniques, water conservation methods,
energy efficiency options, and lower impact transport. Between them, the L�FE projects that are spot-
lighted in this �rochure offer many opportunities for readers to �uild their own capacity for helping to
shape and safeguard a more resource efficient future for Europe.
Resource efficiency has a central part to play in Europe’s 2020 strategy for growth and jo�s, and
accordingly the European Commission is launching a num�er of far-reaching new initiatives
in this area. But for many of Europe’s front-runners, greening our society is already a reality: not only
governments and large companies, �ut local actors and small innovative companies too are commit-
ted to the idea, whose strength often comes from the grassroots level. Businesses and organisations
have understood that improving efficiency and innovative products, processes and �usiness models
affords valua�le opportunities for increased productivity and growth.
While individual companies and organisations can often achieve simple gains in efficiency without
massive investment, making sure that good innovative ideas actually reach the market can require
su�stantial funds. The L�FE+ programme can play a key role here, helping ensure that a shift to a
resource efficient Europe �ecomes a reality, and acting to relieve or prevent future scarcities of essential
resources such as energy and water. � am pleased to �e a�le to say that �y providing real-life solutions
to real-world pro�lems, the �est L�FE practices featured in this �rochure are an important inspiration
for policymakers, and that moreover, these examples reflect areas where we are considering future
policy action.
A solution to a pro�lem is merely anecdotal, unless the message can �e shared. But when �est prac-
tices �ecome �etter known, major changes can result. That’s why communication has always had a key
role to play in L�FE – and why pu�lications such as this are so important for policymakers and actors
on the ground. This L�FE Focus pu�lication is only one part of L�FE outreach – check out the 2011
Green Week conference and exhi�ition, and the L�FE and Green Week we�sites for more examples of
good practices �eing shared.
Hervé MartinHead of Unit – LIFE Environment and Eco-innovationDirectorate-General for the Environment, European Commission
Robin MiègeGreen Week Task ForceDirectorate-General for the EnvironmentEuropean Commission
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
CO
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introduction ........................ 3
Building a resource efficient Europe ....................3
production processes .......... 5
L�FE producing resource efficient industrial growth .....5
ME�GLASS �rings new L�FE to waste glass ....10
Eco-products and eco-design ........................ 13
L�FE conserving resources in product design, production, use and disposal ................13
L�FE helps drive greener tyre making .........................18
lifecycle thinking .............. 21
Lifecycle thinking - a key thought of L�FE ...................21
ACADEMY: managing the lifecycle of complex products .............................26
Water efficiency ................ 29
Water - an essential component of L�FE ............ 29
sustainable transport ........ 33
A cleaner and more efficient transport system ...33
Energy efficient buildings .. 37
L�FE helps �oosts the energy efficiency of EU �uilding stock .....................37
Taking the risk out of resource efficiency investments ........................41
Fish and marine resources ........................... 43
Protecting Europe’s fisheries and marine resources ........43
No discards, zero waste .....46
land use and planning ...... 49
Planning for a more resource efficient European landscape ...........................49
Food and beverage resource efficiency ............ 51
L�FE turns food for thought into action .............51
agriculture and ecosystem services ............................. 55
L�FE aids agriculture to pre-serve resources .................55
Conservation agriculture reduces soil erosion in Andalusian wetlands ..........59
Green public procurement and Green skills ................ 62
L�FE shows the environmental �enefits of GPP ................................62
project list ......................... 64
available liFE Environment publications ...................... 69
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
The EU’s Europe 2020 Strategy1 for
growth sets the priority of moving
to a more resource efficient, green and
competitive economy. Under the Europe
2020 strategy, the Flagship �nitiative for a
resource efficient Europe2 has �een intro-
duced to help the EU achieve sustaina�le
growth �y ‘decoupling’ economic growth
from increasing resource use.
The Flagship �nitiative sets out a vision
for a more resource-efficient economy �y
2050. �t proposes new policy initiatives3
that will stimulate greater innovation for
short-term and long-term economic and
environmental �enefits4. �t also allows
for the development of a set of tools
for policymakers to drive and monitor
progress.
The Flagship recognises that resource
efficiency is a cross-cutting issue that
� COM (20�0) 2020 Communication from the Commissions Europe 2020 – A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth2 COM (20��) 2� final A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship Initiative under the Europe 2020 strategy� The proposals that have been adopted are: Energy 2020: A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy, Energy infra-structure priorities for 2020 and beyond – A Blueprint for an integrated European energy network and Tackling the challenges in com-modity markets and on raw materials� The Flagship Initiative for a resource effi-cient Europe provides a long-term framework for actions in many policy areas, supporting policy agendas for climate change, energy, transport, industry, raw materials, agriculture, fisheries, biodiversity and regional develop-ment. Links to the key proposals can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/resource-effi-cient-europe/
affects all aspects of our daily lives.
Hence, coordination is needed at EU
level as well as in Mem�er States at
national, regional and local levels. Prac-
tical action at Mem�er State level will �e
particularly important and the su�sidiarity
principle remains essential to ensure that
appropriate solutions are put in place at
appropriate times, in appropriate ways,
in appropriate places.
Empowering the participation of private
sector stakeholders, citizens, consumers
and NGOs is also fundamental for turn-
ing around Europe’s increasingly unsus-
taina�le resource use ha�its. Resource
efficiency is as relevant for Europe’s
ur�an areas as it is to rural communities
and the wider countryside. Everyone is
affected �y the environmental challenges
that we face and everyone can make
their own positive contri�utions to help
achieve the Flagship’s goals.
Uptake of these resource efficient
approaches can �e assisted �y raising
awareness of the long-term �enefits that
are possi�le from adopting sustaina�le
approaches. There are many examples
of how the wise use of environmental
Building a resource efficient Europe
The concept of resource efficiency emphasises a need to use the Earth’s limited
resources in a sustainable manner. For Europe to have a vibrant economy and a high
quality of life, we need a sustainable base of raw materials and resources. However,
our economic growth patterns continue to exert increasing pressures on EU resource
bases. As such it is becoming more and more important that we improve our ability to
live, produce and consume within the limits of our ecosystem.
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The LIFE programme has a long track record of innovative approaches for building a resource efficient Europe
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
assets can strengthen the resilience of
our economies and secure growth and
jo�s �y �oosting competitiveness. At
the same time, resource efficiency has
�een shown to help drive down costs,
improve productivity, stimulate innova-
tion, and support employment, espe-
cially in growth areas such as the ‘green
technology’ sector.
Timing for wider adoption of resource
efficient principles is important as pres-
sures on our resources rise in line with
increases in wealth and population
growth in an ever industrialising world.
This is one of the core glo�al challenges
that must �e faced now. �f we do not act
assertively in the present the pro�lems
will �e exacer�ated and tackling them
will �ecome even more difficult in the
future.
aCtion on all lEvEls
Recognising the multi-level complex-
ity of resource efficiency, the Flagship’s
mandate stretches across a far reaching
remit of material resources, including
metals, minerals, food and feed, air, soil,
water, �iomass and ecosystems.
Some of the main o�jectives refer to
enhanced energy efficiency. Here the
Flagship aims to achieve a transition to
a resource and car�on efficient society.
This will require a mix of instruments that
act together in complementary ways to
help increase the sta�ility and security
of energy supplies whilst halting energy
production systems that impact most
negatively on the environment. Waste
minimisation is also seen as central to
the EU’s resource efficiency agenda. By
increasing recycling rates the pressure
on primary raw materials will reduce.
Furthermore, improved waste manage-
ment systems can ensure that valua�le
materials are reused, there�y reduc-
ing energy consumption and green-
house gas emissions from extraction
and processing.
Other pieces of the resource efficiency
jigsaw relate to industry and consumers.
These primary stakeholders need to �e
mo�ilised to make them less dependant
on the availa�ility of certain resources
and so less vulnera�le to supply con-
straints and volatile market prices. Attrac-
tive alternatives are required to convert
this rhetoric into reality and stakeholders
need to possess the capacity to make
the necessary changes.
Lifecycle analysis �LCA) can help make
products and services more ‘material
efficient’ �y reducing energy demands
and lowering raw material inputs. Tech-
nological improvements, via eco-inno-
vations, in high impact sectors such as
energy, transport, industry and agricul-
ture are all also needed to facilitate the
resource efficiency Flagship o�jectives.
Eco-innovations not only come from
technological advances, �ut �y apply-
ing new �usiness models and novel
ways of thinking.
�ncentives can further assist a speedy
uptake of these multi-level structural
changes in consumer �ehaviour and pro-
duction patterns. �ncentives can come in
different forms and more policy empha-
sis on measures that ensure commodity
prices reflect the “full cost of resource
use to society” will help market forces
promote resource efficiency.
rEsourCE EFFiCiEnt liFE projECts
The L�FE programme has a long track
record of pioneering effective approaches
for �uilding a resource efficient Europe.
L�FE has generated a vast portfolio of
know-how in resource efficiency meth-
ods for a diverse range of �eneficiaries.
LCA approaches, skills transfers and
eco-innovations feature prominently in
L�FE’s wide-ranging portfolio, which con-
tinues to find new ways of lightening and
lessening our environmental footprints
in order to achieve a more resource effi-
cient Europe.
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LIFE projects have developed techniques that increase recycling rates, thereby reducing pressure on primary raw materials
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Policy on resources needs to take account of the value chain and the full lifecycle of
resource use. How products are produced is a key part of this. The LIFE programme
has been at the forefront of efforts to implement resource efficient and innovative pro-
duction processes at all stages of the lifecycle, from extraction to end-of-life.
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LIFEproducingresource efficient industrial growth
Over the past 10 years resource
productivity has improved 2.2%
per year. This is largely due to efficiency
improvements in production, as well as
the increasing role of services in the
economy. However, market rewards for
production changes and further impetus
to resource efficient and eco-innova-
tive production processes are needed
to reduce dependency on raw materials
and to encourage optimal resource use
and recycling1.
The European Commission proposes a
fresh approach to industrial policy that
puts competitiveness and sustaina�il-
ity centre stage. “The whole value and
supply chain must �e considered, from
access to energy and raw materials to
after-sale services and the recycling
of materials.” The upcoming review
of the Sustaina�le Consumption and
Production and Sustaina�le �ndustry
Policy Action Plan foreseen in 2012 will
� COM(2008) �97 final on the Sustainable Consumption and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan
include actions to address resource
efficiency.
Effective planning of production proc-
esses can ensure that a range of
resources are used more effectively.
Resource efficient production is not
merely desira�le, however: it is �ecom-
ing increasingly essential.
WatEr EFFiCiEnt manuFaCturinG
For instance, tightening water supply,
caused �y competition for water, could
mean disruption of production processes
or higher input costs, with severe eco-
nomic damage. This highlights the vital
importance of water efficiency in produc-
tion processes, something that the L�FE
programme has helped implement across
a wide range of industrial sectors.
The ‘wet process’ stages of textiles pro-
duction are extremely water intensive
�typically requiring 4 litres/kg of fa�ric
produced2) and generating large volumes
of discharged wastewater. Treatment and
reuse of this water would not only reduce
stress on water resources for industry,
it could also increase the availa�ility of
drinking water in some areas. Since most
textiles producers are small and medium-
sized enterprises, they often lack the
2 Water Conservation in Textile Industry, Muhammad Ayaz Shaikh, Assistant Profes-sor, College of Textile Engineering, SFDAC
LIFE funding has helped resource efficiency in production processes across a wide range of industrial sectors
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
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A su�sequent �talian textiles sec-
tor project, BATTLE �LIFE05 ENV/
IT/000846), attempted to design and
demonstrate a new �est availa�le tech-
nique �BAT) for efficient wastewater
reuse in the textile industry. An analysis
of production processes at Stamperia
di Martinengo, a medium-sized textile
finishing factory in Lom�ardy, was car-
resources to implement state-of-the-art
environmental procedures. However,
several L�FE projects have shown how
this can �e achieved.
�n �taly, the PROWATER project �LIFE04
ENV/IT/000583) developed prototypes
for effluent treatment and reuse in pilot
sites at four textiles plants. Wastewa-
ter was treated using physical-chemi-
cal processes �coagulation and lamel-
lar sedimentation or flotation) and
innovative mem�rane technologies.
These techniques exceeded targets for
removal of surfactants �62%, against a
target of 50%) and colour �98%, against
a target of 85%), whilst also meeting
targets for the removal of other pollut-
ants, such as chemical oxygen demand
�COD) and total suspended solids
�TSS). The treated wastewater was then
reused in production processes includ-
ing fa�rics softening, reducing overall
water consumption �y 40%. �f imple-
mented across Europe on an industrial
scale, the PROWATER team calculates
potential water savings of 44 million
m3/yr. The technology can also reduce
costs and has a pay�ack time of five
years. Enhanced cost effectiveness will
help generate new employment oppor-
tunities for European industries and
also improve competitiveness against
low-wage textile producing countries
and enhance green credentials.
ried out to ascertain which effluents were
potentially reusa�le and which were not.
Based on this analysis, the most cost-
efficient technology for water reclamation
was selected and different water reuse
schemes were designed for cost/�enefit
comparisons. A pilot plant was then con-
structed to demonstrate the applica�ility
of the technologies in practice. This plant
treated some 500 m3/day of process efflu-
ents, producing 374 m3/day of recovered
water on average. Most significantly, the
project’s findings also fed into the proc-
ess for developing new BREF reference
guidelines for the textiles sector, helping
improve water efficiency across the EU.
Efficient water use was just one aspect of
L�FE RES�TEX �LIFE05 ENV/E/000285),
a Spanish textiles industry project that
developed and tested �est availa�le
techniques �BAT) for waste management
that could �e applied to all textiles su�-
sectors. The key output of the project
was a guide�ook: “Procedure for Waste
Management in the Textile Sector”, which
provided advice on good management
practices �e.g. how water savings can �e
made �y moving from light to dark colours
during a production cycle); selection and
su�stitution of chemicals; equipment and
new technologies; and ways of minimis-
The LIFE RESITEX project demonstrated how water savings can be achieved in the textile sector
The HAGAR project reduced consumption of high-quality water for the marble extraction industry in Hebron
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ing resources and making use of recycling
opportunities �including guidance on how
to recover and reuse printing pastes or
rinsing water and how to use �iological
sludge on agricultural land).
The guide�ook developed �y the RES�-
TEX project will help Europe’s textiles
SMEs reduce their waste, and keep
costs down while complying with envi-
ronmental legislation, something that will
�e increasingly important as the sector
faces greater competition from low-wage
producers in China and �ndia.
HElpinG lEatHEr look bEttEr
The same could also �e said of the
leather/tanneries industry which, with
L�FE’s assistance, has �egun taking
steps to decouple its resource use from
its economic growth. �mproving water
efficiency was again the goal of a L�FE
project in Lorca, Murcia �LIFE02 ENV/
E/000216), where some 40% of Spanish
leather production takes place. L�FE sup-
port ena�led the construction of a �io-
logical water treatment plant that used
ultra-filtration and reverse osmosis tech-
niques to �ring tannery effluent within
legal limits and ena�le its safe disposal.
The plant now discharges 8 000 m3/day
of wastewater that can �e recycled and
used in agriculture and industry.
The N.E.S.S. project �LIFE04 ENV/
IT/000414 ) implemented process
improvements at a factory in �taly spe-
cialising in the skin finishing stage of the
tanning production cycle, drawing on the
BAT developed �y the earlier L�FE G�ADA
project �LIFE00 ENV/IT/000184). The
redesigned finishing line achieved signifi-
cant reductions in the use of chemicals
�95% - and consequently a 28% reduc-
tion in emissions of volatile organic com-
pounds), water �up to 75%) and electric-
ity �up to 95%), as well as in the amount
of waste sludge generated �up to 98%).
Working conditions were also improved
thanks to noise a�atement measures
�cutting acoustic pollution �y 85%) and
the introduction of water-�ased, rather
than solvent-�ased colours. Finally, the
process improvements also reduced
operating costs and the time required
for skin finishing.
A current L�FE Environment project in
Spain �LIFE08 ENV/E/000140) is simi-
larly implementing process improve-
ments that should make more efficient
use of resources. The OXATAN project
aims to demonstrate the effectiveness
of replacing polluting and potentially
carcinogenic chrome tannage with an
environmentally friendly ‘oxazolidine’
tanning agent com�ined with other veg-
eta�le or synthetic agents. The project
will promote its ‘chrome-free’ leathers to
tanning, footwear and upholstery com-
panies in Spain, �taly and Slovenia.
rEsourCE EFFiCiEnCy From bEGinninG to EnD-oF-liFE
There is a window of opportunity for
the EU to influence production and
resource standards in developing coun-
tries through EU market compliance
standards. This o�liges countries aim-
ing to enter the EU market to comply
with these standards. L�FE, through its
Third Countries strand, has provided an
impetus towards this goal. For instance,
the HAGAR project in Gaza �LIFE05
TCY/GA/000115) worked closely with
the �talian mar�le industry to esta�-
lish new environmental procedures in
He�ron municipality and address pro�-
lems associated with the treatment of
de�ris, sludge and water from mar�le
extraction. Measures such as the con-
struction of a prototype plant for recy-
cling industrial wastewater and separat-
Significant reductions in the use of chemicals, water and energy were achieved in the tanning sector thanks to the N.E.S.S project
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ing calcium car�onate have contri�uted
to a reduction in the consumption of
high-quality water, as well as limiting
pollution in soil and underground reser-
voirs from the stone sludge.
Another L�FE project that tackled the
environmental impacts of extraction
industries was �NWATCO in the UK
�LIFE02 ENV/UK/000140), which dem-
onstrated and evaluated innovative
techniques and procedures for inte-
grated management of groundwater
resources in former coal mining areas.
A river �asin catchment-scale demon-
stration project took place in Wake-
field �UK), with supporting activities in
Romania, to assess the applica�ility of
the project methodology to all major
European coal mining regions. Data
from �NWATCO’s comprehensive water
sampling and analysis programme were
used to evaluate potential minewater
management options and the relation-
ship �etween minewater systems and
the wider surface water and groundwa-
ter content. This information fed into
a Good Practice Guide on integrated
water resource management in former
coal mining regions. The guide is an
important tool for implementing the EU
Water Framework Directive in the many
regions of Europe where coalfield drain-
age is a major consideration and has
attracted widespread interest.
Poor materials management leads to
significant wastage in the economy,
with great economic cost. �mproving
material efficiency requires lifecycle
and value chain perspectives. We have
already seen how the L�FE programme
is helping to realise resource efficiency
gains at the initial phase of production
�extraction). Yet, equally L�FE is playing
its part in the development of a resource
efficient economy �ased around recy-
cling and reuse of end-of-life products.
The OXATAN project is one good exam-
ple of this; another is ELVES �LIFE05
ENV/E/000317), a Spanish project
that developed a system for separat-
ing metal alloys from end-of-life vehi-
cle �ELV) engines and reusing them in
The INWATCO project developed innovative techniques and a Good Practice Guide for integrated management of groundwater, which are important tools for implementing the EU Water Framework Directive
INWATCO demonstrated that groundwater systems that interact with mine workings can be managed to ensure good water quality
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new auto parts and engines. A facility
capa�le of treating 33 000 tonnes/yr of
ELV engines with 99% efficiency was
�uilt, kickstarting a new market in the
process. The L�FE co-funded factory is
a�le to recover more than 5 100 tonnes
of aluminium per year, decreasing EU
dependence on foreign raw material
imports as a result.
tHE bEnEFits oF EnErGy EFFiCiEnCy
�mproving the energy efficiency of pro-
duction processes has �een one of the
success stories of the L�FE programme,
particularly for the most energy-inten-
sive sectors such as the metals indus-
try. For instance �NCOCAST �LIFE05
ENV/D/000185), a “Best” L�FE Envi-
ronment project for 2007-2008, sought
to demonstrate the effectiveness of
an alternative process to the cold-�ox
technique used �y most foundries for
casting aluminium. The project signifi-
cantly reduced energy consumption,
emissions, deposits and wastewater
through its ‘inorganic warm �ox’ cast-
ing technique and laid the foundations
for the future use of this method in the
mass production of more resource effi-
cient aluminium engine �locks and cyl-
inder heads.
The �talian New ESD project �LIFE04
ENV/IT/000598) developed and tested
an innovative cold-drawing system for
the production of steel wire rod that has
drastically cut energy consumption and
the production of dangerous chemical
wastes. �f the techniques developed �y
this L�FE Environment “Best of the Best”
project 2008-2009 were implemented
throughout �taly, a country that proc-
esses 1.7 million tonnes/yr of steel wire
rod, it would lead to environmental sav-
ings of 72 000 tonnes/yr of water con-
sumption; 6 400 tonnes/yr of sulphuric
acid and 1 900 tonnes/yr of hydrochlo-
ric acid production, and a reduction in
energy consumption of some 430 000
kcal/tonne of product, a massive con-
tri�ution to resource efficiency.
L�FE continues to work to improve the
energy efficiency of other areas of the
metals industry and elsewhere, for
instance, �y helping companies develop
new, energy and resource efficient prod-
ucts that could lead to widespread proc-
ess improvements. The L�FE Green Bear-
ings project �LIFE06 ENV/NL/000176)
is just one example. An estimated 50
�illion �earings3 are installed in machin-
ery worldwide. This means that even
small frictional power savings per �ear-
ing amount to enormous glo�al - and
European - power savings. L�FE Green
Bearings introduced thin film lu�rication,
lightweight polymers and improved seal
technologies �e.g. hard seal coating) to
deliver energy reductions of 30-70%,
depending on the �earing and load.
Project �eneficiary SKF calculates that
a 50% implementation of its Energy
Efficient Bearings among existing cus-
tomers would reduce energy consump-
tion �y 4 000 GWh/yr and disposal of
waste lu�ricants �y 4 million tonnes/yr in
Europe. The su�stantial energy savings,
reduction of lu�ricant use and increase
of product longevity are also calculated
to �ring economic �enefits to customers
in less than five years.
� A part of a machine designed to reduce friction between moving parts or to support moving loads.
‘Chrome-free’ leathers for tanning, footwear and upholstery companies in Spain, Italy and Slovenia will be produced by the OXATAN project
Energy Efficient Bearings could reduce energy consumption by � 000 GWh/yr and disposal of waste lubricants by � million tonnes/yr in Europe
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
This groundbreaking Italian LIFE project has established the first factory in Europe tur-
ning the unwanted waste fraction of recycled glass bottles into raw materials for the
glass container, ceramics and bricks industries.
MEIGLASSbringsnew LIFE to waste glass
Recycling of glass �ottles is now
a long-esta�lished practice in
Europe. Yet the average citizen is pro�-
a�ly unaware that recycled glass produc-
ers also generate significant waste. Some
23-25% of glass from pu�lic collection
points is rejected �y the glass container
industry and sent to landfill �ecause of
impurities in the cullet �the technical name
for crushed waste glass that is ready to �e
remelted into new �ottles etc). This per-
centage is likely to increase as the hollow
glass industry demands oven-ready cullet
that will ena�le it to produce containers
with even greater resistance to thermal
shock and mechanical stresses. “�f the
glass industry wants �etter quality cullet it
has to reject more,” says Dr. Piero Ercole,
scientific and technical director of the
ME�GLASS project and president of AT�V,
the �talian technical association of glass
producers. Drawing on its long experi-
ence processing mined minerals, in 2003
the �talian company SAS�L SpA �egan
trials of a new process that promised to
revolutionise the raw material use of the
glass container industry, with significant
resource efficiencies all round.
As project manager Paolo Bertuzzi
explains, SAS�L’s aim was to clean the
reject cullet and then grind and sieve it
into pieces of 70-800 microns �0.07-0.8
mm) – so called ‘glassy sand’ – which
could �e melted without pro�lems during
glass container manufacturing.
With the support of L�FE, SAS�L was
a�le to invest in upgrades to its facility in
Brusnengo, Piedmont, that would allow
it to implement its new process on an
industrial scale. L�FE co-funding was to
�e invested in three areas: a wastewater
treatment plant; a pyrolysis plant gener-
ating heat and power from waste plastic
separated from the dirty cullet during
glassy sand manufacturing; and in prod-
uct development and testing.
SAS�L’s new water purification plant
offers significant resource efficiencies,
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
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as it allows the company to recycle 90%
of its process water, greatly reducing
the need for fresh water during glassy
sand manufacturing �just 10% of the
process water - lost through evapora-
tion - must �e replaced).
Following teething pro�lems with the
initial design, SAS�L plans to start up its
pyrolysis plant in 2011. The oil and the gas
generated �y the low temperature plant
�450-500° C ) will feed a tur�ine that will
generate 2 MW of heat for SAS�L’s drying
processes and 1 MW of electric power.
Most significantly though, L�FE support
has �een used to optimise the technical
quality not only of glassy sand, �ut also
of two other products generated �y the
process of cleaning and grinding of dirty
cullet - ‘ceramic sand’ and ‘�rick sand’.
Ceramic sand, which accounts for some
25% of the output of SAS�L’s plant, is
another example of the resource effi-
ciency of the ME�GLASS process, since
it is made up of pieces of less than 70
microns which would float on the surface
and reflect heat if melted in a furnace for
glassmaking. �nstead, these fine gran-
ules are separated �y an air stream and
mixed with feldspar for sale to the ceram-
ics industry, where they are used as an
alkali carrier. A further 5% of production, a
water suspension of very fine sand mixed
with clay, is sold to the �rick industry.
The process is very flexi�le, allowing
SAS�L to change the ratios of glassy and
ceramic sand in line with market needs.
The company is also �uilding on the L�FE
ME�GLASS project �y investigating the
possi�ility of mixing the fine particles
�under 70 microns) with larger granules
to allow even more cullet to �e returned
to the glass industry. The first test results
are “very promising” says Dr. Ercole.
lEss rEsourCEs, morE quality
L�FE ME�GLASS has generated sig-
nificant environmental �enefits. These
include a reduction in the amount of
cullet going to landfill of some 20 truck
loads per day �from 25% to 2%). The
180 000 tonnes/yr of waste cullet now
reused �y SAS�L means that 300 000
tonnes/yr less material needs to �e
mined for the glass container industry, a
significant raw material saving. Further-
more, every tonne of glassy sand used
in the furnace saves 300 kg of CO2. This
means in 2008, SAS�L helped the con-
tainer industry avoid generating 43 500
tonnes of CO2, equivalent to taking 26
000 cars with a Euro 4 engine off the
road for a year.
Other �enefits of using glassy sand
include the fact that it has a chemical
oxygen demand �COD) 10 times lower
than standard furnace-ready cullet �a
COD of 100 mg/l as opposed to 1 000
mg/l) and 25 times lower than that of the
cullet rejects.
�ncreasing the quantity of glassy sand
has also �een found to reduce the energy
consumption in the furnace per kilo of
glass produced �y some 5%. “The melt-
ing furnace’s specific energy consump-
tion is reduced �y a�out 0.67% for each
percentage of glassy sand used instead
of natural raw materials,” notes Dr. Ercole.
Furthermore, as Mr. Bertuzzi indicates,
“decreasing the amount of ceramic
stones is a �ig challenge for glass fac-
tories - with glassy sand they o�tain this
effect.” Trials show that with 3% glassy
sand and 47% furnace-ready cullet,
there were an average of 0.24 ceramic
stones/tonne of glass pulled; when the
mix was changed to 18% glassy sand
and 32% furnace-ready cullet, the ratio
of stones dropped to 0.09/tonne of glass
pulled.
Significantly, tests have shown that
glassy sand can also improve the quality
of glass containers. Results from the field
indicate that when 25% glassy sand is
used in the �atch, the internal pressure
resistance of �ottles is 9% higher under
the same thermal and forming condi-
tions. “Glassy sand also ena�les �etter
Washing is one part of the process of turning reject cullet into glassy sand
Project beneficiary SASIL SpA is capable of producing up to 200 000 tonnes/yr of glassy sand for the glass bottle industry
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
control of oxy-reduction reactions and
consequent higher consistency �oth in
colour and in infrared light a�sorption,”
explains Dr. Ercole. The result, he says, is
that “there is more consistent �ehaviour
of the glass in forming processes thanks
to the improved chemical and thermal
homogeneity.”
sprEaDinG tHE mEssaGE
Results of the ME�GLASS project have
�een widely disseminated, with sev-
eral articles in technical journals and
local newspapers, and presentations
at events in Croatia, Finland and even
Vietnam ��y project partner Joanneum
Research), as well as in �taly. “Other
firms can learn from how SAS�L per-
suaded the glass industry of the �enefits
of glassy sand,” �elieves Dr. Ercole.
As a sign of its success, sales of glassy
sand have increased from 6 235 tonnes
in 2003 to 144 337 tonnes in 2008, and
SAS�L’s factory is today capa�le of pro-
ducing 200 000 tonnes/yr. The company
is also looking to extend its resource
efficient process into new areas, includ-
ing the washing of furnace-ready cul-
let to improve its properties and allow
colour separation of glass �which does
not happen at source in �taly). �n addi-
tion, one of SAS�L’s existing customers
is now aiming to recover civil demolition
waste glass and car windscreens and
use glassy sand to produce flat glass.
“This is a very important development,”
says Dr Ercole. “Very little flat glass is
recycled today.”
SAS�L is looking to develop other, new,
resource efficient products and proc-
esses from waste glass. Now, with
further support from L�FE, the NOVED�
project �LIFE07 ENV/IT/000361) sees
the company in the process of devel-
oping a lightweight insulation material
made from art and mosaic glass, light
�ul�s, cathode ray tu�es and compu-
ter screens, all forms of glass that can-
not �e used to make glass containers
�ecause of their high lead and fluorine
content.
With the VAL�RE project to recycle
incinerator residues into high-value
�uilding materials �LIFE08 ENV/
IT/000421) also in the pipeline, SAS�L
is showing just how far it is possi�le to
take resource efficiency in manufactur-
ing. As CEO Lodovico Ramon is keen
to stress: “Waste is the raw material of
the future.”
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With LIFE support, SASIL SpA has established the first plant in Europe capable of generating new raw materials from waste cullet
After MEIGLASS, NOVEDI: Paolo Bertuzzi shows off a display about SASIL’s latest LIFE project
Project number: L�FE06 ENV/�T/000332
Title: Minimising the Environmental �mpact of GLASS recycling and glass container production
Beneficiary: SAS�L SpA
Contact: Paolo Bertuzzi
Email: c�[email protected]
Website: http://www.sasil-life.com/
Period: Dec-2005 to Dec-2009
Total budget: e6 065 000
LIFE contribution: e1 144 000
ITALY
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Current patterns of consumption and production have significant environmental
impacts, including the emission of greenhouse gases, pollution and the depletion of
natural resources. Much can be done to make consumption and production in Europe
more resource efficient. LIFE has an important role to play in supporting EU actions
and proposals to improve the environmental performance of products and to stimulate
demand for more sustainable goods and production technologies.
��
LIFEconservingresources in product design, production, use and disposal
It is estimated that over 80% of
all product-related environmen-
tal impacts are determined during the
design phase of a product. Against this
�ackground, eco-design aims to reduce
the environmental impacts of products,
including energy consumption, through-
out their entire lifecycle.
Apart from changing the user’s �ehaviour,
there are two ways of reducing the energy
consumed in products: la�elling to raise
consumer awareness of the real energy
use in order to influence �uying decisions,
such as la�elling schemes for domestic
appliances; and energy-efficiency require-
ments imposed on products from the
early stage of the design phase.
Eu aCtion
The EU’s Sustaina�le Consumption and
Production / Sustaina�le �ndustries Action
Plan �July 2008) provides a framework to
improve the energy and environmental
performance of products and to help
consumers make �etter choices. Build-
ing on earlier EU policies and initiatives,
it includes extensions to the scope of the
Eco-design and La�elling directives and
Ecola�el Regulation, as well as significant
revisions to the voluntary eco-manage-
ment and audit scheme �EMAS ��).
A European Commission review of the
Action Plan is expected in 2012, includ-
ing assessment of the new Eco-design
Directive �2009/125/EC), which has �een
extended so that it covers not only energy-
using products �EuPs) on the EU market,
such as computers, televisions, �oilers,
and industrial fans; �ut also energy-related
products �adding products that don’t con-
sume energy during use, �ut have an indi-
rect impact on energy consumption, such
as taps and window frames).
As many of the following L�FE project
examples show, the efficient use of
resources �whether for production, use
or disposal) can �e good for �usiness
as well as for the environment, particu-
larly as the glo�al market for environ-
mental industries is expected to grow
to €200 �illion �y 20201.
savinG EnErGy … anD valuablE rEsourCEs
L�FE has provided financial support to
enterprises across Europe seeking to
explore more energy and resource efficient
production methods and processes.
� http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleases Action.do?reference=MEMO/08/ 507&format=HTML&aged=0&language= EN&guiLanguage=en
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
The ceramics sector, where the finish-
ing process in particular is associated
with significant environmental damage,
has �een the focus of several successful
L�FE projects. The �talian EWG project,
�LIFE04 ENV/IT/000589) demonstrated
a new clean technology for the decora-
tion of ceramics on flat and textured sur-
faces using a soft roll that is a�le to adapt
itself to the surface’s shape. A pilot plant
reduced wasted glazes �y 98% and
waste caused �y printing faults �y 8%.
�ts implementation generated a reduction
in energy consumption of up to 76%.
Another cleantech project in this sector,
Microfinishing �LIFE02 ENV/IT/000052)2
developed a new, dry finishing process for
2 A Best LIFE Environment Project winner 2006-07
ceramic tiles that cut energy consumption
in half, eliminated the need for water and
reduced to zero any resultant pollution.
Energy efficiencies were also shown �y
Eco-Ceramics, �LIFE05 ENV/E/000301),
as part of its innovative waste manage-
ment concept targeting the re-use of
sludge as a raw material for the structural
ceramics industry. The project demon-
strated that small quantities �1-10%) of
sludge from wastewater treatment plants
could �e mixed with the clay material
traditionally used to produce �ricks.
According to the project �eneficiary, the
concept, which replaces conventional
gas-fired �oilers with �iomass heaters,
could result in 6% potential net energy
savings for the ceramics sector.
Two other ongoing projects targeting,
respectively, the greening of window-
making and the cleaning sector, are
also looking to su�stantially reduce
their use of natural resources. The Slov-
enian UN�SASH project �LIFE07 ENV/
SLO/000710) is aiming to develop a new
type of environmentally friendly manu-
facturing process suita�le for PVC, wood
and aluminium windows. �t is aiming to
reduce consumption of raw materials �y
20-35% per unit. This should equate to
energy savings of 20-40% per unit. Cost
savings from these environmental �en-
efits are also expected through reduced
production costs.
The French C�SDP project �LIFE08 ENV/
F/000481) is promoting the implementa-
tion of a sustaina�le development pro-
gramme for the country’s cleaning com-
panies. The programme contains more
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An Italian LIFE project, EWG, developed a technology to decorate ceramic tiles that reduces wasted glaze and energy consumption
A manufacturing process for PVC, wood and aluminium windows that reduces raw materials consumption is currently being demonstrated by the Slovenian UNISASH project
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
than 50 concrete actions targeting the
conservation of natural resources and
preservation of the environment through
reduced water consumption and pollu-
tion, less waste and improved recycling.
Furthermore, 50% of all employees will
receive training thus creating green skills
in this sector.
EnErGy-EFFiCiEnCiEs in rEFriGEration
Domestic fridges and freezers have
increased in energy efficiency �y more
than 40% in the past decade or so,
thanks in part to the introduction of the
Energy La�el Directive �92/75/EEC).
However, the commercial world has �een
slow to make the same advances.
The Austrian PROCOOL project, �LIFE03
ENV/A/000002)3 organised a Europe-
wide competition among manufacturers
to promote innovation and show that
hydrofluorocar�ons �HFC)-free, energy-
efficient and cost-effective commercial
appliances can �e successfully pro-
duced. Entrants were set strict criteria,
� A Best LIFE Environment project winner 2007-08
which included recycling potential and
repair-orientated designs.
Eight leading manufacturers, repre-
senting 30% of the European market,
entered the competition. Seven prod-
ucts finally met the competition’s tough
stipulations. The winning entries incor-
porated enterprising solutions that
found immediate markets for their
new designs. All showed an energy
saving of up to 50% compared with
standard products, and also avoided
harmful refrigerants and insulation
materials, while comforta�ly meeting
standards on noise levels.
Meanwhile, the Danish CO2REF
project, �LIFE05 ENV/DK/000156)
investigated the use of CO2 as a
greener refrigerant alternative to
HFCs and then successfully intro-
duced it in a pilot supermarket sys-
tem. �nitial results showed reduced
energy consumption of around 4%,
as well as service cost savings of
15%. Significantly, the system has
proved to �e a commercial, as well
as a technical success, with 26 units
in operation and a further seven on
order �2008).
rEDuCinG WastE anD Emissions
As well as demonstrating resource and
energy efficiencies, many innovative L�FE
projects have also shown important reduc-
tions in emissions and waste. A num�er
have also reported significant economic
�enefits from the more efficient manage-
ment of resources previously wasted.
A particular focus has �een the metal
industries, traditionally associated with
very high environmental impacts. For
example, the �talian Clean-Deco project
�LIFE00 ENV/IT/000213)4 developed a
cleantech solution for the replacement of
the highly polluting process of galvanising
metals using physical vapour deposition
�PVD) technology. This has resulted in the
elimination of chromium wastes and a su�-
stantial reduction in the use of dangerous
chemicals: chromium trioxide �CrO3) �y
100%; hydrogen chloride �HCl) �y 30%;
and sulphuric acid �H2SO4) �y 90%.
Europe’s aeronautics sector was the
focus of a high-profile French project,
� A Best LIFE Environment project winner 2005-06
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With CO2REF, energy consumption of refrigeration units is �% lower than with an HFC system
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
�LIFE05 ENV/F/000062)5, targeting the
development of a less polluting tech-
nology for aircraft panel manufactur-
ing. �mplemented �y Dufieux �ndus-
tries, a new Green Advanced Panels
�GAP) mechanical milling process was
designed to replace the chemical milling
processes conventionally used for the
machining of complex-shaped panels,
a process that produces large volumes
of toxic sludge. �ndependent analysis
suggests this project could generate
significant water and chemicals sav-
ings, a 57% decrease in electricity
consumption, and cuts in emissions of
greenhouse gases �6 200 tonnes/yr of
CO2) and volatile organic compounds
�850 tonnes/yr). Together with a 16
000-tonne/yr reduction in the amount
of waste produced, the project makes
an important contri�ution towards the
implementation of the integrated pol-
lution prevention and control ��PPC)
Directive �91/61/EC).
paCkaGinG, WooD anD papEr solutions
Two L�FE projects have focused
their activities on helping packaging
producers make �etter use of their
resources and raw materials. The
REC�PLAS project in Spain �LIFE03
5 A Best LIFE Environment project winner 2007-08
ENV/E/000106)6 successfully recycled
plastic from vehicle factory waste to
produce pallets. The recovered mate-
rial is a highly transfera�le process,
which has ena�led the �eneficiary, a
manufacturer of linings for car interiors,
to turn its waste �previously all sent to
landfill) into a 100% recovera�le, re-
usa�le and recycla�le high-quality
plastic. The success of the scheme
also has particular relevance within the
motor industry, where EU directives
concerning end-of-life vehicles require
6 A Best LIFE Environment project winner 2007-08
that all vehicles must contain the high-
est-possi�le proportion of recycla�le
materials.
An earlier L�FE project in �taly, Use
and… re-use �LIFE99 ENV/IT/000034)
developed an innovative system to
avoid the su�stantial amounts of waste
generated in the packaging of fruit
and vegeta�les. The project designed
recycla�le plastic �oxes, which can �e
folded and re-used up to 30 times. The
scheme included a processing centre
to handle the cleaning, re-use and
recycling of the �oxes, and computer
software to track their journeys. At the
�eginning of the L�FE project in 1999,
the �eneficiary �CPR system) was a
small cooperative with 900 000 �oxes,
47 mem�ers and a handful of staff.
By the end of the project, the coop-
erative had 355 mem�ers, �etween
them using over 5 million �oxes, sav-
ing not only 50 000 tonnes/yr of pack-
aging waste �ut also €6.5 million/yr in
waste disposal costs. �mportantly, the
scheme has continued to grow. Today
it has over 950 mem�ers and 12 mil-
lion �oxes that are used a total of 110
million times/yr. This saves more than
100 000 tonnes/yr of waste, 100 Mwh/
yr of energy and €13 million/yr in waste
disposal costs. The company is now
present in all �talian regions and tens of
jo�s have �een created. Yet the project
cost only €1.5 million �with €600 000 of
EU co-financing).
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Packaging producers have made better use of raw materials by recycling plastic from vehicle factory waste
The results of the RECIPLAS project will help the motor industry comply with EU directives on end-of-life vehicles
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Another innovative project aiming to
show significant resource savings is
the ongoing WOODRUB project in
Spain �LIFE09 ENV/ES/000454), which
is looking to develop construction
materials from household waste wood
products �furniture, doors, windows,
floors, etc) and used tyres. This re-use
initiative will provide wood/tyre pro-
ducers with a new ‘end-of-life’ route,
and offer pu�lic and private construc-
tion firms with a more environmentally
friendly product option. Moreover, the
planned new products will operate as
car�on sinks – increasing the car�on
storage in �uildings using the products
and replacing other, less green, �uilding
materials.
The manufacture of paper has a sig-
nificant environmental footprint �oth
upstream �where raw materials are
acquired and processed) and down-
stream �waste-disposal impacts). Recy-
cling o�viously reduces this impact.
One of the earliest L�FE projects to tar-
get this sector �LIFE95 ENV/IT/000393)
was implemented �y �talian specialist
paper manufacturer, Favini. The com-
pany tested the use of various �io-
waste materials �e.g. pomace, algae,
apple peel) to develop 100% recycla-
�le paper of the same high quality as
its other products. Results included a
10% saving in trees and a 12% saving
in energy consumption.
voluntary aCtions
A Greek L�FE project, ECO-TEXT�LE
�LIFE03 ENV/GR/000204 ) helped
spread awareness of the EU’s Ecola-
�el scheme in its early days. When the
project was launched in 2003, only a
handful of Hellenic textile firms had
�een awarded an Ecola�el in recog-
nition of the good environmental per-
formance of their product or service.
The project was particularly successful
in promoting the �enefits of the Eco-
la�el to an audience that was largely
sceptical �mainly due to a lack of infor-
mation and knowledge on how to par-
ticipate). �t produced a �est practice
guide, esta�lished an eco-consultancy
and successfully guided four textiles
companies through the process. �ts
main achievement, however, was to
show how the Ecola�el with its guar-
antee of greener credentials, can pro-
vide a competitive edge to Greek, and
other European textile manufacturers,
who are increasingly under pressure
from lower-cost garments imported
from China, and cheaper raw materials
from countries such as Turkey.
Another voluntary initiative is currently
�eing investigated �y a Spanish-led
project to encourage more environ-
mentally friendly practices among
Europe’s footwear manufacturers.
SHOELAW �LIFE08 ENV/E/000147) is
seeking to develop an e-platform for
environmental self-diagnosis among
50 companies in five European
countries: Spain, �taly, Portu-
gal, Greece and Slovenia.
These countries jointly
represent 90% of Euro-
pean footwear companies.
Focusing on improvements
in environmental standards
and the promotion of compli-
ance with environmental legislation, the
overall goal is to help manufacturers in
this sector reduce their environmen-
tal footprint through awareness of the
legal requirements they need to meet.
An alert system will �e set up to inform
companies of relevant environmental
legislation.
a liFECyClE approaCH
Finally, the �ntegrated Product Policy
��PP) approach has contri�uted signifi-
cantly to the development of environ-
mental policies in Europe in the areas of
product design, use of natural resources
and management of waste.
Reflecting this lifecycle approach is
the Luxem�ourg L�FE+ ECO2 Tyre Tech
project �LIFE09 ENV/LU/000390) just
underway, led �y European and world-
wide tyre producer, Goodyear �see
pages 18-20). Another important �PP
project targeting the automo�ile indus-
try was the French ED�T project �LIFE00
ENV/F/000593). The project success-
fully developed lifecycle assessment
�LCA) methodologies and support
software tools for the management of
vehicle components. The approach
involved key stakeholders: carmakers,
parts’ manufacturers, and raw material
suppliers; and covered all stages of the
product lifecycle, including end-of-life
issues.
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Construction materials will be produced from household waste wood products, such as furniture, doors and floors with the WOODRUB project
90% of European footwear companies will be involved in the SHOELAW project to improve their environmental perform-ance and compliance with environmental legislation
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
There is growing awareness among Europe’s man-
ufacturers that opportunities for greater resource
efficiencies can bring both economic as well as
environmental gains. Two LIFE projects demon-
strate opportunities for sustainable growth through
the development of greener materials for tyres.
These materials will help to reduce the environ-
mental impact of tyres, could avoid or mitigate
problems of ever-scarcer resources and costly
raw materials and also contribute to improved con-
sumer safety.
LIFEhelpsdrive greener tyre making
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Road transport generates over
20% of all CO2 emissions in the
EU, with passenger cars responsi�le for
more than half these emissions. Further-
more, �ecause of a significant increase
in traffic, CO2 emissions from road trans-
port have risen �y more than 20% since
1990. This represents a major concern to
the EU, which aims to achieve an aver-
age CO2 emission for new cars of 120
g/km �y 2012 and 95 g/km �y 2020. The
contact of rolling vehicle tyres with road
surfaces creates a drag force known as
the ‘rolling resistance’. Any reduction
achieved in rolling resistance means
lower fuel consumption and related CO2
emissions.
Thus the overall aim of the 2005-09 L�FE
BioTyre project �LIFE06 ENV/L/000118)
was to demonstrate the technical and
economic via�ility of an environmentally
friendly tyre design that achieves a su�-
stantial reduction in rolling resistance of
up to 30%.
Coordinated �y Goodyear Luxem�ourg
SA, the partnership project also involved
�talian company, Novamont, and German
car manufacturer BMW. �ts first compo-
nent was to develop an alternative to
traditional non-renewa�le fillers, such
as petroleum-�ased car�on �lack or
mineral-�ased silica, used in tyres for
their reinforcement properties. The new
�iofiller would �e made from renewa�le
resources �a new starch-�ased mate-
rial), there�y reducing its environmental
impact and allowing reductions in CO2
emissions during its production. The
project’s second component consisted
of an in-depth analysis and modification
of the tyre structure, aimed at minimis-
ing energy loss through rolling resistance
while the vehicle is in motion.
A final phase was to incorporate the
developed new material and use the
results of the optimisation of the tyre
structure to develop prototype tyres to
�e tested at the �eneficiary’s technical
facilities in Luxem�ourg. After this, the
�est prototypes were sent to BMW for
further testing under real life conditions.
The project successfully achieved all its
goals over the 42 month project period.
A new Bio Tyre with a ‘BioTRED’ com-
pound was developed �see �ox), and
the tyre structure optimised. Thanks
to these actions, the project was a�le
to gain a higher than targeted - 34%
- reduction in rolling resistance, with-
out any loss in safety, vehicle handling
performance or longevity.
A major difficulty for the project team,
according to principal engineer, Chris-
tian Kaes, was to achieve this ultralow
rolling resistance in the two-year time
period for prototype optimisation and
Fuel consumption was reduced by 5-6% thanks to the environmentally friendly tyre design
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
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technological validation. From a tech-
nical point of view, this was a “�ig
challenge… �t was very, very difficult
to reduce the rolling resistance, while
keeping all the other performance
parameters expected �y our custom-
ers,” he explains.
rEDuCinG Co2 Emissions
The main environmental �enefit of Bio-
Tyres will come once they are fitted to
cars and in use. The �eneficiary estimates
that a 30% decrease in rolling resistance
corresponds to a 5%-6% decrease in
fuel consumption. Considering a typi-
cal average run distance in Europe of 40
000 km/yr run �y 1 million BioTyres, this
would mean a saving of the equivalent of
80 000 tonnes/yr of CO2. Moreover, the
production process of the second gen-
eration of �iofiller developed in the L�FE
project has an even more positive CO2
�alance, compared with the first gen-
eration: the a�sorption capacity through
photosynthesis of the corn starch �eing
greater than the CO2 rejected during its
transformation process into a �iofiller. �n
contrast, the production of car�on �lack
is a significant source of greenhouse gas
emissions.
An additional �enefit is that BioTyres
incorporate the �eneficiary’s ‘run on flat’
�ROF) technology, which means vehi-
cles only require four tyres �no spare)
– another resource saving and weight
reduction that should help to keep costs
down for motorists, as well as improving
safety ��y maintaining car control after
sudden air loss).
�mportantly, since the project finished,
Goodyear has moved from pilot phase
into production. Partner BMW currently
foresees using BioTyres in new car mod-
els �e.g. for the 2012 BMW 3-Series) and
there has �een considera�le interest
from other vehicle manufacturers.
Project manager Georges Thielen says
the close cooperation of the partners
played an important part in its suc-
cessful outcome. �n addition, European
Commission support via the L�FE pro-
gramme was “very important”, he says,
Partner BMW expects to use BioTyres in new car models, and there is considerable interest from other vehicle manufacturers
Italian partner Novamont used nano-particles of corn starch to produce the new biofiller to reinforce tyres
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DEVELOPING THE ‘BIOTRED’ FILLERItalian partner, Novamont, a specialist in the production of bioplastics
from renewable raw materials of agricultural origin, was responsible for the
development of the new industrial biofiller. Made from nano-particles of corn
starch, it is designed to partially replace the non-renewable fillers such as
carbon black and silica.
As well as producing and testing experimental grades of biofiller (more than
80 new materials in total), Novamont was also responsible for validating the
second generation of BioTRED filler, in order to provide the project beneficiary
with sufficient materials to produce the first tyres for testing. The aim with
these new grades was to significantly improve the tyres’ rolling resistance while
maximising the renewable raw material content in the biofiller, thereby improv-
ing interface properties, reducing weight and minimising costs.
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
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as it provided a European platform for
the product. For BMW, it demonstrated
the carmaker’s commitment to sustaina-
�le technologies via its ‘EfficientDynam-
ics Programme’. And for all partners,
it will help meet the policy o�jectives
highlighted in the EU’s 6th Environment
Action Programme and the Flagship �ni-
tiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy.
Building on the experience of the first
project, a new L�FE+ ECO2 Tyre Tech
project �LIFE09 ENV/L/000390) is
underway, coordinated once again �y
Goodyear Luxem�ourg. The 2010-14
project �rings together three partners
of the tyre supply chain from material
supply �Ru��er Resources - The Neth-
erlands), tyre production �Goodyear) to
car manufacturing �BMW).
�ts aim is to develop environmentally
sustaina�le tyres incorporating innova-
tive green materials from recycling or
renewa�le origin and weight-reducing
tyre designs. All lifecycle stages of the
activities involved during the manufac-
turing, as well as the use and recycling
of tyres will �e improved and further
developed. A lifecycle assessment �LCA)
study will �e carried out with a targeted
reduction of 35% over all life stages
�mportantly, all the targets concern-
ing improvements to the tyres �rolling
resistance, noise, etc) are well a�ove
the upcoming EU regulations concern-
ing safety and environmental efficiency
of tyres and as such are also likely to
ena�le suppliers to �enefit from the
new rules governing tyre la�elling1 i.e.
a system of A-G grading information
for customers �along the lines of the EU
Energy La�el).
As with the L�FE BioTyre project, the new
consortium will work jointly towards the
validation and first industrialisation of
the tyres. Furthermore, the project will
also contri�ute to the main o�jectives
of the EU REACH legislation �y reduc-
ing emissions and exposure risks during
fa�rication into soil, water and air, while
maintaining principle climate change
o�jectives.
The goals in relation to tyre manufactur-
ing are to introduce:
• Recycla�le materials �derived from
used ru��er articles);
• New renewa�le source materials from
wood �e.g. lignin, cellulose); and
• New chemicals for tyre vulcanisation
and ageing protection with low envi-
ronmental impacts and improved tyre
mileage.
� Regulation (EC) No �222/2009 of the Euro-pean Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the labelling of tyres with respect to fuel efficiency and other essential parameters
The project also seeks to improve tyre
performance during use, and is targeting
a 40% rolling resistance reduction; 25%
weight reduction; 25% mileage improve-
ment; and a 3dBA noise reduction.
The expected improved environmental
tyre performance will �e tested on �oth
conventional and electric cars under
various driving conditions. Finally, the
project is also expected to contri�ute
to the end-of-life phase �y providing
new processes for the recycling of large
quantities of used ru��er goods.
Project number: L�FE06 ENV/L/000118
Title: Development and validation of ultra low rolling resistance tyres with environ-mentally friendly resources
Beneficiary: Goodyear Luxem�ourg SA
Contact: Georges Thielen
Email: [email protected]
Period: Dec-2005 to May-2009
Total budget: e12 393 000
LIFE contribution: e3 120 000
LUXEMBURG
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
The resource efficiency of a product or process can only truly be understood by con-
sidering its whole lifecycle. LIFE projects have raised awareness of this, produced
improved tools for implementing lifecycle assessments and demonstrated the impor-
tance of eco-design and end-of-life management to resource efficiency over the life-
cycle.
��
Whether a process or product
uses resources efficiently can-
not �e assessed �y looking at the natu-
ral resources consumed during operation
alone. Natural resources are used as raw
materials in the production of the origi-
nal parts and are consumed during their
collection, treatment and transportation.
Further down the chain, marketing and
distri�ution, and the treatment and dis-
posal of products at the end of their life,
all consume natural resources.
To improve resource efficiency, policies
and practices therefore need to take
account of the value chain and the full life-
cycle of resource use for any process and
product, considering upstream and down-
stream activities. Evaluating the impact
and costs of products and processes from
cradle to grave in this way is the concept
of lifecycle thinking. Yet, the complexity
of this and the num�er of actors involved
can �e a major o�stacle.
Lifecycle Assessment �LCA) is a meth-
odological tool that applies lifecycle
thinking to create a quantitative environ-
mental analysis. �mportantly, LCAs seek
not only to highlight where resource
efficiency gains can �e made, �ut also
ensure that apparent environmental
gains at one stage of a product’s life-
cycle do not create greater costs at
another stage. Similarly, LCAs seek to
ensure that impact �urden is not simply
shifted from one form of environmental
impact to another. �t is the overall envi-
ronmental �alance of the whole lifecycle
that is important.
Lifecycle thinking -akeythoughtofLIFE
Lifecycle assessments, eco-design and end-of-life management have also been the focus of LIFE funding
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Comprehensibleinformation
Tools & Methods
Break down the information requirements into tools & methods
Identify information required for decision
Information for decision-making
Interpretthe acquiredinformation
Info
Basicinformation
Informationrequirements
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
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authoritative guidance for policymakers
and �usinesses on how to conduct an
LCA to quantify the emissions, resource
consumption and environmental impact
of a product. These documents provide
detailed technical guidance on all steps of
LCA. The EU, through the Joint Research
Centre �JRC), is currently developing
lifecycle-�ased indicators to measure
progress towards sustaina�le consump-
tion and production, with particular focus
on the de-coupling of environmental
impacts from economic growth.
�ndicators of resource efficiency,
resource productivity and consumption
– ‘�askets-of-products’ - can �e used
to monitor the environmental impacts of
relevant goods and services consumed
�y EU citizens as well as the transition
There are clear theoretical resource effi-
ciency �enefits to �e had from apply-
ing a lifecycle approach to material and
product management. �t can help identify
synergies and trade-offs within intercon-
nected elements of a product’s lifecycle.
�t can also highlight which element of a
product’s lifecycle is the most inefficient,
or draw attention to previously over-
looked resource use associated with a
product. A lifecycle approach can thus
inform changes in policy or practice that
make a real difference to overall environ-
mental impact and �e a key to the trans-
formation towards a resource efficient
economy.
liFECyClE tHinkinG in poliCy
LCA is increasingly used in sustaina�le
�usiness decision-making and environ-
mental policymaking, already playing a
key role in EU policies in areas such as
�ntegrated Product Policy ��PP), sustain-
a�le consumption and production and
waste legislation.
�SO 14040 provides a standardisation
framework for LCA that covers the defini-
tion of the goals and assessment param-
eters of an LCA, lifecycle inventories
�LC�), assessment of the inventory data
in LC�A and interpretation of results.
The Commission communication on
European �PP �COM�2003)302) recog-
nises that the lifecycle of a product is
often long and complicated and that
there cannot �e one simple policy meas-
ure for everything. A range of measures
are needed to encourage and stimulate
actors as diverse as designers, manu-
facturers, retailers and consumers to
improve their environmental perform-
ance. These include o�ligatory measures,
such as su�stance �ans and voluntary
ones, such as environmental la�elling.
The EU has created and developed an
important information source for LCA
practitioners, providing lifecycle inventory
data from a range of European �usiness
sectors. The first edition of the �nterna-
tional Reference Life Cycle Data System
��LCD) hand�ook was pu�lished in March
2010. The hand�ook consists of a series
of technical documents that provide
The RESOLVED project demonstrated new recycling methodologies for thin film photo-voltaic panels to produce valuable raw materials with a purity of 99.99%
One of the 2� different strategies that the DANTES project produced using existing tools and methods for environmental assessment, such as LCA
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towards more sustaina�le consumption
�ehaviour. They can also help assess the
impact of policy measures with regard to
more environmentally sound goods and
services.
Waste management indicators, covering
the entire waste management chain, are
designed to help the EU monitor how
technological progress and changes in
the amount of waste result in reduced
environmental impacts. They will also
highlight material and energy resources
saved via �etter waste management.
However, there are still some gaps in
understanding and lack of expertise in
the implementation of LCAs and �PP,
which limit the impact of the lifecycle con-
cept on resource efficiency. A num�er of
L�FE projects have �een at the forefront
of challenging these o�stacles, raising
awareness, developing tools to facilitate
implementation and carrying out ground-
�reaking lifecycle assessments.
liFE anD liFECyClE tHinkinG tools
L�FE projects have worked to raise
awareness of lifecycle thinking and pro-
vide practical tools and guidance on how
LCA can �e used to make real resource
efficiency gains in often complex sectors
of the economy.
The Swedish DANTES project �LIFE02
ENV/S/000351) demonstrated and
assessed new tools for environmental
sustaina�ility, including lifecycle assess-
ment and lifecycle cost. As well as aware-
ness, the project provided analysis of
how to use the methods and tools within
companies to assess resource efficiency
and other environmental information. The
project we�site also provides �usinesses
with a guide to the lifecycle information
they need to make improved environ-
mental decisions.
The L�FE EQuation project �LIFE00
ENV/NL/000808) optimised innovative
LCA tools for the construction industry
in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK.
Through practical application, the project
team optimised an advanced computer
model for calculating environmental
impact and an environmental assessment
method for homes, making them easy to
use and developing understanding of the
tools amongst municipalities and other
decision-makers. Over 100 sustaina�le
�uilding projects were then assessed and
improvements identified with designers,
architects and developers. Environmen-
tal performance improvements of 15%
were achieved, particularly �y facilitating
improvements in the preliminary design
stage.
The Spanish project FEN�X �LIFE08
ENV/E/000135) has �een working since
2008 to develop an easy-to-use tool for
o�taining LCA results for the specific
context of packaging waste. The project
expects to provide pu�lic authorities with
tools for tackling waste management and
to create an ��erian network of experts
in LCA and waste management. The
project highlights the need to ensure that
measures to improve the management
of waste do not consume more natural
resources than they save, a key principle
of the lifecycle approach. LCA is impor-
tant to make sure that there is an over-
all resource efficiency �enefit from any
waste management system, as well as
ensuring positive overall economic and
social outcomes. Data from the project
will also �e fed into the ELCD to help
complete this European data�ase.
An interesting tool for encouraging life-
cycle thinking is the use of eco-la�els
awarded for environmental performance
of the whole value chain. The �talian
L�FE project Aquala�el �LIFE03 ENV/
IT/000333) sought to develop such a
��
LIFE EQuation used LCA tools in the construction industry with over �00 sus-tainable building projects being assessed and improvements identified
The FENIX project aims to provide public authorities with tools for tackling waste management and to create a network of experts in LCA
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
quality and environmental management
la�el for water distri�uted in waterworks
systems, according to �SO14024 stand-
ards. The project identified wastewater
treatment, water sanitisation and pump-
ing operations as the processes in the
water supply cycle with the greatest
environmental impact. �t produced a
manual outlining the measures nec-
essary for overall certification with an
eco-la�el from the relevant environ-
mental �odies. The project thus pro-
vided awareness and practical under-
standing of how water supply systems
can improve their resource efficiency
throughout the lifecycle of the water.
liFE anD lCa in spECiFiC ContExts
L�FE projects have �een particularly
instrumental in showing how LCA tools
can �e used in specific �usiness con-
texts and sectors.
Linking with European �ntegrated Prod-
uct Policy ��PP), the �talian project LA�PP
�LIFE04 ENV/IT/000588) worked to
show how LCA could �e implemented
in the furniture industry. �t ran pilot
actions including LCAs and Product-
Oriented Environmental Management
Systems �POEMS), aiming towards �SO
certification, in six companies. �t suc-
cessfully optimised three LCA software
programmes for different types of user,
providing tools for future LCAs. �t also
esta�lished Product Category Rules
�PCR) and Environmental Product Dec-
larations �EPD) for �oth office desks and
cooker hoods, showing how lifecycle
thinking can promote improved resource
efficiency for these specific products in
the furniture industry.
A Greek L�FE project, ECO�L �LIFE04
ENV/GR/000110), developed a ground-
�reaking LCA for the olive oil industry in
Spain, Cyprus and Greece. �t provided
analysis of the whole olive oil lifecycle,
from tree cultivation to waste manage-
ment, ena�ling comparisons of resource
use at different stages of the lifecycle.
This showed where optimisation could
�e possi�le and highlighted environ-
mental success stories within the pro-
duction chain. The project thus helped
stakeholders identify where they could
provide improved environmental perfor-
mance and where they could demand it
from others, particularly from their sup-
pliers.
At the opposite end of Europe, L�FE
OSELCA in Estonia explored LCA for
oil-shale electricity production and
energy intensive products �LIFE03
ENV/EE/000194). �t was the first large-
scale application of LCA in Estonia and
has �een a �enchmark for other indus-
tries in the country to follow. Led �y a
major energy company, it compared the
resource use of electricity generated
from oil-shale with that produced from
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The ECOIL project developed a groundbreaking LCA for the olive oil industry providing an analysis of the whole olive oil lifecycle, from tree cultivation to waste management
The LCA for oil-shale electricity production and energy intensive products used by the OSELCA project has set a benchmark for other industries in Estonia
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
hard coal and �iomass. �t also looked
at the significant impact of the energy
source used on the total resource effi-
ciency of a random product - in this case
a wooden weather�oard. �t successfully
demonstrated that energy production
will often �e one of the most significant
factors of a product’s overall resource
efficiency.
L�FE projects such as ECO�L and
OSELCA have used lifecycle thinking
to show how stakeholders can improve
the resource efficiency of their industry,
not just �y improving their own perform-
ance, �ut through their choice of sup-
pliers. Energy-intensive products can
transform their resource efficiency �y
using green energy. Such modification
of purchasing decisions �ased on sup-
pliers’ environmental performance could
�e crucial in implementing Europe’s �PP
�y creating market pressure for more
resource efficiency throughout the sup-
ply chain without the need for prohi�i-
tive legislation.
liFE, ECo-DEsiGn anD EnD-oF-liFE
One of the key messages of the lifecycle
approach is that particular consideration
needs to �e given to resource efficiency
at the �eginning and end of a product’s
lifecycle. Some of the greatest efficiency
gains can �e achieved �y extracting
resources from a product at the end of
its life for re-use rather than sending
them to landfill or incineration. Equally,
environmentally aware design can avoid
all manner of inefficiencies downstream,
such as high resource use from transpor-
tation and waste management. A num�er
of L�FE projects have looked at how to
implement eco-design and effective end-
of-life strategies to improve a product’s
resource efficiency over its lifecycle.
The Rural L�FE Design project �LIFE00
ENV/FIN/000656) implemented �PP in
rural SMEs �y promoting tools for eco-
design. The project conducted LCAs
of possi�le products and developed
pilot eco-�rands and eco-marketing
with four rural enterprises. The project
showed how successful grassroots
rural entrepreneurship can �e encour-
aged using LCA to identify opportuni-
ties for resource-efficient products that
can �e marketed as such. Thinking from
the design stage through the lifecycle
of a product can raise the awareness of
designers, investors and consumers to
promote resource-efficient products.
�PP TEL in Greece �LIFE04 ENV/
GR/000138) conducted LCAs and car-
ried out tests on telecommunications
products to identify the major costs
and challenges of efficient end-of-
life management. �t used its analysis
to demonstrate how eco-design of a
modem could significantly improve its
overall resource efficiency. �t proposed
eco-la�el criteria for modems �ased on
these findings.
�mproved end-of-life management for
high-technology products could have a
�ig impact on overall resource efficiency.
The German project, Resolved �LIFE04
ENV/DE/000047), demonstrated an
environmentally friendly process for
extracting the valua�le raw materi-
als from thin film photovoltaic panels.
�n Portugal, L�FE Electrovalue �LIFE07
ENV/P/000639) is looking at effectively
extracting and exploiting raw materi-
als from waste electrical and electronic
equipment. Both projects are demon-
strating how high-tech practical meas-
ures taken at the end-of-life of certain
products can make a major contri�ution
to improving resource efficiency overall.
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Electrovalue is looking at effectively extracting and exploiting raw materials from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
IPP TEL used LCAs to demonstrate how eco-design of a modem could avoid some of the challenges of its end-of-life management
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Environmental management systems (EMS) have improved the environmental perform-
ance of many companies. However, their benefits can be limited by the complexity of
products’ production and lifecycles. The LIFE ACADEMY project has demonstrated how
EMS can be successfully applied over the lifecycle of an extremely complex product
- aircraft.
ACADEMY:managing the life-cycle of complex products
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Environmental Management Sys-
tems are typically applied at site
level. This means that an installation is
assessed for the environmental impact
of all the activities taking place there.
However, in complex industries such as
the aeronautical sector, many sites are
involved in the lifecycle of the product.
�t is possi�le to achieve high environ-
mental standards at each site and still
fail to optimise overall product resource
efficiency.
Applying environmental assessments
at site level fails to take into account
the impact of practices at one site on
environmental performance elsewhere
in the production chain. For example,
an aircraft could �e �uilt with a material
that is resource efficient in its extraction
and treatment, �ut which implies high
resource use in its maintenance or end-
of-life treatment downstream.
DEvElopinG a nEW approaCH - spoEms
The major European aeronautical
company Air�us - with around 52 500
employees worldwide - recognised the
limitations of its existing environmental
efforts at achieving EMAS certification
at its sites. “�mproved management was
essential to put environmental perform-
ance at the core of Air�us’s strategy. Yet,
traditional approaches were not enough;
we needed to look at the full lifecycle
of the product,” explains ACADEMY
project manager Bruno Costes.
�sa�elle Delay, one of the project leaders
within Air�us, highlights the importance
of the lifecycle approach for a complex
product: “Environmental assessment at
one site revealed that volatile organic
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compound �VOC) emissions were a key
environmental concern. However, there
was only so much that could �e done
to tackle this at that site. The �est way
to reduce VOC emissions is to choose
materials in the design phase that do
not create the pro�lem.”
Air�us applied for L�FE funding to run
the ACADEMY project �LIFE04 ENV/
FR/000353) and set a�out creating a
new tool, which it named SPOEMS -
Site and Product Oriented Environmen-
tal Management System. This aimed to
tackle the complexity of carrying out
the Lifecycle Assessment �LCA) of an
aircraft �y involving as many sites as
possi�le in an integrated environmental
assessment of the product’s lifecycle.
Air�us expanded the internal application
of EMS to cover an impressive 93% of
its network of 16 production sites, pro-
gressing in stages so that learning could
�e acquired and shared �etween sites.
“�mportantly, this meant that the sites
were now speaking a common environ-
mental language and developing consist-
ent ways of reporting,” notes Ms. Delay.
This was an essential precondition for
ena�ling the company to calculate the
overall environmental impacts and costs
of a product across its various sites.
ACADEMY then carried out two pilot
Lifecycle Assessments on aircraft within
the Air�us fleet. To make the process
managea�le, these used a customised
and streamlined approach to LCA, cov-
ering the more important aspects of
the aircraft’s production and lifecycle
- design, procurement, manufacturing,
transport, in service operations �includ-
ing maintenance), end-of-life and recy-
cling and collating the data from the site-
specific monitoring processes. What it
provided was a new understanding of
the environmental impact of the aircraft
throughout the company and through-
out its life, �eyond traditional addressed
challenges such as noise and in-flight
emissions.
tHE impaCt oF tHE spoEms approaCH
�mplementing SPOEMS did not sud-
denly solve all Air�us’s environmental
Eco-design is crucial for resource efficiency
Assessments were carried out throughout �6 Airbus production sites, covering 9�% of its network
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challenges. However, it has provided
the means to implement an ongoing
process of environmental review and
improvement. According to Ms Delay,
“SPOEMS has �een a real catalyst for
the identification of possi�le improve-
ments in the production chain.” �t allows
the company to have a vision of the
overall production process and �etter
identify where and how the most sig-
nificant efficiencies could �e accom-
plished.
One of the key achievements of the
L�FE ACADEMY project was to suc-
cessfully engage all levels of Air�us in
the SPOEMS approach and create new
internal momentum for environmental
improvement. Right up to the highest
levels of management, this has improved
the a�ility of the company to communi-
cate on environmental issues, helping
to identify synergies and spread good
practice. Additionally, SPOEMS has had
an impact �eyond the company �y help-
ing the procurement team identify where
changes to contracts with suppliers can
su�stantially improve overall resource
efficiency for a product.
The achievements and ongoing com-
mitment of Air�us to improved environ-
mental management was recognised �y
environmental certification �SO 14001
following a company-wide audit �y
DNV in Decem�er 2006. This was �oth
an aerospace industry first and one of
the �roadest environmental manage-
ment certifications ever made, covering
the whole company, including design,
procurement, manufacturing, transport,
and in-service operations �maintenance,
aircraft end-of-life and recycling). “What
we have achieved is unique,” �elieves
Mr Costes. “�t is the first demonstration
of how �ntegrated Product Policy ��PP)
can �e implemented at this scale.”
Another major achievement of ACAD-
EMY has �een to create momentum for
improved environmental management in
the wider aeronautical industry. �mpor-
tantly, the SPOEMS approach to lifecy-
cle thinking was widely disseminated �y
the national aerospace trade associa-
tions of France, Spain and the UK, and
the cham�er of commerce in the French
region of Midi-Pyrenees.
There is increasing recognition in inter-
national aeronautical companies of the
importance of environmental issues as
a driver towards sustaina�le develop-
ment and how SPOEMS can anticipate
environmental trends and regulations.
The European Aeronautic Defence and
Space Company �EADS), of which Air�us
is a part, has made a firm pu�lic commit-
ment to “a continuous assessment of its
environmental performance throughout
the lifecycle of its products, so as to find
out the �est way to improve it.”
The L�FE ACADEMY project lives on in
Air�us through its strategic commitment
to use SPOEMS to �ecome a leader in
the aeronautical sector on eco-effi-
ciency, com�ining environmental and
economic o�jectives. The company has
gone on to use SPOEMS to enhance
resource efficiency in its production
processes �y developing environmental
innovations. These include the use of a
greener, chemical-free milling process
for fuselage panels; more environmen-
tally friendly painting processes; and
steps to minimise energy and water con-
sumption during the production cycle.
For its aircraft product line, Air�us con-
tinues to work on quieter and more fuel
efficient jetliners, and on clearly defined
and targeted short and long-term envi-
ronmental targets and has renewed its
EMS certification with Bureau Veritas.
Air�us also complemented ACADEMY
with another L�FE project - PAMELA -
looking at a Process for Advanced Man-
agement of End-of-Life Aircraft �LIFE05
ENV/F/000059).
The LIFE ACADEMY project has helped AIRBUS improve the overall resource efficiency of its product
Project number: L�FE04 ENV/FR/000353
Title: ACADEMY - Air�us Corporate Answer to Disseminate �ntegrated Environmental Management System
Beneficiary: Air�us S.A.S.
Contact: Bruno Costes
Email: �runo.costes@air�us.com
Website: http://www.air�us.com/ innovation/eco-efficiency/
Period: Sept-2004 to Aug-2007
Total budget: e4 518 000
LIFE contribution: e2 245 000
FRANCE
Water is one of the most crucial natural resources - for both human activities and eco-
systems. Yet pressures on clean water supplies in Europe are only increasing. More
efficient use of available water is a major policy challenge. LIFE has shown ways for-
ward with pioneering projects on reducing demand for water and making better use of
existing supplies.
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
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Water-an essential component of LIFE
Water is life, sustaining eco-
systems and regulating our
climate. But it’s a finite resource, and
less than 1% of the world’s freshwa-
ter is accessi�le for direct human use.
Competition for water poses a growing
risk to the economy, communities and
the ecosystems they rely on. �f climate
change keeps raising average tempera-
tures across Europe, water is expected
to �ecome even scarcer in many areas,
so it is vital to find solutions to protect
this resource.
An adequate supply of good-quality
water is a pre-requisite for economic
and social progress, so we need to save
water, and also to manage our availa�le
resources more efficiently.
Water scarcity in the EU is most acute
in the south, �ut �y no means limited to
these areas: most Mem�er States have
suffered episodes of drought since 1976,
and many now report frequent water
scarcity pro�lems and over-exploited
aquifers. But demand for water con-
tinues to rise across Europe, putting a
strain on our resources. �n a ‘�usiness
as usual’ scenario, water consumption
�y the pu�lic, industry and agriculture
would increase �y 16% �y 2030. Cli-
mate change will add to the pro�lems
of water scarcity and droughts. On the
other hand, it is estimated that some
20-40% of Europe’s availa�le water is
�eing wasted �through leaks in the sup-
ply system, dripping taps, unnecessary
irrigation etc.).
A variety of approaches are �eing used
at EU level to preserve Europe’s waters.
Legislation, market instruments, moni-
toring, research and awareness raising
can all make a contri�ution.
�n 2000, the EU introduced the Water
Framework Directive �WFD), the most
am�itious and comprehensive piece of
EU legislation ever approved in water
policy. Taking a genuinely European
LIFE has contributed to preserve Europe’s waters with innovative approaches and technologies
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approach, it esta�lishes a management
system �ased on natural river �asin dis-
tricts rather than regional and national
�oundaries. The aim is to �ring together
all water managers – from governments
to local communities – the pu�lic and
all affected sectors to safeguard ground
and surface waters, and achieve good
ecological status �y 2015.
�n 2007, the EU put forward a Com-
munication addressing the challenge
of water scarcity and droughts. The
Communication identified seven policy
initiatives that had to �e addressed if
Europe was to move towards a water-
efficient and water-saving economy.
EU policy related to water scarcity and
droughts is �ased on the principle of a
‘water hierarchy’. This means that addi-
tional water supply infrastructure, such
as water transfers or desalination plants,
should �e considered only when all
demand-side measures, e.g. water-sav-
ing, water efficiency improvements and
water-pricing, have �een exhausted.
A 2009 EU policy paper on adapting to
climate change highlights the need for
further measures to enhance water effi-
ciency and to increase resilience to cli-
mate change. This approach reinforces
the consistency of measures taken at
�oth EU and national level, and sets the
scene for further European action.
The policy on water scarcity and
droughts will �e reviewed �y 2012,
together with the assessment of the
Mem�er States’ plans for managing
Europe’s river �asins, as required �y
the Water Framework Directive, and
the review of the vulnera�ility of water
resources to climate impacts and other
man-made pressures. These evalua-
tions will contri�ute to the Blueprint to
Safeguard Europe’s Waters planned for
2012. The Blueprint will foster a move
towards prevention and preparedness
with a view to ensuring a sustaina�le
�alance �etween water demand and
the supply of clean water, taking into
account the needs of �oth human activ-
ities and of natural ecosystems.
As the importance of water efficiency
�ecomes increasingly apparent, les-
sons and knowledge can �e drawn
from the innovative approaches taken
�y numerous L�FE projects. These
have already �een at the forefront of
investigating and developing new and
effective means of reducing water loss,
improving natural recharge of ground-
water supplies, reducing demand and
reducing waste.
liFE improvinG tHE supply oF ClEan WatEr
As much as 50% of water wastage in
some areas of Europe is the result of
leaky infrastructure. �n addition to the
waste of resources and economic cost,
leaks can have additional impacts on
groundwater quality. L�FE projects have
specifically tackled water loss from the
supply infrastructure in different con-
texts through the introduction of tech-
nologies to detect leaks more rapidly
and �etter regulate water flow, cost-
effectively increasing the effective sup-
ply of clean water to households and
�usinesses without having to explore
new sources of water.
The RAKWANET project �LIFE00 ENV/
EE/000922) in Rakvere, Estonia showed
that significant water savings could �e
achieved in ageing Soviet-era infra-
structure with a moderate investment.
The new system reduced the time taken
to detect leaks from around six days to
three and introduced a computerised
cali�rated hydraulic model of the water
network. By ena�ling quicker interven-
tion, water losses were decreased from
37% to 21% of total extraction.
The Pump And Leakage Management
project PALM �LIFE09 ENV/IT/000136)
is a new �talian project taking a similar
approach. �t is introducing the latest
acoustic technologies to detect leaks
and a cali�rated hydraulic model to
Water losses were decreased by introducing an innovative detection system in Estonia
Measuring the river flow using an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP)
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optimise water flow and close valves to
control leaks.
Another �talian project, TRUST �LIFE07
ENV/IT/000475) has directly tackled the
challenge of over-exploited groundwa-
ter, which threatens the long-term sup-
ply of clean water. �t is working at river
�asin level to coordinate macro-actions
for artificial aquifer recharge using
excess surface waters, nota�ly caused
�y floods. The project is demonstrating
a cost-effective means of maintaining
natural water sources over time to meet
usage needs. �t is also introducing cli-
mate change predictions into river �asin
management to meet future, as well as
existing, challenges.
A different approach to making �et-
ter use of availa�le water resources is
to find cost-effective and environmen-
tally friendly means of cleaning water
sources to a sufficient standard for their
use or re-use. The Dutch project VER-
BAL �LIFE03 ENV/NL/000467) success-
fully tested innovative vertical-flow reed
�eds for filtering surface water. �t demon-
strated that, in a closed system of mildly
polluted ur�an surface water, it could
reduce phosphate levels to �elow 0.05
mg/l, making the water not only suita�le
for swimming and water sports, �ut also
providing a cleaner source for drinking
water production.
An earlier German L�FE project �LIFE98
ENV/D/000509) looked at re-use of fil-
ter �ackwash water from the process
of cleaning frequently used filters in
groundwater treatment. The project was
a�le to recover 99.85% of the water in
drinka�le form through the use of su�-
merged mem�rane modules, effectively
increasing the remaining supply of clean
fresh water and reducing waste.
liFE rEDuCinG DEmanD For ClEan WatEr
Dealing with limited water resources
does not necessarily require dramatic
solutions. As a num�er of L�FE projects
have shown, significant progress can
�e made �y encouraging and ena�ling
households, �usinesses, farms and
pu�lic �odies to use only the water
that they need, saving this valua�le
resource and saving money and, in
agriculture, often leading to �etter end
results.
The least technical means of reducing
demand is increasing pu�lic aware-
ness of the need to save water and of
how small gestures, such as turning
taps off when not in use and taking a
shower rather than a �ath, can reduce
water consumption considera�ly. The
Eco-Animation project �LIFE07 INF/
UK/000950) has produced a series
of cartoons aimed at teaching young
children a�out key environmental mes-
sages including the importance of pre-
venting water wastage.
A German project demonstrated a process to recover 99% of backwash water and use it as drinking water
The TRUST project is introducing climate change predictions in river basin management
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The city of Zaragoza in Spain has used
L�FE funding to turn itself into a demon-
stration ‘Water Saving City’, particularly
for other countries in southern Europe.
The city applied for L�FE funding
�LIFE96 ENV/E/000509) to run a mas-
sive awareness campaign. This used
the full range of media and promotional
tools to encourage households, �usi-
nesses and pu�lic authorities to reduce
their water consumption.
The project gave practical guidance
on how to save water and persuaded
more than 140 companies to market
and/or give discounts on water-saving
products. �t increased the sale of exist-
ing domestic appliances with �uilt-in
water savers �y 15% and saw use of
water meters and water-saving taps
increase 400% and 600% respectively.
The num�er of households practising
water-saving measures dou�led and
over 1 �illion litres of water were saved
in 1998 alone.
A num�er of partners in Zaragoza
sought to �uild on the progress made
�y the L�FE project and further initiatives
followed. A second L�FE project, OPT�-
M�ZAGUA �LIFE03 ENV/E/000164),
used sensors to detect moisture in soil
and weather conditions, and com�ined
it with knowledge of the water needs
of different crops and grass. This ena-
�led an automated watering system to
provide only the amount of water nec-
essary on any given day, replacing the
previous safety-first approach of erring
on the side of too much water �for fur-
ther details see pp 43-45).
Such approaches demonstrate how
water efficiency policies can �e imple-
mented without negative side-effects.
An innovative Dutch project, Maas-
tricht Water �LIFE00 ENV/NL/000790),
worked to introduce a system of inte-
grated water management for a cluster
of eight industries. �t sought to meet
existing demand using less total water.
Although una�le to achieve all its o�jec-
tives, it found synergies �etween indus-
tries - for example one industry using the
wastewater of another - which reduced
overall water consumption. �t favoured
use of water from the River Maas rather
than already stressed groundwater sup-
plies and prevented the discharge of
nitrates into the water system.
The Dropawater project �LIFE02 ENV/
E/000183) sought to tackle all sides
of the water efficiency question in the
water-stressed Spanish exclave of Ceuta
�North Africa). Demand in 3 800 houses
was reduced �y 10% through the intro-
duction of state-of-the-art water meters.
Water supply efficiencies were achieved
�y checking pipes metre-�y-metre for
leaks, a process which saved more than
dou�le the money it cost, through saved
water. The project also introduced sys-
tems for using non-drinking water in
appropriate applications, such as street
cleaning and watering gardens.
WatEr EFFiCiEnCy in aGriCulturE
We have already seen how L�FE fund-
ing has helped reduce water a�straction
for agriculture. Another Spanish project
HAGAR �LIFE02 ENV/E/000210) also
introduced modern technologies into
irrigation systems to calculate the real-
time water requirements of plants and
thus avoid over-watering. The project
extrapolated the results from 12 pilot
fields and concluded that this optimisa-
tion of water use throughout the river
�asin could restore natural aquifers and
wetland areas in its catchment, there�y
contri�uting to European �iodiversity
o�jectives and international commit-
ments such as the Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands.
The experiences of these and other L�FE
projects point the way to achieving water
efficiency improvements and implement-
ing the EU’s water hierarchy, as well as
achieving complementary European
o�jectives around water quality and
water-�ased ecosystems.
The EcoAnimation project worked with children across several European countries to evaluate the content of cartoons con-cerning water
An innovative watering system developed by the OPTIMIZAGUA project has brought great efficiencies in the irrigation of crops and parks
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
LIFE projects are at the forefront of demonstrating successful approaches to imple-
menting EU legislation on sustainable transport. LIFE innovations contribute directly to
efforts to promote cleaner and more resource efficient transport systems, as well as
to reducing transport demand.
��
LIFE projects have contributed towards a low-carbon, resource efficient and competitive transport system
Acleanerandmore efficient transport system
The transport sector is a major con-
tri�utor to resource use in the EU,
not only in term of the significant use of
non-renewa�le fossil fuels, �ut also in
terms of the environmental impact of
emissions from the com�ustion of these
fuels and the impact on ha�itats and the
landscape of transport infrastructure.
�n contrast to other sectors of the econ-
omy, progress in reducing these envi-
ronmental impacts has �een slow. The
transport sector still depends on fossil
fuel for around 97% of its total energy
requirement and improvements in the
sector’s energy and emissions intensity
have not �een sufficient to offset growth
in transport volumes. The development
of new transport infrastructure, particu-
larly in the newer Mem�er States, also
continues to put pressure on ha�itats
and �iodiversity.
Technological improvements need to �e
made to transport systems to achieve a
more resource efficient Europe. Transport
is important to Europe’s economy, �ut
its environmental performance has to �e
improved �y reducing transport demand,
improving the efficiency of transport
systems, vehicles, mo�ility and logis-
tics, and �y promoting a modal shift to
more sustaina�le transport options and
the transition to clean technologies and
renewa�le energy sources. This is under-
lined in the “Flagship initiative under the
Europe 2020 strategy”, which foresees a
reform of the trans-European networks
for transport and states that the future
Transport White Paper will “present a
vision for a low-car�on, resource-effi-
cient, secure and competitive transport
system �y 2050 that removes all o�sta-
cles to the internal market for transport,
promotes clean technologies and mod-
ernises transport networks”.1
EU transport policy currently addresses
some of these issues. A �inding target of
� See COM (20��) 2� Communication on A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship initia-tive under the Europe 2020 Strategy
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a 10% share of renewa�le energy sources
in transport �y 2020 has �een agreed
as part of the EU’s Climate and Energy
package, which also sets targets for a
20% reduction in greenhouse gas �GHG)
emissions ��elow 1990 levels) and a 20%
reduction in primary energy use �y 20202.
�n addition, a �inding target was set to
reduce transport fuel GHG intensity �car-
�on per unit energy) �y 6% �y 20203
Legislation setting energy and emission
performance standards for new pas-
senger cars4, heavy vehicles� and rail-
way transport6 has also �een adopted.
On the demand side, this is supported
�y initiatives to promote the market for
clean and energy-efficient vehicles. EU
air quality directives �in particular Direc-
tive 2008/50/EC), which set limits for
2 Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources� Directive 2009/�0/EC on fuel quality� Regulation (EC) No ���/2009 setting emission performance standards for new passenger cars as part of the Community’s integrated approach to reduce CO2 emissions from light-duty vehicles5 Directive 88/77/EEC On the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the measures to be taken against the emis-sion of gaseous pollutants from diesel engines for use in vehicles On the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the measures to be taken against the emission of gaseous pollutants from diesel engines for use in vehicles6 Directive 97/68/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures against the emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants from internal com-bustion engines to be installed in non-road mobile machinery
sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and
oxides of nitrogen, particulate mat-
ter and lead concentrations in am�ient
air, provide further impetus to efforts
to improve the environmental perform-
ance of the transport sector. Promoting a
‘modal shift’ from roads and air transport
towards more sustaina�le travel modes
is also an important component of EU
transport policy7.
mappinG tHE routE aHEaD
A good example of how L�FE Environ-
ment has demonstrated successful
approaches to improving transport effi-
ciency is L�FE �MMACULATE �LIFE02
7 Regulation (EC) No ��82/200� on the pro-motion of clean and energy-efficient road transport vehicles
ENV/GR/000359), a project that tested
the potential �enefits, and �arriers to
market uptake, of cleaner and more effi-
cient engine technologies.
Monitoring the energy performance of
hy�rid vehicles in the city of Thessa-
loniki �Greece), the project showed that
fuel consumption was 52% lower in a
hy�rid car than in a compara�le con-
ventional car during use in ur�an areas
and 27% lower on the motorway. Similar
reductions in CO2 emissions were also
o�served. A survey of users of the test
vehicles found that while most would �e
willing to use a hy�rid car, the vast major-
ity would only �uy one if it was the same
price or cheaper than a conventional car
in the same category. The project su�-
sequently carried out a detailed cost-
�enefit analysis of different measures to
provide financial and non-financial incen-
tives to help �oost the market.
L�FE PARFUM �LIFE06 ENV/D/000477)
looked at the potential of different clean
vehicle technologies �electric, hy�rid,
natural gas, methane) for city logistics
and pu�lic transport, focusing in partic-
ular on the cities of Bremen �Germany),
Padova ��taly) and Rotterdam �Nether-
lands). Modelling and monitoring car-
ried out during the project showed the
disproportionate environmental impact
of heavy duty vehicles �HDV), which only
represent some 10% of city traffic, �ut
can contri�ute up to 50% of harmful
emissions.
The project demonstrated the potential
of the different technologies to reduce air
The PARFUM project combined innovative technologies for clean vehicles for city logistics and public transport
The MHyBus LIFE project aims to develop and test a first prototype hydro-methane bus
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pollution, especially in ur�an hot spots,
�ut it also highlighted the importance
of support measures and incentives to
encourage the wider uptake of these
technologies.
Hydrogen also offers considera�le poten-
tial as a clean and renewa�le transport fuel
when produced from renewa�le sources.
Recognising this potential, the MHyBus
project �LIFE07 ENV/IT/000434), which
is �eing implemented �y the Region of
Emilia-Romagna ��taly) aims to develop
and test a first prototype hydro-methane
�us, powered �y a fuel �lend of up to
20% hydrogen and 80% natural gas.
From tHE FryinG pan to tHE FlEEt
Focusing on the production of transport
fuel from recycled material, the L�FE
ECOBUS project �LIFE02 ENV/E/000253)
demonstrated the potential for producing
�iofuels from used cooking oil. The project
esta�lished a collection system involving
800 commercial esta�lishments, as well
as three collection points for domestic
waste oil. The waste oil collected was
then processed to produce �io-diesel,
which was mixed with conventional die-
sel to power the city’s �us fleet. During the
project, around 800 000 litres of cooking
oil was collected to produce 322 654 litres
of �io-diesel that was used to fuel 264
�uses, displacing an equivalent amount
of conventional diesel. As an additional
result of the project, the �eneficiary sent
Valencia City Council a proposal to esta�-
lish, at local level, regulations for manag-
ing the used cooking oil.
�n Portugal, the O�L PROD�ESEL project
�LIFE05 ENV/P/000369) also successfully
developed an integrated system for the
collection and recycling of used cooking
oil. Located in Oeiras, a small town on the
outskirts of Lis�on, the L�FE project esta�-
lished 20 collection points and developed
a prototype 1 000-litre �iodiesel process-
ing plant. The fuel produced was tested in
the municipal transport fleet, demonstrat-
ing �oth energy and cost savings.
Recycling of waste oil is an important com-
ponent of the ETRUSCAN project �LIFE08
ENV/IT/000425), which also incorpo-
rates the use of solar power in order to
demonstrate, not only the potential for
increased use of renewa�le energy in the
pu�lic transport system, �ut also the pos-
si�ility to source all of this energy locally.
The project will develop two hy�rid �us
prototypes. �t will also esta�lish two pho-
tovoltaic electric recharging su�-stations
and two �iodiesel processing plants,
which together will provide sufficient
energy to power the two �uses.
EnCouraGinG bEHavioural CHanGE
Encouraging a shift to more sustaina�le
modes of transport is a key component of
EU transport policy. The L�FE S�DDHARTA
project �LIFE03 ENV/IT/000319), suc-
cessfully demonstrated the �enefits of
introducing a ‘demand responsive’ pu�-
lic transport service on two ur�an �us
routes in the city of Genoa ��taly). The
existing diesel-powered �uses on these
routes were replaced with methane-run
vehicles, which were then operated “on-
demand” �i.e. the passenger would enter
journey start and end points via phone or
�nternet and a computer system would
then match the request to the vehicle in
the �est way).
The new service was then promoted
with an awareness-raising campaign, to
encourage private car users to switch to
pu�lic transport. The pilot scheme, which
ran from June 2004 to Septem�er 2005
showed an increase from 40% to 63%
in the num�ers of daily pu�lic transport
users within the target zone.
Modal shift was also the aim of the
GESMOPOL� project �LIFE05 ENV/
E/000262), which esta�lished on-site
partnerships to promote sustaina�le
mo�ility in six industrial parks in the
The ECOBUS project collected cooking oil to produce some �2� 000 litres of bio-diesel to fuel 26� buses in Valencia
The ETRUSCAN’s project prototype urban bus also incorporates solar power
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
region of Catalonia �Spain). Mo�ility plans
were produced for each estate and pilot
actions were carried out to promote and
demonstrate the �enefits of car pool-
ing and alternative modes of transport.
ClEanEr anD morE EFFiCiEnt transport ovEr WatEr
EU transport policy actively encour-
ages a modal shift to transport over
water as a more sustaina�le alternative
to road or air transport. However, it also
recognises the considera�le scope for
improving the environmental perform-
ance of water-�ased transport, which
is still largely reliant on diesel or heavy
fuel oils.
The L�FE LNG Tanker project �LIFE03
ENV/NL/000474) �uilt and delivered the
smallest liquid natural gas �LNG) carrier
in the world, the 1 100 m3 Pioneer Knut-
sen, which operated on short sea water-
ways in Norway for a 41-week demon-
stration phase. Compared with a diesel
alternative, the ship demonstrated a
30% reduction in CO2 emissions, a 60%
reduction in hydrocar�on emissions and
an 80% reduction of NOx. The success
of the project led to an order for three
similar vessels from Gaz de France.
L�FE W�NTECC �LIFE06 ENV/D/000479)
demonstrated an innovative wind pro-
pulsion technology for cargo vessels.
�mplemented �y Beluga Fleet Manage-
ment, an SME that manages heavy lift
cargo shipments worldwide, the project
succeeded in developing the SkySails-
System: a fully automated towing kite
and a wind-optimised routing system,
which is designed to �e used in addition
to the ship’s propeller. The first proto-
type was tested in 2008 and during its
maiden voyage energy savings of more
than 20% were achieved, equivalent
to daily savings of some 2.5 tonnes of
fuel, or more than €500, according to
the project �eneficiary.
Another German project, ZEM/SH�PS
(LIFE06 ENV/D/000465), developed the
first hydrogen-powered passenger ship.
Power-assisted �y an electric motor run
from a fuel cell, the ship commenced
service in August 2008 on Ham�urg’s
Alster lake.
intEGratED approaCHEs
Bringing together a com�ination of dif-
ferent approaches, the CATCH project
�LIFE02 ENV/UK/000136) successfully
demonstrated the potential of inte-
grated strategies for reducing the envi-
ronmental impact of transport. Focusing
primarily on the city of Liverpool �UK),
the project com�ined actions to reduce
transport demand, such as walking
and cycling initiatives, with the deploy-
ment of clean fuels and hy�rid �uses.
The project’s evaluation showed that
the wider implementation of the project
actions throughout the city would result
in emissions reductions of 50 939
tonnes/yr of CO2, contri�uting directly
to the EU GHG reduction targets, as well
as targets for air quality and the use of
renewa�le energy sources.
The L�FE RAVE project �LIFE02 ENV/
IT/000106) also successfully demon-
strated an integrated “slow mo�ility sys-
tem” in the city of Novara, �taly. Led �y
the city council, the project com�ined
the creation of protected pedestrian
areas, cycle paths and �icycle parking
with the introduction of fast, low-emis-
sion �uses and intelligent traffic lights.
These measures were complemented
�y a strategy to discourage the use of
motorised vehicles.
SU
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AN
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The smallest liquid natural gas carrier in the world was built by the LNG project which reduced CO2, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide emissions
LIFE WINTECC used an automated towing kite for propelling cargo ships
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Europe’s buildings offer many possibilities for making positive contributions to the
objectives of the EU’s resource efficiency Flagship, particularly via improvements in
energy performance. A variety of LIFE projects have been active in this area and their
results are helping Europe’s buildings steer a more sustainable course.
��
LIFEhelpsboosts the energy efficiency of EU building stock
As much as 40% of EU energy
consumption and 36% of EU
CO2 emissions are associated with
�uildings. Resource efficiency prin-
ciples are therefore highly relevant
for Europe’s �uilding stock. Efforts to
improve the energy efficiency of �oth
existing and new �uilt premises pro-
vide significant opportunities for miti-
gating negative climate change effects.
Bettering �uildings’ energy efficiency
performance can also make useful con-
tri�utions to improving energy security,
and simultaneously generate employ-
ment in related sectors.
Policy approaches for strengthening
resource efficient �uilding practices
are promoted through the Directive
on Energy Performance of Buildings
�2002/91/EC) and its recast �2010/31/
EU). This sets common Mem�er State
standards and certification require-
ments for important energy consump-
tion factors such as heating, lighting,
insulation, and air conditioning sys-
tems. The directive’s o�jectives closely
complement goals in DG Environment’s
Resource-efficient Europe Flagship to
improve energy profiles of �uildings.
Bold targets have �een set across the EU
so that �y 31 Decem�er 2020, all new
�uildings shall �e nearly zero-energy
consumption �uildings. New �uildings
occupied and owned �y pu�lic authori-
ties will have to comply with the same
criteria �y 31 Decem�er 2018. Signifi-
cant structural challenges are involved
with these strategic am�itions and an
interesting array of L�FE projects have
�een helping the EU �uilding sector
pave the way to a more energy efficient
future. Furthermore, as of 2013, all Mem-
�er States will have to set their minimum
energy performance requirements �ased
on a lifecycle assessment, ensuring opti-
mal cost efficiency.
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Directive 2002/91/EC calls for strong
methodological approaches to improve
energy efficiency in �uildings. Several
different L�FE actions have addressed
this requirement. For instance, for the
transnational L�FE project SB-MED
�LIFE04 ENV/GR/000137), partners from
Greece, France and Germany joined
forces to collate, adapt and apply �est
practices in European sustaina�le �uild-
ing design methods for schools. The
result was a methodology on sustain-
a�le school �uildings that was tailored
to the particular needs of Mediterranean
countries. The new methodology holds
strong demonstration value for other
parts of the region and is especially
relevant for improving the performance
of existing �uildings. By incorporating
factors such as alternative cooling tech-
niques, appropriate materials, natural
shading and renewa�le energy the new
methodology creates cost savings from
improved energy efficiency, estimated
at 35-50% for heating, and 25-30% for
cooling.
Another example of a �eneficial
resource efficiency methodology �eing
introduced �y L�FE can �e seen in
the EQuation project �LIFE00 ENV/
NL/000808), which showed that energy
performance gains of 15% were pos-
si�le �y adopting sustaina�le design
approaches. EQuation was nominated
as a “Best” L�FE Environment project in
2004-2005 �see pp 21-25).
Award schemes are often useful for
identifying and disseminating good
practices in resource efficiency meth-
odologies, and L�FE’s SUSCON project
�LIFE05 ENV/GR/000235) ran a series
of competitions to encourage eco-
friendly construction techniques among
pu�lic and private sector stakeholders.
This work formed part of the project’s
wider actions involving the design of
computerised systems for reducing the
environmental impact of construction
works. The software developed during
the L�FE project represented an innova-
tion in Greece and Cyprus �ecause it
provided for the first time a full-scale
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
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Energy efficiency in heating and cooling was demonstrated thanks to an innovative methodology for sustainable school buildings
Wood and straw used for wall insulation helped the S-HOUSE project cut energy con-sumption
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application of �ntegrated Product Policy
��PP) and sustaina�le construction tech-
niques �com�ining energy efficiency with
land use, low impact materials, water con-
servation, health and safety and economic
performance criteria).
The results of these L�FE-funded works
directly support high level EU initiatives
such as the Action Plan for Energy Effi-
ciency and will of course remain valua�le
for helping the resource efficiency Flagship
navigate the challenges that lay ahead.
ECo-innovations
�n addition to promoting more simpli-
fied and systematic approaches to
resource efficiency, the Flagship also
underscores the importance of speed-
ing up and spreading eco-innovations.
The L�FE programme has �een at the
vanguard of such new thinking, through
projects such as Austria’s S-House
�LIFE00 ENV/A/000243), which �uilt an
‘eco-office’ from renewa�le and recy-
cla�le raw materials. Extensive use of
wood and straw for the outer panelling
and wall insulation helped cut energy
consumption �y 9 kWh/m2/yr compared
with a standard house. �t also helped
save raw materials, using only 10% of
the amount of natural resources that
would have �een needed for standard
concrete walls. To add to this material
efficiency, the S-House also featured a
large, south-facing glazed facade and
stone flooring to capture heat, as well
as a prototype �iomass stove capa�le
of storing and regulating energy.
matErial EFFiCiEnCy
The German �NSU-SHELL project
�LIFE06 ENV/D/000471) focused its
attention on the issue of ‘material effi-
ciency’ in order to reduce the impact of
the concrete industry - cement produc-
tion uses su�stantial amounts of energy
and accounts for some 5% of world-
wide annual CO2 emissions.
The project aimed to lower the volumes
of concrete required for conventional
facades and walls through the intro-
duction of high-tech textiles that could
reinforce cement mixes and create
stronger, thinner walls �reduced from
the standard 70 mm to a more ‘material
efficient’ 10 or 20 mm). This raw mate-
rial efficiency offers the prospect of sig-
nificant associated energy savings.
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
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ECO-CAMPSThe French ECO-CAMPS proj-
ect (LIFE0� ENV/FR/000���) demon-
strated a series of resource efficient
eco-design innovations tailored to the
needs of campsite managers. The proj-
ect showed how energy consumption
of chalet heating could be cut by 60%
and of camping appliances by 28%
when chalets were made more energy
efficient through improved insulation,
natural lighting, solar power and roof
planting. Europe’s camping sector has
experienced a resurgence in recent
years and this LIFE project will help
spread the word about how to build
energy efficient, eco-friendly camping
facilities.
Austria’s S-House built an ‘eco-office’ from renewable and recyclable raw materials
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RENEW BUILDINGA lot of effort has been invested in improving the energy efficiency
potential of new buildings but Europe’s existing building stock is badly in
need of solutions to boost its energy performance. LIFE’s RENEW BUILDING
(LIFE0� ENV/A/000���) tackles this challenge by strengthening the environ-
mental capacity of the renovation sector. Concluding in 2012, RENEW BUILD-
ING is facilitating knowledge transfers about energy and resource efficient
construction materials and providing training in sustainable renovation skills
among target groups in the renovation trade that are often difficult to reach,
such as micro businesses and SMEs.
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
This new know-how �uilds on a grow-
ing li�rary of data from L�FE projects
demonstrating effective energy efficient
�uilding techniques. Nota�le among
these is Austria’s L�FE BBMpassiv
project �LIFE02 ENV/A/000285) which
validated a series of green construc-
tion techniques during its investment in
the development of a multi-functional,
multi-storey administration �uilding.
The result has �een the creation of a
‘passive house’ that requires only 14
kWh/m²/yr of heat thanks to the use of
hemp and cellulose insulating material.
The energy efficient �uilding, which pri-
oritises airtight fa�rics, could save 75
000 kg of CO2/yr in comparison with a
conventional �uilding.
More data on material efficient techniques
will soon �e availa�le from the ongoing
EDEA project �LIFE07 ENV/E/000805),
which aims to improve knowledge a�out
resource efficiency in social housing
developments. The project seeks to show
how appropriate design of new products,
along with suita�le application of exist-
ing products, can considera�ly improve
the environmental performance of �uild-
ings. �t aims to do this without increasing
costs �eyond the scope of social hous-
ing schemes. To this end, the project has
�uilt an ‘experimental’ house, a social
housing facility that is acting as a ‘living
la�oratory’ for testing and demonstrating
resource efficient approaches for low-cost
homes. Here, the EDEA team is conduct-
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ing applied research into intelligent home
technologies, renewa�le energies and
methods for reducing gas, heat, dust and
light emissions.
knoWlEDGE builDinG
As noted earlier, L�FE has �een and will
continue to �e an invalua�le source for
helping pu�lic, private and NGO sectors
develop new know-how on energy and
other resource efficiency components.
Building knowledge a�out cost-effec-
tive ways to achieve a resource efficient
Europe is considered vital �y the EU and
will play a long-term role in helping the
Flagship sail towards its goal of a sus-
taina�le horizon.
�0
An Austrian project validated considerable energy savings with green construction techniques
The EDEA project is improving knowledge about resource efficiency in social housing developments
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Buildings’ capacity to store and regulate energy affects their efficiency ratings, and
LIFE funds have been used to help offset financial risks involved with finding eco-inno-
vation solutions for new types of resource efficient building materials that can reduce
European energy bills.
�uildings provide more sta�le internal
temperatures and they tend to have
lower heating or cooling costs.
Market trends for lightweight �uild-
ings with low thermal mass have hence
created an escalating environmental
pro�lem that conflicts with practical
and policy requirements for increased
energy efficiency and improved energy
�alances.
liGHtWEiGHt matErials WitH a HiGH tHErmal mass
A L�FE project �ased in Luxem�ourg
has helped develop an innovative solu-
tion for this pro�lem. The EFFERNERGY
project �LIFE06 ENV/L/000121) was led
�y the Buildings �nnovation department
of the private sector firm DuPont, and
L�FE support helped the company work
with SMEs to design a new type of light-
weight �uilding material that exhi�its a
high thermal mass.
“The key to our eco innovation is a
‘Phase Change Material’ �PCM) which
changes its form at different tempera-
tures,” explains Wim Maes, DuPont’s
Contract Operations Manager for
Europe. “We have produced a thin flat
wall panel that contains an internal layer
of special wax. When the temperature
in a room increases a�ove 21 degrees
Celsius the wax in the PCM panel starts
to a�sor� heat energy and slowly melts.
�f the room temperature drops to �elow
21 degrees the liquid wax material then
starts to change its phase �ack to a solid
state, and in doing so releases the stored
�latent) energy �ack into the room.The
result is a natural passive solution that
does not require air conditioning.”
Despite the energy efficiency potential
of PCMs, their wider use in the past had
�een hindered �y application pro�lems.
Dupont set out to tackle this issue �y
developing a user-friendly PCM panel
that could �e easily installed in any �uild-
ing, especially lightweight, quick-�uild,
prefa�ricated structures.
risk rEDuCtion
A lack of market demand for PCM �uild-
ing panels represented a large risk for
DuPont. L�FE support is a�le to help
companies �ridge such risk gaps and the
programme’s role in this area is acknowl-
Takingtheriskoutofresource efficiency investments
Trends in �uilding techniques over
recent years have seen a �oom
in the use of prefa�ricated, lightweight
and modular constructions. This trend
is especially strong in the housing sec-
tor where wood and metal frame �uild-
ings are faster and cheaper to �uild than
concrete or stone alternatives. These
modern techniques can reduce the cost
of construction �ut they often remain
environmentally flawed in terms of the
�uilding’s ‘thermal mass’.
Thermal mass is the a�ility of a �uilding
to a�sor� and store heat. Buildings that
contain a lot of dense material, such as
concrete or stone, are a�le to soak up
heat or light energy and store this within
the walls, floors and ceilings. Buildings
made of materials such as wood and
metal cannot soak up and store as much
energy and have a lower thermal mass.
Rooms in low thermal mass �uildings
therefore heat up quicker during hot
weather and �ecome colder faster in win-
ter. They are less energy efficient �ecause
they consume new energy each time the
room needs to �e heated to a comfort-
a�le temperature, or cooled down using
air conditioning units. Heating and air
conditioning appliances are the largest
users of energy in Europe’s �uildings.
Buildings with higher thermal mass are
a�le to �etter a�sor� heat energy from
solar or indoor sources. They store
the heat and release it when the room
temperature drops, as part of a natural
passive energy cycle. These types of
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Placement of the innovative thermal-mass panels made of a wax-polymer blend
edged as a highly useful tool �y �enefici-
aries. Mr Maes reiterates this and says,
“Research and development money at
DuPont is very competitive �ut with the
help of L�FE we were a�le to raise enough
financial support to get our project started.
Without L�FE’s help the eco-innovations
we have introduced to the �uilding market
might never have gotten further than the
drawing �oard. The L�FE project helped
us overcome the period when we didn’t
have an income.”
Ulrike Koster from DuPont explains fur-
ther, “�t’s not a�out creating a new mate-
rial that will land in an existing market. �t’s
a�out creating a new solution with new
material landing in a non-existent market.
L�FE helped us to define a market strategy
for commercialising the initial eco innova-
tion idea of the PCM panel.”
CommErCialisinG pCm
Much of the project’s €1.51 million of L�FE
co-finance was spent on the prototyping
phases for the PCM panels. Most of this
money was used �y the SME and aca-
demic partners from France and Greece
that were involved in testing the PCM
materials. Nota�le among this work was
the development of new software to deter-
mine the specifications of the panel.
Without defined specifications the new
product would not �e a�le to �e adopted
�y the market. Thanks to the work started
under L�FE and continued after-L�FE, in
2010, DuPont made software availa�le
for the trade that includes PCM specifica-
tions. Building designers and their clients
can now check the energy efficiency and
thermal comfort of a �uilding that includes
the PCM panels. DuPont says this was an
important lesson from the project – think
ahead and start work early on determining
product specifications.
ovErCominG obstaClEs
�n addition to the issue of defining speci-
fications, a num�er of other time-con-
suming o�stacles were overcome �y
the project, and these offer some useful
insights for decision-makers involved in
promoting resource efficiency at regional,
national and EU levels. For example,
EFFERNERGY has shown how �uilding
codes can hamper the uptake of PCM
panels �ecause “the official methodolo-
gies for calculating energy performance
do not know PCM yet,” explains Jacques
Gilsent, DuPont’s marketing manager.
“They know concrete and they know
stone, so if you are �uilder and you want
to get the energy efficiency of your �uild-
ing validated you can only use conven-
tional materials.”
This issue still represents a serious o�sta-
cle to the energy saving �enefits of PCMs
and only the regulators can change the
system. As each Mem�er State has its
own �uilding regulations, each Mem�er
State has the power to make the changes
needed for promoting more energy effi-
cient �uilding materials. “The main driver
for changes in the industry continues
to �e the official rules and legislation,”
stresses Mr. Gilsent. Thus, a review of
�uilding regulations and certification sys-
tems �y decision-makers could encour-
age the industry to change its �ehaviour.
Wim Maes �elieves this “is in the inter-
est of everyone who wants to change the
energy �ill of the EU”. As part of any such
review, the role of su�sidies could �e con-
sidered.
Other options for increasing uptake of
this type of eco-innovation lay with the
insurance certification systems that are
required for �uilding materials. Before
�uilders can start a construction project
they normally need to get insurance to
cover their work and insurance compa-
nies seek assurances that the products
�eing used in a �uilding are safe. All new
products need to �e certified for insur-
ance purposes and so the energy sav-
ing �enefits availa�le from PCM panels
could also �e accelerated �y help from
the product certification �odies. DuPont
have found this certification process slow
and expensive. “�t’s �een difficult for us
as a large company, so imagine how chal-
lenging it might �e for smaller companies
with similarly good eco-innovation ideas,”
says Ms. Koster.
in ConClusion
Examining the EFFERNERGY project
highlights the facts that energy storage is
a core part of energy efficiency, and that
PCM is an excellent solution for energy
storage in modern �uilding methodolo-
gies. �n 10 years time we might expect
that this approach could �e much more
common, and this may �e in part attri�-
uted to the risk finance provided �y L�FE
to help DuPont and its partners produce
the industry’s first ever user-friendly PCM
�uilding panel.
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EFFENERGY improved the thermal performance of existing buildings
Project number: L�FE06 ENV/L/000121
Title: EFFENERGY - Energy Efficient Building Systems
Beneficiary: DuPont Luxem�ourg
Contact: Wim Maes
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.effenergy.dupont.com
Period: Dec-2005 to Nov-2008
Total budget: e5 610 000
LIFE contribution: e1 510 000
LUXEMBOURG
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Overfishing, pollution and unsustainable coastal development present a serious threat
to the EU’s marine environment and coastal areas. LIFE projects are actively contribut-
ing to the implementation of EU policy to tackle these issues, testing and demonstrat-
ing new tools and approaches for protecting and conserving our marine resources,
including fish stocks.
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Protecting Europe’s fisheries and marine resources
Europe’s coastal and maritime
areas are central to its well�eing
and prosperity. Oceans and seas cover
more than half of EU territory and mari-
time regions are home to a�out 40%
of the EU population. These areas also
generate some 40% of EU GDP, with
economic activities focusing on areas
such as shipping and ship�uilding,
fisheries, offshore energy and coastal
and maritime tourism. The exploita-
tion of mineral resources, aquaculture,
�lue �iotechnology and emerging su�-
sea technologies are also increasingly
important sectors.
Facilitating the co-existence and devel-
opment of these different sectors, while
also protecting the marine environment
on which they depend, is an increas-
ingly important challenge for the EU.
Overexploitation of fish stocks, pollu-
tion from land and sea-�ased sources,
and unsustaina�le development now
represent a major threat. These pro�-
lems are further compounded �y the
negative impacts of climate change on
coasts and the marine environment.
�f the resilience of our marine ecosys-
tems is continually undermined, the
potential to provide important resources
and services – ranging from food pro-
vision to climate change and erosion
a�atement to �ioremediation of waste
and pollutants, as well as tourism and
aesthetic enjoyment - will also �e com-
promised.
The ecosystem approach of the Marine
Strategy Framework Directive �MSFD
- see �ox) allows for the sustaina�le
use of goods and services, such as fish
stocks and other resources ��iological
resources, minerals, ecosystem services
and renewa�le marine energy sources).
These marine resources, many of which
are still unknown, have a high potential
and can �e used in applications such as
pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, �iotech-
nology, �io-engineering/�ionics, food
The Baltic MPAs project worked with fishermen to gather data on fishery by-catch
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THE EU’S INTEGRATED MARINE POLICYThe European Union, through its Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP),
aims to promote the sustainable use of oceans, seas and coasts. The IMP
fosters interaction between all sea-related sectors and policies in the EU,
in particular transport, fisheries, customs and the protection of the marine
environment.
Adopted in June 2008, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/
EC) represents the environmental pillar of the IMP. The directive aims “to
achieve good environmental status of the EU’s marine waters by 2020 and
to protect the resource base upon which marine-related economic and social
activities depend.” The directive provides for Member States and non-EU
countries to cooperate within European Marine Regions to develop and
implement strategies to achieve this goal.
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production and processing. The careful
exploitation of some minerals and renew-
a�le energy resources may also relieve
pressure on land-�ased ecosystems
and reduce dependency on resources
outside of the EU. Furthermore, marine
and maritime technologies, resources
and services serve as catalysts for inno-
vation, competitiveness and, ultimately,
�lue growth and jo�s.
There are ways to guarantee resource
efficiency of our seas in the future, such
as �y promoting sustaina�le fishing tech-
niques, minimising discard and �y-catch
practises, developing technologies that
exploit marine resources sustaina�ly,
and �y preventing marine litter and pol-
lution. L�FE funded projects have a key
role to play in demonstrating how this is
possi�le in practice.
liFE in our sEas anD oCEans
L�FE projects are at the forefront of
developing and demonstrating innova-
tive approaches that contri�ute to the
effective implementation of EU policy on
the marine environment. These projects
address a wide range of issues, including
the conservation of fish stocks, com�at-
ing marine pollution, preserving ha�itats
and �iodiversity, and the application of
an ecosystem approach to managing
marine resources.
The L�FE ECOSMA project �LIFE07 ENV/
D/000229), for example, is looking at
ways to promote more sustaina�le aqua-
culture as a means of relieving stress on
wild fish stocks and improving water
quality in the Baltic Sea. The project
seeks to increase production of, and
develop a market for, ecological mari-
culture products �y promoting ecologi-
cal certification. �t will create a directory
of German mariculture and esta�lish a
regional committee on sustaina�le mari-
culture, leading to a draft White Paper
and a code of practice.
tEstinG an ECosystEm approaCH in tHE CEltiC sEa
An ecosystem-�ased approach to manag-
ing marine resources is a key component
of the MSFD. This approach involves the
integrated management of land, water
and living resources in a way that pro-
motes conservation and sustaina�le use
of resources in an equita�le way. �t is now
widely recognised as the �est means of
managing and governing activities affect-
ing the marine environment.
Contri�uting to knowledge in this area, the
P�SCES project �LIFE07 ENV/UK/000943)
is working closely with stakeholders from
several Mem�er States to test colla�ora-
tive methodologies for implementing an
ecosystem approach in the Celtic Sea.
Like other EU seas and oceans, the Celtic
Sea is under threat from a variety of exter-
nal pressures �climate change, fisheries,
food cultivation in the open ocean, chemi-
cal pollution, shipping, construction and
dredging, coastal development, recreation
and tourism).
The project will �ring together stakehold-
ers and government representatives and
will lead to the development of agreed
mechanisms for implementing an ecosys-
tem approach to managing and overcom-
ing these pressures.
rECyClinG soliD WastE
Contri�uting directly to the implementa-
tion of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy,
the �ntegrated Maritime Policy and the
Waste Framework Directive, the 3R-F�SH
project �LIFE07 ENV/E/000814) aims to
improve the quality of marine waters and
sea�eds, and prevent marine litter in com-
pliance with the “nothing over�oard” and
“zero waste in ports” principles. This will
�e achieved �y promoting the correct use
of equipment and �y minimising the envi-
ronmental impact of solid waste from the
fishing industry �polystyrene, fishing nets,
lighting devices, �atteries) �y promoting
collection and recycling.
The project will support the reuse and
recycling of devices and equipment used
�y the fishing industry in selected ports
Stakeholders are testing new methods for implementing an ecosystem approach in the Celtic Sea
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in Galicia �Spain). Project actions include
the collection and recycling of disused
nets and expanded polystyrene, and the
collection and treatment of some 1 400
�atteries). These innovative systems for
the management and recovery of waste,
throughout the entire lifecycle, will also aim
to recover secondary raw materials, thus
reducing use of primary raw materials.
prEsErvinG marinE Habitats anD bioDivErsity
The Baltic MPAs project �LIFE05 NAT/
LV/000100) provided a scientific �asis
for the designation of Natura 2000 sites
in the marine territories of Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania �y proposing seven new
marine protected areas �MPAs) and con-
ceiving management plans for six of
them. The project gathered data from
fishermen on species �seals, �irds and
non-commercial fish) caught in their
gear, complemented with information
from independent project fishing activi-
ties. Hydro-dynamic modelling was used
to assess the impact on marine ha�itats
from the dumping of dredged material
and other activities. The project also
implemented measures to assess and
reduce the impact of fishery �y-catch on
target �ird and mammal species �such as
the struggling populations of ringed seal,
Pusa hispida).
Focusing on managing areas already des-
ignated for protection, the Co.Me.Bi.S.
project �LIFE06 NAT/IT/000050) aims to
safeguard and restore nine Sites of Com-
munity �mportance �SC�s) in the coastal
zones of Lazio and Cala�ria ��taly), which
are under threat from human activities.
Project actions are focusing on priority
ha�itats such as Posidonia �eds, Coastal
lagoons, Coastal dunes with Juniperus
spp, and Dunes with pine forests.
An important aspect of the project is the
involvement of local fisheries associa-
tions, tourism operators, environmental
NGOs and local and regional govern-
ment in ensuring the sustaina�le use of
coastal areas.
An earlier L�FE project also explored
effective approaches to managing Nat-
ura 2000 sites. �n the context of increas-
ing pressure from ur�anisation, tourism
development and other human activities,
the L�FE Zonas costeiras/Açores project
�LIFE98 NAT/P/005275) sought to
develop and implement integrated man-
agement plans for coastal and marine
ha�itats in the Azores �Portugal).
The project focused in particular on five
marine SC�s and seven Special Areas of
Conservation �SACs). �t also proposed
the designation of new protected areas
under national law. Nota�le successes
of the project included the adoption of
new regulations on whale watching, a
reduction in �y-catch, and the updating
of measures for the protection of �irds.
�t also defined management measures
for fishing activities to reduce �y-catch of
sea turtles. The results show the poten-
tial value of modifications to fishing gear
when it comes to reducing �y-catch.
The project’s approach to preparing and
implementing its management plan has
also provided valua�le lessons for other
marine SC�s in the EU.
Making more resource efficient use of
�y-catch and discards, a priority for EU
policymakers, was also the su�ject of
L�FE BE-FA�R �LIFE05 ENV/E/000267),
and the follow-up project, FAROS
�LIFE08 ENV/E/000119), which are the
su�ject of a feature article on the fol-
lowing pages of this section.
The sustainable use of coastal areas in two Italian regions will be ensured through the active involvement of fisheries associations, tourism operators, NGOs and local authorities
Measures for the protection of birds were updated thanks to a Portuguese project
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No discards, zero waste
Promoting a more efficient use of fisheries resources was the main aim of the LIFE BE-
FAIR project, which developed and tested new approaches for managing and reusing
fishing industry waste and by-catch.
efficiently reuse fish resources �discards
and �y-catches) which represent poten-
tial food resources and sources of �asic
compounds for the medical and pharma-
ceutical industries.”The first stage of the
project involved an assessment of the
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Approximately 85 million tonnes of
wild fish are harvested glo�ally
each year. Of this, an estimated 27 million
tonnes - almost one-third - is discarded, or
thrown �ack into the sea.
The remaining ”target” catch is then su�-
ject to on-�oard processing, which cre-
ates significant quantities of waste, such
as heads, �ones, guts and skins. This is
also usually returned to the sea. More
waste is produced on-shore as a result
of the activity of fishing ports, auctions,
fish traders and processing plants.
This com�ination of discards and waste
represents a serious threat to the sustain-
a�ility of the fisheries sector, contri�uting
not only to a depletion of fish populations
and a change in the overall structure of
marine trophic we�s and ha�itats, �ut
also to the accumulation of pollutants
and the spread of parasites in the marine
environment.
nEW usEs For FisHinG inDustry WastE anD by-CatCH
�n line with EU o�jectives of “no dis-
cards” and “zero waste”, the L�FE BE-
FA�R project �LIFE05 ENV/E/000267)
sought to develop new commercial uses
for fishing industry waste and discards
�y piloting innovative waste and discards
pre-processing and valorisation prac-
tices, �oth on-�oard fishing vessels and
also on-shore in a dedicated pilot plant.
“The idea �ehind the project was that
everything harvested from the sea should
�e treated as a valua�le product, always
�earing in mind that resources are limited
and that fishing activities must �ecome
sustaina�le,” explains Luis Ta�oada
Antelo, L�FE project team mem�er.
“We are wasting valua�le �iomass from
which we can produce secondary raw
materials. The aim was to find ways to
A prototype for the extraction of fish oil from fish livers was designed for use onboard
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
activities in selected fisheries in Spain,
France and Portugal in order to deter-
mine the amount and type of discards
and �y-products �eing generated.
“This was essential to understanding the
feasi�ility of processes that we would
examine later,” says Mr Ta�oada.
The results showed a wide variety of
fish species �eing caught as �y-catch
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and significant volumes of discards and
waste �eing dumped �ack into the sea.
For example, Spanish trawlers operat-
ing in the North Atlantic, which targeted
Greenland hali�ut, also caught grenadier,
white hake, witch, American plaice, red-
fish or skates, shrimps, yellowtail and
even flounder and cod. Waste material
generated included viscera, heads and
trims of the target species, all of which
were thrown over�oard.
�n France, the results showed a discard
rate of a�out 13% for Atlantic fisheries
and 31% for the Mediterranean. Sar-
dine fisheries in the Mediterranean had
a discard rate of over 50%, �ecause of
the presence of mixed �anks of sar-
dines and anchovies.
According to information gathered in
Portugal, crustacean and demersal fin-
fish trawl fisheries were found to have
high discard rates, although the values
could �e quite varia�le, according to
the season, fishery and �oat type. The
highest rates �up to 60% for fishing
trawlers and 70% for crustacean trawls)
were found in the Algarve.
An assessment of activities on land
also revealed high levels of waste pro-
duction. At the port of Vigo �Spain), for
example, the local fish auction pro-
duced 10-14 tonnes/day of fish waste,
while waste generated �y fish process-
ing amounted to some 35% of the total
fish catch.
�n France, it was estimated that in 2005,
some 215 000 tonnes of waste was
generated as a result of fish trade and
fish processing activities. This mostly
comprised of fish heads �40%), fish
�ones �27%) and viscera �25%).
nEW GuiDElinEs anD inCEntivEs For rEsourCE EFFiCiEnt FisHinG
Taking account of the types and amounts
of discards and waste generated, the
project team developed a “Good-Prac-
tice Manual for the Recovery, Handling
and Classification of Discards and By-
Products”. This manual includes pro-
posals for appropriate management
practices, on-�oard and on-shore, with
recommendations for preserving and
pre-treating discards and su�-products.
The guidelines for on-�oard activities
focus on two types of fishing vessels;
trawlers and long-liners. However, these
can easily �e adapted to other fishing
vessels, fishing gear or types of catch.
While the manual was an important start-
ing point, the project team also recog-
nised that to translate this into practice,
Samples of chondroitin sulphate produced from fish cartilage
Hyaluronic acid (HA) can be extracted from the vitreous humour of certain fish species, such as swordfish or tuna
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there had to �e incentives to make it eco-
nomically attractive.
“Keeping discards and waste on �oard
implies a cost, as it takes up space that
could �e used to store fish with an eco-
nomic value, so you have to create an
incentive and demonstrate that fisher-
men can gain some economic return
from this,” insists Mr Ta�oada.
To address this issue, the project devel-
oped four different prototypes which
were used to demonstrate the potential
to produce commercial products from
fish wastes and �y-catch:
• A mechanical device to extract vitreous
humour from fish eyes;
• A fish oil extractor to o�tain oils from
fish liver on-�oard;
• A water reduction units; and
• A multipurpose prototype for gelatine
extraction/chondroitin sulphate/en-
zyme processes.
A preliminary assessment of the market
potential of the different products was
also carried out.
Hyaluronic acid �HA) can �e extracted
from the vitreous humour of certain
fish species, such as swordfish or tuna.
Used in the treatment of �one disease
and in cosmetics, this was found to �e
the product with the highest commercial
value �up to €100 000 per kg). The mar-
ket opportunity for HA produced exclu-
sively from fish was found to �e limited
�ecause of the low concentration of this
compound in fish vitreous humour, �ut
as a complement to other sources, it was
found to have potential.
The prototype for the extraction of fish
oil from fish livers was designed for use
on-�oard and the shipowner’s union of
Vigo �ARV�) has agreed to test it on its
vessels.
The water reduction unit was also
designed for on-�oard use, where it could
help to reduce the volume of discard and
waste �y crushing to o�tain a dry cake.
Mr Ta�oada reports that “this prototype
is already �eing used in France and there
is also interest in Vigo.”
The multipurpose prototype worked �y
extracting collagen from fish skins to
o�tain a purified gelatine that could then
�e used as a food supplement. The same
process can also �e used to produce
chondroitin sulphate �CS), a su�stance
used, for instance, to treat rheumatism.
“This can �e extracted from the cartilage
of fish such as ray or monkfish,” explains
Mr Ta�oada. “Only a�out 20% of a ray is
edi�le, so at present the remaining 80%
is waste that can �e transformed into a
valua�le resource.”
EstablisHinG links to markEt
The project clearly demonstrated a
resource efficient approach, showing the
potential to add-value to discards and
waste, and the willingness of fishermen
to implement the guidelines and adopt
the prototype equipment, as long as it
was economically feasi�le. However, two
key challenges remain.
The first is the irregularity of supply,
�ecause of the varia�ility of the types
and quantity of waste and �y-catch.
And the second is the link to the market,
which has yet to �e esta�lished.
According to Mr Ta�oada, “it was not
possi�le to address these issues within
the timeframe of the project. This is why
we developed the follow-up L�FE FAROS
project �LIFE08 ENV/E/000119), which
aims to put all the pieces together; to
create a network and to esta�lish the
link to market.”
FAROS will also look at the introduction
of new on-�oard technology to retrieve
real time data on fish �eing harvested.
This will facilitate the generation of maps
of activity and resources at sea, and will
also help to predict areas where rates
of �y-catch and discards are likely to
�e higher, so that these areas can �e
avoided or closed off during spawning
periods or if num�ers of certain fish spe-
cies have dwindled.
“The first thing to keep in mind is to try
and avoid �y-catch, �ut if this is not
possi�le then let’s exploit it and make
sure we use marine resources more effi-
ciently,” concludes Mr Ta�oada.
At the port of Vigo in Spain the local fish auction produced �0-�� tonnes of fish waste per day
Project number: L�FE05 ENV/E/000267
Title: Benign and environmentally friendly fish processing practices to provide added value and innovative solutions for a responsi�le and sustaina�le management of fisheries.
Beneficiary: The Consejo Superior de �nvestigaciones Científicas �CS�C)
Contact: Antonio Álvarez Alonso
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.�efairproject.com
Period: Nov-2005 to Nov-2008
Total budget: e1 859 000
LIFE contribution: e909 000
SPAIN
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Expanding cities and changing lifestyles demand an ever-increasing supply of natural
resources and energy. LIFE Environment projects are providing support at national,
local and regional levels for European Union strategies that promote more resource
efficient land use and planning in Europe.
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Planningfor a more resource efficient European landscape
The way we use our land space
can have major impacts on envi-
ronmental conditions and resource con-
sumption. These impacts can �e direct,
such as the destruction of natural ha�i-
tats and landscapes, or indirect, such
as increasing the amount of traffic on
our roads - leading to more congestion,
air pollution and greenhouse gases. �n
Europe, land use planning and man-
agement decisions are usually made
at local or regional level. However, the
European Union has a role to play in
ensuring Mem�er States take environ-
mental concerns into account when
putting together their land use devel-
opment plans.
L�FE has �een actively supporting
Europe’s local or regional authorities to
develop their land use planning strate-
gies in a more resource efficient way.
ECo-EFFiCiEnCy
Eco-efficiency, com�ining the ecologi-
cal, economic and social dimensions of
land use and planning, has emerged as
an important concept in the development
of a more resource efficient European
landscape. Several L�FE projects have
explored this concept. For example, the
Finnish ECOREG project �LIFE02 ENV/
FIN/000331)1 demonstrated how eco-
efficiency monitoring, and the integra-
tion of environmental, economic and
socio-cultural dimensions into sustain-
a�le development can �e implemented
at a regional level.
The project developed a series of eco-
indicators for the development of the
region of Kymenlaakso on the coun-
try’s southern Baltic coast, which were
later included in a Regional Plan. The
indicators showed that the overall eco-
efficiency of Kymenlaasko improved
�etween 1995 and 2002.
The project’s findings are relevant to the
development of more resource efficient
� a ‘Best LIFE Environment Project’ winner 2005-06
land use and planning policy at all levels:
the results are also highly transfera�le to
�oth larger and smaller regions of Europe,
municipalities, and also to companies or
organisations in the context of their envi-
ronmental management systems.
A second Finnish project, Green Valley
�LIFE02 ENV/FIN/000319) developed
a resource efficient land use plan for a
su�stantial new housing development in
The eco-efficiency of land use in Kymen-laakso improved thanks to LIFE funding
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The Coastal Woodlands project �LIFE02
ENV/S/000355) demonstrated the appli-
cation of �CZM, focusing on the Baltic
Sea coastal zone woodlands of Finland,
Sweden and Estonia.
Surveys carried out �y the project on the
cultural, social and environmental value
of these woodlands, as well as studies of
different forestry management activities,
resulted in the development of integrated
inventories and maps for the project area.
This new information was used in the
stakeholder consultations in the recom-
mendations for �CZM in the Baltic Sea.
The findings highlighted the cross-cutting
aspects of coastal management encom-
passing sustaina�le forestry, agriculture,
tourism and development planning.
Moreover, the project demonstrated �et-
ter use of legislation for nature protection
and rural planning as well as helping to
stimulate more environmentally-con-
scious attitudes toward land use.
spatial planninG tools
Spatial planning information is essential for
good environmental management deci-
sion-making and avoidance of conflicts.
There are many different producers of
such planning tools, �ut data are often
restricted �y reasons of cost or acces-
si�ility. The high-profile ENV�FAC�L�TATE
project2 �LIFE04 ENV/FI/000304) tackled
this pro�lem – designing accessi�le, tech-
nologically sustaina�le and user-friendly
mapping tools for shared environmental
spatial planning information.
The tools provide users with access online
to the most recent data. They allow maps
and data�ases to �e overlaid to give a clear
representation of spatial data with the doz-
ens of alternative data layers availa�le.
The project contri�uted towards several
national and international environmental
information systems. �t also supported the
networking of planning information actors
at regional level; and developed an inter-
active tool to allow the pu�lic to partici-
pate in the regional planning process.
2 a ‘Best of the Best’ LIFE Environment project winner 2007-08
urban DimEnsion
Europe is highly ur�anised, with four out
of every five of its citizens living in towns
or cities. The challenge for policy-mak-
ers is to come up with a sustaina�le and
integrated approach to ur�an develop-
ment and management that works in har-
mony with natural systems rather than
against them. A num�er of L�FE projects
are furthering the EU’s Thematic Strategy
on Ur�an Development, which targets a
more integrated approach and supports
action at local level.
For example, the Spanish-led D�VERS
project �LIFE02 ENV/E/000176) devel-
oped tools and a shared data�ase to
aid strategic ur�an planning towards a
model for a more sustaina�le city. Piloted
in five cities – in Spain, Greece and �taly
– the project has a high demonstration
value, as the strategy and methodology
is applica�le to any city.
Another Spanish project – GALLECS
- �LIFE02 ENV/E/000200) developed a
Strategic Plan for a rural area on the out-
skirts of Barcelona to address the phe-
nomenon of ur�an sprawl. The project
promoted more sustaina�le land use,
renewa�le energy and more efficient
water irrigation systems to demonstrate
that it is possi�le to achieve environmen-
tally, socially and economically sustain-
a�le development in transition zones on
the edge of cities. As a result, the project
was a�le to strengthen the rural area’s
function as an ecological �uffer zone
�etween the ur�an fringe and the coun-
tryside �eyond.
Salo. The plan included specific actions
e.g. favouring the procurement of ‘green
electricity’ and the enhancement of envi-
ronmental aspects in the pu�lic procure-
ment of the participating municipalities.
Stakeholder consultation led to greater
pu�lic involvement in the planning stage
and thus significant uptake of the com-
pleted dwellings.
Landscape management aspects also
delivered some 60 small-scale plans for
�iodiversity, semi-natural ha�itats, land-
scape improvements and water protec-
tion. Furthermore, �y involving the area’s
cattle farmers, who play an important role
in maintaining meadows and thus contri�-
uting to �iodiversity, the project was a�le
to recommend changes to the application
of EU agri-environmental support that
were su�sequently adopted �y regional
and national environmental authorities.
Another success was the promotion of
environmental training, which resulted in
the esta�lishment of two new enterprises
targeting innovative waste management
technologies.
iCZm a priority in Eu planninG
�ntegrated Coastal Zone Manage-
ment ��CZM) is a�out managing coastal
resources and coastal space �y joining
up all the different policies which have an
effect on coastal regions.
Tools to aid strategic urban planning were developed by the DIVERS project
ICZM focusing on the Baltic Sea coastal zone woodlands was applied in Finland
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LIFEturnsfood for thought into action
In the glo�alised economy and
interlinked environment, the EU is
increasingly affected �y glo�al changes
in resources, climate, material availa�ility
and food prices. These issues are likely
to �ecome more pressing, with a pro-
jected increase in glo�al demand for food
of some 70% �y 2050. Steps taken �y
the Commission at EU level to address
climate change can also contri�ute to
improving glo�al food security.
Key areas of policy intervention in the
food and �everage sector have included
improving resource use in production
and avoiding food waste.
The L�FE programme has played an
important role to date in helping to
implement these policy o�jectives
across the EU-27 and in neigh�ouring
countries.
improvinG rEsourCE usE in FooD proDuCtion
A plethora of L�FE Environment projects
have �een dedicated to helping food
and �everage producers make �etter
use of their resources and raw materials.
The wine industry has �een a particular
focus, given its growing importance and
geographic spread.
Resource use in the food and beverage sector has improved with LIFE funding
One of the earliest L�FE projects to target
wine production �LIFE99 ENV/E/000349)
took place in the Rioja region of Spain.
This high-profile demonstration project
was developed �y the Rioja Economic
Development Agency �ADER), the Rioja
Water Board and the regional govern-
ment in order to develop an environ-
mentally sustaina�le and economically
via�le model applica�le to the entire
wine production process. Key areas for
resource efficient production that the
project focused on included: measures to
reduce the use of environmentally-harm-
ful pesticides in vine cultivation; improved
water treatment and use �including a pilot
wastewater treatment plant); investigat-
ing the potential for re-using grape �y-
products �e.g. pomace); and integrating
wine production into sustaina�le ur�an
and rural management. The most nota�le
outcome of the project was the agree-
There is significant scope to produce and consume our food and drink in a more
resource efficient manner. EU policy initiatives in this regard have been supported on
the ground by a number of innovative LIFE Environment projects.
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SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION OF EUROPE’S FOOD AND DRINK
As the European Food Sustainable Production and Consumption Round
Table in January 2011 highlighted, food and drink industries have an impor-
tant part to play in a science-based, coherent approach to sustainable
consumption and production in the food sector, one that takes into account
interactions across the whole food chain.
The round table, co-chaired by the European Commission, set out the fol-
lowing three key objectives:
• To establish scientifically reliable and uniform environmental assessment
methodologies for food and drinks;
• To identify suitable tools and guidance for voluntary environmental com-
munication to consumers and other stakeholders; and
• To promote continuous environmental improvement measures along the
whole supply chain.
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
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HAproWINE seeks to integrate waste management and Lifecycle Assessment tools into the wine industry
High nutritional value animal feed was produced from winery wastewater
ment of the wine companies to fund the
largest multi-winery effluent treatment
plant in Europe, the Station District of
Haro.
The Rioja project found that �etter han-
dling and storage would �e required to
make commercial re-use of wine �y-
products, knowledge that was widely
disseminated, including at Green Week
2000. The Greek D�ONYSOS project
�LIFE03 ENV/GR/000223) has drawn
on this learning to successfully �uild a
pilot plant for processing winery solid
waste. The project was a�le to recover
high added-value polyphenols �used in
food supplements and cosmetics), use
the slurry wastes and sludgy waste-
water to produce high nutritional value
animal feed, and transform the remain-
ing waste into natural organic fertiliser
�y composting. This L�FE Environment
“Best of the Best” project for 2007-
2008 has attracted much interest from
wineries keen to improve the resource
efficiency of their production processes
and develop financial via�le uses for their
�y-products. Two Greek wineries that did
not participate in the project have already
implemented its methods.
Two ongoing L�FE projects are looking to
�uild on these earlier success stories.
The W�NEC project in Cyprus �LIFE08
ENV/CY/000455) is developing an envi-
ronmental management system �EMS)
and wastewater treatment plant for
the Tsiakkas Winery in the west of the
country. �t is hoped that this will have an
important demonstration effect, since
many Cypriot wineries still spread their
untreated effluent in fields, there�y pol-
luting groundwater resources. Halting
the decline of soil fertility and improv-
ing water quality are EU-level goals for
reducing risks to future agricultural pro-
duction and food security.
Meanwhile, the HAproW�NE project in
Spain �LIFE08 ENV/E/000143) seeks to
integrate waste management and Lifecy-
cle Assessment �LCA) tools into the wine
industry, including promoting the reuse
of winery wastes and creating a certifi-
cation scheme to help consumers make
more environmentally-friendly choices.
This lifecycle approach chimes with the
goals of the European Food Sustaina�le
Production and Consumption Round
Ta�le �see �ox).
�mproving resource efficiency through an
LCA approach was also the goal of the
ECO�L project �LIFE04 ENV/GR/000110)
�see pages 21-25).
sHoWinG tHE Way to EFFiCiEnt proDuCtion
The EU produces around half of the
world’s potato starch, a process that
uses large amounts of water and energy.
The L�FE New potatopro project �LIFE04
ENV/DK/000067) aimed to develop a
novel energy efficient process for potato
protein extraction on an industrial scale.
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Reductions in energy and water use were achieved through a Closed-Loop Blanching method
An innovative treatment process produced water efficiencies in a Dutch cheese factory
This new process, designed �y Danish
�eneficiary, Karup Kartoffelmelfa�rik,
would also made more efficient use of
raw materials.
Results were impressive: �y transform-
ing fruit water to high-value protein, the
starch factory was a�le to take steps
towards producing fertiliser concentrate
and �iomass for energy production, as
well as towards treating process water
for reuse in the production process.
The �eneficiary’s new factory, co-funded
�y L�FE, features a more efficient heating
and heat exchange system for the proc-
ess, as well as �etter decanting and dry-
ing of the end product. These improve-
ments have resulted in energy savings of
some 60% and a 40% reduction in water
consumption.
The new facility also removes 55-60% of
the nitrogen load from the wastewater.
The waste product, containing phospho-
rous and potassium, can then �ecome
a useful secondary raw material, as it is
dried and sold as fertiliser sludge. The
factory also now has a system for sepa-
rating the potato proteins into fractions
and is attempting to produce a new
product with a low solanine content �the
su�stance that turns potatoes green).
A second good demonstration of
resource efficiency in the potato
processing industry is provided �y CLB
�LIFE05 ENV/NL/000035), a Dutch L�FE
project that developed an innovative new
method of �lanching chips �French fries).
CLB stands for Closed-Loop Blanching,
a method that is designed to avoid the
negative environmental impacts – waste
energy and water – and loss of potato
solids �some 10-30%) of industry stand-
ard hot water �lanching processes. The
CLB project achieved significant savings
in raw materials, as well as reductions
in energy and water use, transport and
overall emissions.
A closed-loop water treatment process
was also the goal of another Dutch project
targeting the dairy industry. L�FE ‘Dairy,
No Water!” �LIFE03 ENV/NL/000488)
achieved significant improvements in
resource use in a cheese factory in
Hogeveen �y extracting whey water and
reusing it as process water. Although the
plant did not �ecome totally self-sufficient
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Families who took part in the IDEAL 79 project reduced the amount of waste they produced by purchasing ecogoods and services
Best practice models and materials on waste prevention were tested in households in Helsinki
in water, as planned, it did reduce water
intake from 825 million to 275 million
litres/yr, reduced wastewater �y 255 mil-
lion litres/yr and eliminated the use of
groundwater. �n addition, energy savings
amounted to some 7.8 Kton of CO2.
Reducing water consumption and asso-
ciated impacts of wastewater treatment
�such as sludge and odour emissions)
was also the goal of the Spanish JELLY
project �LIFE04 ENV/ES/000224), which
applied the EU’s �ntegrated Pollution Pre-
vention and Control ��PPC) guidelines to
the manufacture of gelatine from pig skin.
The improvements instigated �y the JELLY
project have cut the time needed for the
whole process from 60 hours to 10 hours.
Water savings are equivalent to the aver-
age consumption of a town with 6 000
inha�itants, with significant reductions in
energy consumption, solid waste �y-prod-
ucts and odour emissions. Final product
quality is also higher �ecause the gelatine
is exposed to higher temperatures for
less time. Other important achievements
include an investment pay�ack time of
3 years 3 months and the discovery that
�lood, proteins and fats contained in wash
waters could �e recovered and converted
into valua�le products made from these
secondary raw materials. A new company
– Proca �ngredients S.L. has �een set up
�y the �eneficiary and a project partner to
exploit this opportunity.
taCklinG FooD WastE
�t is not only food and �everage pro-
ducers that L�FE has targeted, the pro-
gramme has also played a leading role
in the drive to avoid food waste among
consumers. Wastage leads to more
imports and exports of food, driving up
commodity prices, increasing instances
of ‘land gra��ing’ of agricultural land in
developing countries and putting more
pressure on the environment. An esti-
mated 179 kg/capita/yr of food is wasted
�y the food processing industry, whole-
salers, caterers and households. A large
part of this wastage could �e avoided,
especially at household level. The
French �DEAL 79 project �LIFE05 ENV/
F/000063) and WASTEPrevKit in Finland
�LIFE05 ENV/FIN/000539) are just two
examples of pilot schemes that are help-
ing to mainstream resource efficient food
consumption practices.
�DEAL 79 took practical steps to reduce
waste in Deux Sèvres, distri�uting an
eco-consumer’s guide to 160 000 homes
in the department and providing incen-
tives �e.g. price reduction vouchers)
to switch to purchasing eco-products
and services. Sales of eco-products in
large supermarkets increased 19% as
a result. Nine families who took part in
a pilot scheme to reduce the amount
of waste they produced �y purchasing
eco-goods and services achieved an
average reduction of 120 kg �34%) in 12
months. The L�FE project also helped
reduce the average residual waste per
inha�itant of Deux Sèvres �y 9.9% in
three years �from 314 kg per inha�it-
ant in 2005 to 283 kg per inha�itant in
2008) as well as raising awareness of
the need to conserve resources and
reduce waste.
The purpose of the WASTEPrevKit project
was to work, test, disseminate and adopt
�est practice models and materials on
waste prevention. �t was expected that
this would lead to a reduction in the
amount of waste in the test area. The
target groups were households, schools,
day care centres, vocational institutions,
pu�lic administrations and enterprises
in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. �nfor-
mation campaigns were supported �y a
diverse range of project actions, includ-
ing the development of teaching materi-
als, the extension of an existing waste
�enchmarking service, and a two-year
pilot waste reduction project involving
households in the Viikki-Latokartano
area of Helsinki. Results were positive
�for instance, families taking part in the
pilot scheme reduced mixed waste �y
9% and �iowaste �y 22% on average)
and are readily transfera�le.
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Europe faces many challenges on the path to resource efficient agriculture and eco-
system services. The LIFE programme is helping to demonstrate ways of improving
water efficiency, reducing soil erosion and mitigating and adapting to the effects of
climate change, in line with EU policy goals.
��
LIFEaidsagriculture to preserve resources
One of the main challenges that
the EU faces is how to reform
the Common Agricultural Policy �CAP)
so that Europe continues to contri�ute
to food production and to increasingly
deliver environmental improvements,
preserving soil fertility and other eco-
system services, avoiding deforestation
and promoting rural areas and liveli-
hoods.
At present agriculture and food produc-
tion are continuing to challenge envi-
ronmental resources, sometimes creat-
ing disservices1, even with the ongoing
reform’s requirements for ‘cross-com-
pliance’ �i.e. the requirement that farm-
ers respect environmental, food safety,
phytosanitary and animal welfare stand-
ards, in order to receive their direct pay-
ments). Hence more steps need to �e
taken towards sustaina�le agricultural
practices that preserve and make an
� Management practices in agriculture can create disservices such as nutrient run-off, sedimentation of water bodies, pesticides poisoning, soil erosion, water depletion, desertification and loss of habitats and biodiversity
efficient use of our resources, as fore-
seen with the CAP reform that is under
preparation2.
The L�FE programme has led the way in
demonstrating agri-techniques that have
efficiently helped to preserve resources
2 See COM (20�0) 672 final The CAP towards 2020: Meeting the food, natural resources and territorial challenges of the future http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:20�0:0672:FIN:en:PDF
while guaranteeing the same or higher
production levels, as the following exam-
ples illustrate.
WatEr EFFiCiEnt aGriCulturE
Agriculture accounts for 70% of glo�al
freshwater consumption and water scar-
city issues have affected 17% of EU ter-
ritory. The changing climate will further
reduce the availa�ility of water in the
The AGRICARBON project will demonstrate that conservation agriculture can reduce GHG emissions and adapt farming techniques to new climatic conditions
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driest areas of Europe. The OPT�M�ZA-
GUA project �LIFE03 ENV/E/000164)
demonstrated efficient ways to reduce
water consumption in irrigation cultures
�cereals – wheat and maize – and grass)
�y developing a prototype that com-
�ined traditional rainwater collection and
storage systems with “smart irrigation”
systems. Rainwater is used for irriga-
tion, thus reducing the consumption of
water from pu�lic supply networks, with
the irrigation system adjusting the water
intake according to the crop, soil type,
weather conditions and availa�ility of
water. The prototypes are wind and solar
powered, giving the project an energy
efficient dimension as well.
The project demonstrated great results in
terms of efficiency - 40% water savings
compared with traditional irrigation sys-
tems �20 000 m3 in only 4 hectares).
Mediterranean countries use some 70%
of their water for irrigation purposes
and the average loss is high in an area
already faced with issues of water scar-
city. The Spanish gEa project focused on
improving water efficiency for irrigation
in El Vicario �LIFE05 ENV/E/000313). �t
developed an automated online system
for real-time reading of meters, control
of water quality, regulation of water con-
sumption and detection of leaks. This
decision-support tool helped improve
the technical, hydraulic and administra-
tive management of El Vicario’s ‘irriga-
tion community’ and helped optimise
the management of the entire river �asin.
Stakeholders �including farmers) were
trained to use the gEa system, which, in
trials, saved some 1 087 000 litres when
used on only two fields. This gives a
good idea of the extent of water savings
that could �e achieved if the technology
were to �e used extensively.
Lack of information, insufficient exper-
tise and scarcity of financial and human
resources sometimes make it difficult for
farmers to undertake actions or to find
innovative technologies to reduce water
LIFE AND THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FORESTS (IYF)As the world’s forest resources are under threat from deforestation, fires and pests, the United Nations has declared
2011 the International Year of Forests (IYF). Through its LIFE programme the EU has supported and continues to support
initiatives to preserve the resilience of forest resources.
The Climforisk project (LIFE0� ENV/FI/000���) will map changes in future forest growth and carbon mitigation potential
and changes in the susceptibility of forests to drought and selected biotic disturbance (pests/pathogens). The system will
be used to develop maps and indicators that will support decision-making by public officials and forest managers.
Forest biomass provides a carbon store and is important for mitigating climate change. The LIFE Bioenergy & Fire Prev.
project (LIFE0� ENV/ES/000��0) aims to develop new forest management tools and approaches to minimise the risk
of forest fires by reducing the amount of ground-level waste biomass in forest areas. It will also evaluate the potential
of biomass as a source of renewable energy and rural employment.
The OPTIMIZAGUA prototype achieved notable water efficiencies by combining combined rainwater collection and storage systems with “smart irrigation”
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use. The AQUA �LIFE09 ENV/IT/000075)
project aims to work with stakeholders
from agriculture and agri-industry to
produce and disseminate a “Water Sav-
ing Kit” that will demonstrate how to
anticipate environmental threats such as
water scarcity, as well as to respond to
eventual emergencies, such as su�sid-
ence and droughts, �ased on a ‘cradle
to cradle’ approach.
Mountain viticulture can lead to water
exploitation and soil erosion. To address
these pro�lems, the PR�ORAT project
�LIFE05 ENV/E/000330) developed a
“Mountain Viticulture Sustaina�le Man-
agement System” which introduces
a terracing system that - aside from
improving landscape conservation and
the organic content of soils - allows veg-
etation cover to �e increased �y 80%.
The increased vegetation produces a
�etter drainage system for rainwater,
which in turn significantly reduces soil
erosion. Furthermore, su�surface drip
irrigation systems were installed that cut
water consumption �y 85%. The project
methodology allowed for a higher level of
productivity and economic �enefits also
derived from reduced water, energy and
chemical consumption.
soil Erosion
Conventional agricultural techniques
can lead to soil erosion, water pollution,
loss of �iodiversity and reduced car�on
sequestration. Some 18% of EU terri-
tory is affected �y soil erosion, which is
particularly severe in the Mediterranean
�ecause of the prevalence of steep
slopes, dry periods followed �y high
precipitation and conservative farming
practices.
The ALMOND PRO-SO�L project
�LIFE05 ENV/E/000288) demonstrated
the �enefits of cultivating almond trees
to prevent desertification, soil erosion
and the a�andonment of land in rural
areas. The project increased soil fertility
and �iodiversity �via enhanced organic
matter content and micro�ial activity),
reducing erosion and improving the
soil’s physical structure, sta�ility and
water holding capacity.
Another Spanish project, DOÑANA
SOSTEN�BLE �LIFE00 ENV/E/000547),
tackled the pro�lem of soil erosion on 33
pilot farms covering 318.9 ha �y apply-
ing conservation agriculture techniques
such as vegetation cover to improve soil
The terracing system developed by LIFE PRIORAT increases vegetation cover and thus a better drainage system for rainwater
Conservation agriculture techniques such as vegetation cover improved soil quality in the Doñana National Park
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protection and diminish soil erosion and
the run-off of water and fertilisers. The
result was an improved conservation
status of the Guadiamar River.
�n the UK, the Sowap project �LIFE03
ENV/UK/000617) replaced ploughing
with zero-till or non-inversion tillage to
reduce soil erosion and ena�le cover
crops during winter that improved soil
structure and enhanced soil �iodiver-
sity. The results reduced run-off �y as
much as 90%, particularly during heavy
rainfall, and cut soil erosion �y 95% on
light sandy soils. Soil function was also
improved, as shown �y higher soil car-
�on, nitrogen and moisture together with
increased inverte�rate �iodiversity.
ClimatE CHanGE
The agricultural sector’s potential to
mitigate, adapt to and reduce green-
house gas �GHG) emissions needs to �e
developed to meet the EU energy and
AGRICULTURE AND THE NATURA 2000 NETWORK
climate agenda. L�FE projects are show-
ing what can �e achieved �y improving
energy efficiency, �iomass and renew-
a�le energy production, and the protec-
tion of car�on in soils.
The Changing the Climate project
�LIFE07 INF/E/000852) aims to encour-
age the agro-forestry sector in Galicia
�Spain) to �ecome involved in activities
that support adaptation and mitigation
measures. The project aims to promote
the use of renewa�le energies and �io-
fuels, recycling, the esta�lishment of
energy efficiency measures, a shift to
organic farming and the use of climate-
adapted crops, as well as encouraging
farmers to adopt sustaina�le manage-
ment alternatives.
The Acciòn Agroclimatica project
�LIFE09 ENV/ES/000441) will develop
tools for carrying out energy and GHG
audits on farms, and for identifying the
most suita�le crops and �est practices
for mitigation and adaptation to climate
change. Ultimately it aims to develop a
diagnostic software for energy �alances
and GHG emissions and demonstrate
general practices for each farming sec-
tor to reduce energy use and GHG emis-
sions �y 10% to 40%.
CO2 emissions in farming come mainly
from ploughing, which causes soil
car�on loss. The L�FE+AGR�CARBON
project �LIFE08 ENV/E/000129) encour-
ages the uptake of conservation agri-
culture �CA) techniques that can reduce
GHG emissions and the adaptation of
farming techniques to new climatic
conditions resulting from glo�al warm-
ing. Through the sink effect of CA, the
project aims to fix an additional 0.60-
1.50 tonnes of CO2/ha/yr on farms, a
20% reduction in CO2emissions. �n
addition to reducing energy consump-
tion, the project also aims to quantifi-
a�ly improve soil quality.
Agriculture has a major influence on the Natura 2000 network and its sur-
roundings. Intensive farming techniques and bad agricultural management
can produce pressures on the conservation status of habitats and species,
whereas other forms of agriculture can be essential to managing extensive
areas of valuable habitat.
Reforms of the CAP and the Rural Development Regulation (2007–2013) have
introduced policy tools and measures that have improved the integration of
biodiversity considerations into farming and forestry practices across the EU.
New rural development measures under Pillar II have also supported farming
and forestry activities that are beneficial for wildlife.
The CAP reform, foresees that, in the future, environmental measures should
be tailor made to fulfil the needs of regions and local areas such as Natura
2000 and high-nature-value (HNV) farms and the functions of intensive and
extensive farming practices will have to be revised.
A Spanish project demonstrated how cultivating almond trees could prevent desertifica-tion and soil erosion
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
Conservation agriculture reduces soil erosioninAndalusianwetlands
The Spanish Humedales Sostenibles (‘Sustainable Wetlands’) project showed how LIFE
can contribute to the conservation and efficient use of natural resources, taking into
account the needs for landscape preservation, flood protection, carbon storage, good
water quality and control and protection of biodiversity.
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Andalusia has a rich and diverse
natural heritage, especially in
terms of wetland ha�itats: some 17%
of Spanish of Spanish wetlands are
located in the region. These dynamic
ecosystems are also fragile and can
�e negatively impacted �y soil erosion
caused �y the intensive agricultural
practices typically used in the Mediter-
ranean. Such practices can increase soil
loss and reduce the fertility and a�ility
of soil to a�sor� CO2, leading to the
loss of water content in the soil, nutrient
run-off and loss of �iodiversity.
The aim of the L�FE ‘Sustaina�le Wet-
lands’ project �LIFE04 ENV/ES/000269)
was to demonstrate the application of
agricultural practices that used resources
such as soil and water efficiently in order
to improve the conservation status of
Andalusian wetlands, whilst increasing
awareness amongst farmers of the impor-
tance of Natura 2000 sites. “We wanted
to demonstrate the decisive role that agri-
culture can play in protecting our natural
resources and in providing us with impor-
tant ecosystem services,” explains project
manager José Fernando Ro�les.
The L�FE project involved 33 farmers
in a pilot scheme showing how con-
servation agriculture �CA) techniques
can drastically reduce soil erosion in
the catchment areas of the wetlands. A
Geographical �nformation System �G�S)
was used to select the areas for the trial
and to help farmers choose the �est soil
management systems and crop rota-
tions in accordance with the physical
characteristics of their farms. Demon-
stration plots covering 60 ha were esta�-
lished in the surroundings of wetlands in
Utrera, Osuna-Lantejuela, Gosque and
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Le�rija-Las Ca�ezas. There, with train-
ing and guidance from the Technical
Office for the Promotion of Conserva-
tion Agriculture, the farmers tested tech-
niques including minimum or no tillage,
the maintenance of harvest residues on
soil surface, direct sowing and vegeta-
tion cover for ar�oreal crops. �n addition,
the project produced a guide to CA tech-
niques that was disseminated to Andalu-
sia’s agricultural community.
ConsErvation aGriCulturE in aCtion
Farms located in Le�rija have clay soils
that are significantly exposed to soil
erosion. The run-off of soils has heav-
ily impacted the area’s wetlands caus-
ing siltation. “Our land suffers from
soil erosion and � was very interested
in learning techniques for optimum soil
management,” says Juan Cortines,
a local farmer who participated in the
L�FE project. “Soil is one of the primary
resources that allows us to produce in
the long run. Without it we would have
no agriculture in this area.”
One of the most important tasks, �elieves
project technician Emilio Cu�eros, was
to train farmers how to produce in com-
pliance with the Natura 2000 network
and make them understand the impor-
tance and value that wetlands represent
in terms of �iodiversity.
From the farmer’s point of view, produc-
tion levels are what matters most. Mr.
Cortines, who eliminated soil tillage and
applied direct sowing on his demonstra-
tion plot of 6 ha of sunflowers, is pleased
to note that “over the three years during
which � applied the techniques, the pro-
duction levels remained the same and in
some cases they increased.”
The farmland of Osuna also suffers from
soil erosion. Here, another local farmer,
Pedro Baena, applied CA techniques on
25 ha of olive groves and wheat fields.
“Before introducing the techniques sug-
gested �y the project, the land would
lose up to 4 cm/ha when it rained,” says
Mr Baena. “That is equivalent to 400
tonnes/ha/yr that will never �e recov-
ered.” This soil erosion also caused silta-
tion and sedimentation of the neigh�our-
ing wetlands.
To reduce the soil erosion in his olive
groves, Mr Baena added vegetation
cover. According to Emilio González,
General Secretary of the European Con-
servation Agriculture Federation �ECAF
– a project partner), “This produces the
effect of filtering water more rapidly so
that it does not remain on the surface,
thus reducing run-off and siltation. Fur-
thermore, the vegetation impedes the
loss of water.”
prEsErvinG rEsourCEs anD EnHanCinG bioDivErsity
The project’s technical team monitored
each of the demonstration plots and
compared them with plots where conven-
tional soil management techniques were
continuing to �e applied. The results in
terms of soil erosion were impressive. For
example in the wetland area of Laguna
del Gosque, soil erosion decreased �y 1
022 tonnes/yr for olive groves, �y 1 489
tonnes/yr for corn/cotton crops and �y 1
811 tonnes/yr for wheat/sunflower crops
in comparison with soil losses uses con-
ventional farming techniques.
Other �enefits noted during monitor-
ing included a reduction in run-off and
an increase in the hydric content of the
soil where direct sowing was employed.
By avoiding tillage and, �y maintaining
harvest residues on the surface, the
Osuna’s farmland would lose up to �00 tonnes/ha/yr of soil through precipitation
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organic content and fertility of the soil
was increased, while the car�on content
in the soil was found to have increased
�y 1 tonne/yr.
The decrease in soil erosion was reflected
in less siltation of the wetlands, where a
significant increase in �iodiversity was
also o�served. Organic matter in the
soil is the main food source for micro-
organisms, which thus �enefits all other
organisms in the trophic chain �insects,
mammals, �irds, e.g. flamingos, etc). The
increase in vegetation cover on some of
the demonstration plots also meant more
hiding and nesting places for fauna, as
well as more food, thus enhancing the
�iodiversity of the area.
GrEEn skills anD EConomiC bEnEFits
The techniques applied �y the project
were shown to reduce production costs
significantly �since no machinery was
required to till the soil). “We have calcu-
lated that the savings are �etween 40 and
60 euros per hectare per year for annual
crops in southern Europe,” says Mr. Ro�-
les. This compensates for the investment
in machinery for direct sowing.
The L�FE funded project was also a clear
demonstration of how green skills in the
agricultural sector can �e created, as
it requires greater professional skills to
apply the soil conservation techniques
correctly. “More than half of the 33 farm-
ers are still applying the techniques
today. Some have not �een a�le to invest
in the direct sowing machinery, how-
ever, more simple techniques are �eing
applied in the area and this is creating
interest amongst the farming commu-
nity of Andalusia even four years after
the project has ended,” notes Mr Ro�les
proudly.
aCHiEvinG FurtHEr rEsourCE EFFiCiEnCiEs
Ultimately the project has demonstrated
how CA techniques can �e applied to
make more efficient use of resources
�mostly soil and water), avoiding the
deterioration and sedimentation of pro-
tected wetlands whilst preserving �iodi-
versity and enhancing production.
“The project will facilitate the adaptation
of farms to the new context esta�lished
�y the Natura 2000 Network and the
future CAP reform,” says Mr. Ro�les. “�t
has demonstrated how CA techniques
can �e easily adopted to preserve our
natural resources, which are the �asis of
thriving agro-ecosystems.”
Such techniques are in the midst of a
phase of expansion, not only in all the
countries of the Mediterranean, �ut
throughout the EU. The uptake of sus-
taina�le practices that make efficient use
of our natural resources �y farming com-
munities will provide European citizens
with quality, value and diversity of food
and ensure the long-term future of EU
agriculture and rural areas.
Project manager José Fernando Robles explains how soil erosion has caused the siltation and sedimentation of neighbouring wetlands
Project number: L�FE04 ENV/ES/000269
Title: Humedales Sosteni�les - �ntegrated management of agriculture in the surround-ings of community importance wetlands �sustaina�le wetlands)
Beneficiary: Asociación Agraria Jóvenes Agricultores de Sevilla �ASAJA-Sevilla)
Contact: José Fernando Ro�les del Salto
Email: jfro�[email protected]
Website: http://www.humedales.org
Period: Oct-2004 to Oct-2007
Total budget: e1 087 000
LIFE contribution: e541 000
SPAIN
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LIFEshows the environmental benefits of GPP
Pu�lic authorities have great
purchasing power – spending
around 17% of the EU’s gross domestic
product – and their choices a�out the
goods and services they purchase not
only have a significant impact on the
environment directly, �ut also greatly
influence the market for those goods
and services �y �oosting green �usi-
nesses.
As a result, greening the performance
of pu�lic authorities – or Green Pu�lic
Procurement �GPP) as it has come to
�e known – is an area that has received
much attention from legislators and
policymakers in the EU.
For GPP to �ecome more widespread,
clear and verifia�le environmental cri-
teria for products and services must
�e esta�lished that are compati�le
�etween Mem�er States. A level play-
ing field will �oost the single market,
reduce the impact of goods and serv-
ices on the environment and lead to a
more efficient use of resources. To date,
the Commission has developed EU
GPP criteria for 18 product and serv-
ice groups, and also adopted a new
procedure for the development of GPP
criteria in 2010. The aim is to make the
process more transparent and partici-
patory and enhance synergies among
the various eco-innovation la�els that
are already in place.
Criteria help pu�lic authorities choose
the �est environmental products on
the market whilst minimising verifica-
tion requirements and costs. �n the
future, the way forward may �e to put
in place mandatory Green Pu�lic Pro-
curement to support targeted areas of
innovative, resource efficient goods.
This approach could remove �arriers
to innovation, such as when pu�lic
procurement of water delivery services
gives preference to well-tested solu-
tions, rather than resource efficient
ones.
A forthcoming Communication from the
European Commission’s Directorate-
General for the Environment �DG ENV)
will point to the scope for procurement
to drive innovations that can improve
resource efficiency.
tHE rolE oF liFE
L�FE projects have aimed to raise
awareness of GPP and promote the use
of GPP criteria �y esta�lishing regional
networks and developing and imple-
menting tools for joint procurement
practice. For example, the �talian GPP-
net project �LIFE02 ENV/IT/000023)
The GGPnet project produced a �00-page handbook for public administrations
One way of favourably influencing Europe’s unsustainable use of its natural resources is
to encourage one of its largest consumers, public authorities, to adopt common green
criteria for purchasing such goods as computers, stationery (paper), vehicles and fur-
niture as well as fuel, food and electricity.
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created a network of politicians and
executives in the Province of Cremona
to spread awareness of the potential of
GPP at all administrative levels.
The GPPnet project trained staff in
charge of pu�lic purchasing to identify
products and services with lower envi-
ronmental impacts, and to introduce
environmental criteria into purchasing
procedures, widely disseminating the
concept of resource efficiency through
GPP in so doing. To facilitate the train-
ing process, the project produced a
300-page hand�ook that contained a
step-�y-step outline of how environ-
mental criteria can �e introduced into
a pu�lic administration’s purchasing
procedures, including ways of elimi-
nating administrative �urdens that may
impede the adoption of GPP. The guide-
lines contained in this hand�ook, which
were used for calls for tender during
the project, demonstrate EU policy in
action and could �e used as examples
for future common GPP guidelines.
The Province of Cremona is continuing
its GPP activities after the end of the
L�FE project. The legacy of the GPPnet
project is evident in other regions too. A
National Working Group on GPP, �ased
on the experiences of the project, was
esta�lished in Bologna in 2005. The
�ody is spreading the good procedures
determined during the project to local
and regional authorities throughout
�taly.
�n line with the Commission’s emphasis
on common criteria for GPP, the group
of tools for assisting GPP implemen-
tation developed �y the L�FE LEAP
project �LIFE03 ENV/UK/000613) are
transfera�le across Europe. �n fact, 11
local authorities in five Mem�er States
were partners in the project. Launched
at the EcoProcura conference in Barce-
lona in 2006, the LEAP Toolkit consists
of eight tools for implementing GPP.
The tools outline a five-step implemen-
tation process, give examples of good
practice, set out standard specifications
for key products, and detail evaluation
priorities and the promotion of a green
market. Most importantly in terms of
resource efficiency, the criteria devel-
oped �y the project could �e used as a
�asis for a future mandatory implemen-
tation of GPP.
Moreover, the project produced a
tool for testing joint procurement
approaches to overcoming market �ar-
riers for green purchasing in Europe.
Such a tool will help meet the policy
o�jectives highlighted in the EU’s 6th
Environment Action Programme.
Lack of information remains an o�sta-
cle to further take-up of GPP. The
ongoing GPPinfoNET project �LIFE07
INF/IT/000410), is demonstrating ways
of tackling this pro�lem in �taly, and
with the potential to �e transfera�le to
the EU as a whole. By the end of the
project, it aims to have ensured that at
least 30% of local authorities that have
joined regional networks will have pu�-
lished green tenders and implemented
actions that favour the adoption of GPP
within their administrations: just one
example of how L�FE is furthering the
goal of resource efficiency �y encour-
aging the widespread adoption of GPP.
To monitor the success of this project
and other initiatives, the Commission
has proposed two types of indicator:
quantitative indicators to assess the
progress of the policy and its impact
on the supply side; and impact-ori-
ented indicators allowing assessment
of the environmental and financial gains
made. A 2009 study tested this meth-
odology. Further evaluation will take
place in 2011, and statistical data will
serve as the �asis for setting future tar-
gets for GPP implementation.
The figures are impressive. A saving of
the equivalent of 60 million tonnes of
CO2 is achieva�le if all pu�lic authori-
ties across the EU demanded green
electricity �equivalent to the emissions
of 6.5 million Europeans). The Commis-
sion estimates that environmental �uild-
ing construction could lead to a similar
result. Large CO2 reductions can also
�e achieved through the use of energy-
efficient computers, and greater water
use efficiency could result in consider-
a�le savings.
The European Commission identifies the lack of ‘green skills’ – i.e.
expertise and competence in the use of green technologies – as a specific bar-
rier to innovation. Green skills are needed to develop new technologies, more
resource efficient processes and new working methods. EU 2020 initiatives,
such as “Youth on the Move”, and “Green Skills” will be addressing these
issues, but further action specific to resources may also need to be taken. LIFE
projects have shown that providing green skills benefits job creation.
For example, the Spanish ELVES project (LIFE0� ENV/E/000���) created 11
permanent positions for trained staff involved in the separation of metal
alloys from end-of-life vehicle engines. The green skills employed in this
process are having a significant environmental impact in terms of waste
reduction and recycling of materials, since the alloys are reused in new
engines for the automotive sector.
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LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
ProjectlistThe table below provides the complete list of LIFE projects on resource efficiency mentioned in this
publication. For more information on individual projects, visit the online database at:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/projects/index.cfm
Project Reference Acronym Title Page
PRoducTion PRocesses
L�FE04 ENV/�T/000583 PROWATER Sustaina�le water management in the textile wet industry through an innovative treatment process for wastewater re-use
6
L�FE05 ENV/�T/000846 BATTLE Best Availa�le Technique for water reuse in TextiLE SMEs 6
L�FE05 ENV/E/000285 RES�TEX Alternatives for waste volume reduction in the textile sector through the application of minimisation measures in the process and in the consumption
6
L�FE02 ENV/E/000216 AF�NO CONDUCT�V�DAD
Development of a new salt water purification system in the tanning sector for reuse
7
L�FE04 ENV/�T/000414 N.E.S.S. New Eco Spray System 7
L�FE00 ENV/�T/000184 G�ADA �ntegrated Environmental Management in the tannery district of Chiampo Valley ��taly)
7
L�FE08 ENV/E/000140 OXATAN Environmentally friendly oxazolidine-tanned leather 7
L�FE05 TCY/GA/000115 HAGAR Environmental action for the sustaina�ility of natural resources through recycling of water and sludge frm mar�le production
7
L�FE02 ENV/UK/000140 �nwatco �ntegrated Water Management in former coal mining regions 8
L�FE05 ENV/E/000317 ELVES Development of a system for high-quality separation of metal alloys from end-of-life-vehicle engines and its reuse in new engines and components for automotive sector
8
L�FE05 ENV/D/000185 �NCOCAST Demonstration of environmentally friendly aluminium engine �lock Core Package casting �CPS) using an inorganic �inder
9
L�FE04 ENV/�T/000598 ESD New ESD �eco-sustaina�le drawing) system, environment-friendly to process steel wire rods / �y-products, eliminating the current pickling practice and the related chemical fumes possessing a high environmental impact su�stituting the ...
9
L�FE06 ENV/NL/000176 Green Bearings Demonstrating innovative technologies that significantly improve the environmental performance of �earings
9
L�FE06 ENV/�T/000332 ME�GLASS Minimising the Environmental impact of GLASS recycling and glass container production
10-12
L�FE07 ENV/�T/000361 NOVED� No Vetro in Discarica �No glass in landfill): demonstrating innovative technologies for integral recovery of glass rejects actually landfilled
12
L�FE08 ENV/�T/000421 VAL�RE Valorisation of incentration residues 12
eco-PRoducTs And eco-design
L�FE04 ENV/�T/000589 EWG New clean technology for the decoration of all kinds of ceramic surfaces, whether flat or textured, with a minimal use of raw no�le materials
14
L�FE02 ENV/�T/000052 Microfinishing A new dry process of microfinishing of gres porcelain and natural stone surfaces, which will su�stitute the stage of smoothing/polishing, drastically decreasing the environmental impact of this stage, to aim for a sustaina�le development
14
L�FE05 ENV/E/000301 Eco-Ceramics Ecological ceramics optimization. Alternative to sludge disposal 14
L�FE07 ENV/SLO/000710 UN�SASH Resource efficient, Universal Window Sash 14
L�FE08 ENV/F/000481 C�SDP Cleaning �ndustry Sustaina�le Development Programme 14
L�FE03 ENV/A/000002 PROCOOL Development and successful market penetration of HFC-free and eco-efficient cold appliances for the commercial use
15
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L�FE05 ENV/DK/000156 CO2REF Development and demonstration of a prototype transcritical CO2
refrigeration system15
L�FE00 ENV/�T/000213 Clean-Deco Development of a clean coating technology pvd for decorative applications on metal components in place of the traditional �galvanic) coating technologies
15
L�FE05 ENV/F/000062 GAP Clean alternative technology to chemical milling: demonstration of technical, environmental and economic performance of mechanical milling for the machining of complex shaped panels used in the aeronautical and space industries - GAP �Green Advanced Panels) project
16
L�FE03 ENV/E/000106 REC�PLAS �ntegrated reusa�le plastic crates and pallets, eliminating package waste, for sustaina�le distri�ution of everyday commodities in Europe.
16
L�FE99 ENV/�T/000034 Use and … re-use Use and ... reuse. The “processing centre” in the logistics of packaging of fresh fruit and vegeta�le products
16
L�FE09 ENV/ES/000454 WOODRUB Utilisation of recovered wood and ru��er for alternative composite products
17
L�FE95 ENV/�T/000393 New raw materials from agri-food and industrial wastes: sugar paper, orange paper, smog paper
17
L�FE03 ENV/GR/000204 ECO-TEXT�LE �ntroduction and Promotion of the ECO-LABEL to the greek textile industry
17
L�FE08 ENV/E/000147 SHOELAW Promotion of Environmental Legislation among European Footwear �ndustries
17
L�FE09 ENV/LU/000390 ECO2 Tyre Tech Development and validation of ecologically sustaina�le tyres through lifecycle enhancing technologies
17
L�FE00 ENV/F/000593 E.D.�.T Eco Design �nteractive Tools 17
L�FE06 ENV/L/000118 BioTyre Development and validation of ultra low rolling resistance tyre with environmentally friendly resources
18-20
LifecycLe Thinking
L�FE02 ENV/S/000351 DANTES Eco-Efficiency evaluation of new and existing products �DANTES) 23
L�FE00 ENV/NL/000808 EQuation Demonstration and dissmeination project for stimulating architects and local governments to �uild sustaina�le with help of innovative design tools
23
L�FE08 ENV/E/000135 FEN�X Fenix-Finding regional environmental lifecycle information on packaging waste management through flexi�le software tools and data�ases
23
L�FE03 ENV/�T/000333Aquala�el Environmental certification of water resource distri�uted �y
waterworks systems. 23
L�FE04 ENV/�T/000588 LA�PP Dissemination of �PP tools in the furniture industry 24
L�FE04 ENV/GR/000110ECO�L Life Cycle Assessment �LCA) as a decision support tool �DST) for
the eco-production of olive oil.24
L�FE03 ENV/EE/000194 OSELCA �ntroduction and �mplementation of Life Cycle Assessment
Methodology in Estonia: Effects of Oil Shale Electricity on the Environmental Performance of Products
24
L�FE00 ENV/F�N/000656 Rural L�FE Design Eco-design and marketing model for rural products and services 25
L�FE04 ENV/GR/000138 �PP TEL �ntegrated Product Policy in the Telecommunication Sector 25
L�FE04 ENV/DE/000047Resolved Recovery of Solar Valua�le Materials, Enrichment and
Decontamination25
L�FE07 ENV/P/000639ELECTROVALUE Electric and electronic eco-assem�ly alternatives for the
valorisation of the end-of-life products in the recycling market
25
L�FE04 ENV/FR/000353ACADEMY Air�us Corporate Answer to Disseminate integrated Environmental
Management System26-28
L�FE05 ENV/F/000059 PAMELA Process for Advanced Management of End of Life of Aircraft 28
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WATeR efficiency
L�FE00 ENV/EE/000922 RAKWANET Demonstration Activities for the Reduction of Water Losses and Preservation of Water Quality in Over-dimensioned Water Distri�ution Network in Rakvere Town, Estonia
30
L�FE09 ENV/�T/000136 PALM Pump And Leakage Management 30
L�FE07 ENV/�T/000475 TRUST Tool for regional - scale assessment of groundwater storage improvement in adaptation to climate change �TRUST)
31
L�FE03 ENV/NL/000467 VERBAL The Vertical Flow Reed Bed at Leidsche Rijn. A natural way to filter ur�an water
31
L�FE98 ENV/D/000509 Reuse filter �ackwash-water
Reuse of filter �ackwashwater from groundwater treatment for drinking water purposes with a su�merged mem�rane system
31
L�FE07 �NF/UK/000950 Eco-Animation Eco-Animation: a cutting edge cartoon to raise awareness on climate change and sustaina�le use of natural resources among European children
31
L�FE96 ENV/E/000509 Zaragoza Zaragoza: water saving city. Small steps, �ig solutions 32
L�FE03 ENV/E/000164 OPT�M�ZAGUA Demonstration of water saving for watering uses through the experimentation of artificial
32
L�FE00 ENV/NL/000790 Maastricht Water Demonstration of integrated total water management for a cluster of 8 industries, implementing a centralised water supply and a semi collective WWTS and resulting in su�stantial ground water and energy savings
32
L�FE02 ENV/E/000183 Dropawater Dura�le Regions On Peripheal Areas for Water Reduction 32
L�FE02 ENV/E/000210 HAGAR Tools of self-management for water irriga�le in the overused hydric systems
32
susTAinAbLe TRAnsPoRT
L�FE02 ENV/GR/000359 �MMACULATE �Mprovement of Ur�an Environment Quality of Air and Noise Levels �y an �ntegrated, Cost Effective and MUlti-Level Application of Clean Vehicle Technologies
34
L�FE06 ENV/D/000477 PARFUM Particulates, Freight and heavy duty vehicles in Ur�an Environments
34
L�FE07 ENV/�T/000434 MHyBus Methane and Hydrogen �lend for pu�lic city transport �us: technical demonstrative application and strategic policy measures
35
L�FE02 ENV/E/000253 ECOBUS Collecting used cooking oils to their recycling as �iofuel for diesel engines
35
L�FE05 ENV/P/000369 O�L PROD�ESEL �ntegrated Waste Management System for the Reuse of Used Frying Oils to Produce Biodiesel for Municipality Fleet of Oeiras
35
L�FE08 ENV/�T/000425 ETRUSCAN Under the Etruscan sun - Environmental friendly Transport to RedUce Severe Climate change ANthropic factors
35
L�FE03 ENV/�T/000319 S�DDHARTA Smart and �nnovative Demonstration of Demand Handy Responsive Transport Application to improve the quality of the ur�an environment
35
L�FE05 ENV/E/000262 GESMOPOL� �ntegral mo�ility management in industrial estates and areas 35
L�FE03 ENV/NL/000474 LNG Tanker Demonstrating the effective and safe use of liquid natural gas as fuel for ship engines for short-sea shipping and inland waterway transport
36
L�FE06 ENV/D/000479 W�NTECC Demonstration of an innovative wind propulsion technology for cargo vessels
36
L�FE06 ENV/D/000465 ZEM/SH�PS Zero.Emission.Ships 36
L�FE02 ENV/UK/000136 CATCH Clean Accessi�le Transport for Community Health 36
L�FE02 ENV/�T/000106 RAVE The Green Ray of Novara 36
eneRgy efficienT buiLdings
L�FE04 ENV/GR/000137 SB-MED Enhancing transfera�ility of innovative techniques, tools, methods and mechanisms to implement “sustaina�le �uilding” in the Mediterranean region
38
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L�FE00 ENV/NL/000808 EQuation Demonstration and dissemination project for stimulating architects and local governments to �uild sustaina�le with help of innovative design tools
38
L�FE05 ENV/GR/000235 SUSCON Sustaina�le Construction in Pu�lic and Private Works through �PP approach
38
L�FE00 ENV/A/000243 S-House S-House: innovative use of renewa�le resources demonstrated �y means of an office and exhi�ition �uilding
39
L�FE06 ENV/D/000471 �NSU-SHELL Environmentally Friendly Facade Elements made of thermal insulated Textile Reinforced Concrete
39
L�FE04 ENV/FR/000321 ECO-CAMPS Eco-design and eco-engineering of �uildings, amenities and accommodations in campsites
39
L�FE02 ENV/A/000285 BBMpassiv Multifunctional company and administration �uilding with logistics and cultural centre in passive house standard in sustaina�le tim�er construction
40
L�FE07 ENV/E/000805 EDEA Efficient Development of Eco-Architecture: Methods and Technologies for Pu�lic Social Housing Building in Extremadura
40
L�FE08 ENV/A/000216 RENEW BU�LD�NG Demonstration and Dissemination of Climate and Environmental Friendly Renovation and Building with Renewa�le Resources and Ecological Materials
40
L�FE06 ENV/L/000121 EFFERNERGY Energy Efficient Building Systems 41-42
fish And mARine ResouRces
L�FE07 ENV/D/000229 ECOSMA Ecological Certification of Products from Sustaina�le Marine Aquaculture
44
L�FE07 ENV/UK/000943 P�SCES Partnerships �nvolving Stakeholders in the Celtic sea Eco-System 44
L�FE07 ENV/E/000814 3R-F�SH �ntegral management model of recovery and recycling of the proper solid waste from the fishing and port activities
44
L�FE05 NAT/LV/000100 Baltic MPAs Marine protected areas in the Eastern Baltic Sea 45
L�FE06 NAT/�T/000050 Co.Me.Bi.S. Urgent conservation measures for �iodiversity of Central Mediterranean Sea
45
L�FE98 NAT/P/005275 Zonas costeiras/Açores �ntegrated management of coastal and marine zones in the Azores 45
L�FE05 ENV/E/000267 BE-FA�R Benign and environmentally friendly fish processing practices to provide added value and innovative solutions for a responsi�le and sustaina�le management of fisheries
46-48
L�FE08 ENV/E/000119 FAROS �ntegral networking of fishing actors to organize a responsi�le optimal and sustaina�le exploitation of marine resources
48
LAnd use And PLAnning
L�FE02 ENV/F�N/000331 ECOREG The Eco-Efficiency of Regions - Case Kymenlaakso 49
L�FE02 ENV/F�N/000319 Green Valley Operation model of environmental management in Salo region 49
L�FE02 ENV/S/000355 Coastal Woodlands �ntegrated Coastal Zone Management in Woodlands �y the Baltic Sea
50
L�FE04 ENV/F�/000304 ENV�FAC�L�TATE �ntegration of spatial environmental information across different themes, scales, resolutions and uses : added value of facilitating mechanisms
50
L�FE02 ENV/E/000176 D�VERS �nformation, Competitiveness and Sustaina�ility in Ur�an System 50
L�FE02 ENV/E/000200 GALLECS Demonstration project on land use and environmental management of the physical planning in Gallecs as a �iological and sta�le connector in the fringe space of Barcelona metropolitan area
50
food And beveRAge
L�FE99 ENV/E/000349 Business, environment and wine: from the winegrape to the �ottle. Vertical integration of the environment in the wine production process and horizontal optimization of resources
51
“Best of the Best” projectsBest projects
��
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
PR
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LIS
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Project Reference Acronym Title Page
L�FE03 ENV/GR/000223 D�ONYSOS Development of an economically via�le process for the integrated management via utilization of winemaking industry waste; production of high added value natural products and organic fertilizer
52
L�FE08 ENV/CY/000455 W�NEC Advanced systems for the enhancement of the environmental performance of W�NEries in Cyprus
52
L�FE08 ENV/E/000143 HAproW�NE �ntegrated waste management and life cycle assessment in the wine industry: From waste to high-value products
52
L�FE04 ENV/GR/000110 ECO�L Life Cycle Assessment �LCA) as a decision support tool �DST) for the eco-production of olive oil
52
L�FE04 ENV/DK/000067 New potatopro Novel energy efficient process for potato protein extraction 52
L�FE05 ENV/NL/000035 CLB Demonstration of a closed loop �lanching system for the potato processing industry
53
L�FE03 ENV/NL/000488 Dairy, No Water! A dairy industry which is self-supporting in water 53
L�FE04 ENV/ES/000224 JELLY Demonstration project for gelatine production with use of innovative technology achieving an important washing wastewater reduction
54
L�FE05 ENV/F/000063 �DEAL 79 Sustaina�le �nitiatives and Local Alternatives towards waste prevention
54
L�FE05 ENV/F�N/000539 WASTEPrevKit Waste Prevention Kit for enterprises, education and households 54
AgRicuLTuRe And ecosysTem seRvices
L�FE09 ENV/F�/000571 Climforisk Climate change induced drought effects on forest growth and vulnera�ility
56
L�FE09 ENV/ES/000450 Bioenergy & Fire Prev. Contri�ution of forest �iomass generated in the prevention of forest fires in the EU energy strategy
56
L�FE03 ENV/E/000164 OPT�M�ZAGUA Demonstration of water saving for watering uses through the experimentation of artificial
56
L�FE05 ENV/E/000313 gEa Excellence in irrigation water management 56
L�FE09 ENV/�T/000075 AQUA Adoption of Quality water Use in Agro-industry sector 57
L�FE05 ENV/E/000330 PR�ORAT Making compati�le mountain viticulture development with European Landscape Convention o�jectives
57
L�FE05 ENV/E/000288 ALMOND PRO-SO�L Soil protection in Mediterraanean areas with increased soil erosion rate through cultivation of new
57
L�FE00 ENV/E/000547 DOÑANA SOSTEN�BLE Design and Application of a Sustaina�le Soil Management Model for Orchard Crops in the Doñana National Park Area
57
L�FE03 ENV/UK/000617 Sowap Soil and Surface water protection using conservation tillage in northern and central europe
58
L�FE07 �NF/E/000852 Changing the Climate L�FE+campaign ‘Changing the change’. The Galician agriculture and forest sector facing climate change.
58
L�FE09 ENV/ES/000441 Acción Agroclimática Com�ating climate change through farming: application of a common evaluation system in the 4 largest agricultural economies of the EU
58
L�FE08 ENV/E/000129 L�FE+AGR�CARBON Sustaina�le agriculture in Car�on arithmetics 58
L�FE04 ENV/ES/000269 Humedales Sosteni�les �ntegrated management of agriculture in the surroundings of community importance wetlands
59-61
gReen PubLic PRocuRemenT And gReen skiLLs
L�FE02 ENV/�T/000023 GPPnet Green Pu�lic Procurement Network 62
L�FE03 ENV/UK/000613 LEAP Local Authority EMAS and Procurement 63
L�FE07 �NF/�T/000410 GPPinfoNET GPPinfoNET The Green Pu�lic Procurement �nformation Network 63
L�FE05 ENV/E/000317 ELVES Development of a system for high-quality separation of metal alloys from end-of-life-vehicle engines and its reuse in new engines and components for automotive sector
63
“Best of the Best” projectsBest projects
��
LIFE Focus I LIFE and resource efficiency: Decoupling growth from resource use
AvailableLIFEEnvironmentpublications
LIFE and local authorities: Helping regions and municipalities tackle envi-ronmental challenges �2010 - 60 pp. - �SBN 978-92-79-18643-1 - �SSN 1725-5619)
Water for life - LIFE for water: Protecting Europe’s water resources �2010 - 68 pp. - �SBN 978-92-79-15238-2 - �SSN 1725-5619)
LIFE among the olives: Good practice in improving environmental performance in the olive oil sector �2010 - 56 pp. - �SBN 978-92-79-14154-6 - �SSN 1725-5619)
Getting more from less: LIFE and sus-tainable production in the EU �2009 - 40pp. - �SBN 978-92-79-12231-6 - �SSN 1725-5619)
Breathing LIFE into greener businesses: Demonstrating innovative approaches to improving the environmental perfor-mance of European businesses �2008 - 60pp. - �SBN 978-92-79-10656-9 - �SSN 1725-5619)
LIFE on the farm: Supporting environ-mentally sustainable agriculture in Europe �2008 - 60 pp. - 978-92-79-08976-3 - �SSN 1725-5619)
LIFE and waste recycling: Innovative waste management options in Europe �2007 - 60 pp. - �SBN 978-92-79-07397-7 - �SSN 1725-5619)
LIFE and Energy: Innovative solutions for sustainable and efficient energy in Europe �2007 – 64pp. �SBN 978 92-79-04969-9 - �SSN 1725-5619)
LIFE-Third Countries 1992-2006 �2007, 64 pp. – �SBN 978-92-79-05694-9 – �SSN 1725-5619)
LIFE in the City: Innovative solutions for Europe’s urban environment�2006, 64pp. - �SBN 92-79-02254-7 – �SSN 1725-5619)
The air we breathe: LIFE and the Euro-pean Union clean air policy �2004 - 32 pp. – �SBN 92-894-7899-3 – �SSN 1725-5619)
A cleaner, greener Europe - LIFE and the European Union waste policy�2004 - 28 pp. – �SBN 92-894-6018-0 – �SSN 1725-5619)
Best LIFE Environment projects 2009 �2010, 32pp.-�SBN 978-92-79-16432-3 �SSN 1725-5619)
Environment Policy & Governance Proj-ects 2009 compilation �2010, 125pp. – �SBN 978-92-79-13884-3)
Information & Communications Projects 2009 compilation �2010, 14pp. –
�SBN 978-92-79-16138-4)
Nature & Biodiversity Projects 2009 compilation �2010, 91pp. – �SBN 978-92-79-16139-1)
Environment Policy & Governance Projects 2008 compilation �2009, 107pp. – �SBN 978-92-79-13424-1)
Information & Communications Projects 2008 compilation �2009, 21pp. – �SBN 978-92-79-13425-8)
Nature & Biodiversity Projects 2008 compilation �2009, 87pp. – �SBN 978-92-79-13426-5)
Best LIFE Environment projects 2008-2009 �2009, 32pp.-�SBN 978-92-79-13109-7 �SSN 1725-5619)
Environment Policy & Governance and Information & Communications Projects 2007 compilation �2009, 92 pp.-�SBN 978-92-79-12256-9)
Other publicationsLIFE-Focus brochures
A number of LIFE publications are
available on the LIFE website:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/
life/publications/lifepublications/
index.htm
A number of printed copies of
certain LIFE publications are
available and can be ordered free-
of-charge at:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/
life/publications/order.htm
��
liFE+ “L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement” / The financial instrument for the environment
period covered (liFE+) 2007-2013.
Eu funding available approximately EUR 2 143 million
type of intervention at least 78% of the �udget is for co-financing actions in favour of the environment �L�FE+ projects) in the Mem�er States of the European Union and in certain non-EU countries.
liFE+ projects> LIFE+ Nature projects improve the conservation status of endangered species and natural ha�itats. They support the
implementation of the Birds and Ha�itats Directives and the Natura 2000 network.> LIFE+ Biodiversity projects improve �iodiversity in the EU. They contri�ute to the implementation of the o�jectives of
the Commission Communication, “Halting the loss of Biodiversity by 20�0 – and beyond” �COM �2006) 216 final). > LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance projects contri�ute to the development and demonstration of innovative
policy approaches, technologies, methods and instruments in support of European environmental policy and legislation.> LIFE+ Information and Communication projects are communication and awareness raising campaigns related to the
implementation, updating and development of European environmental policy and legislation, including the prevention of forest fires and training for forest fire agents.
Further information further information on L�FE and L�FE+ is availa�le at http://ec.europa.eu/life.
How to apply for liFE+ funding The European Commission organises annual calls for proposals. Full details are availa�le at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/funding/lifeplus.htm
Contact European Commission – Directorate-General for the Environment
L�FE Unit – BU-9 02/1 – B-1049 Brussels – �nternet: http://ec.europa.eu/life
LIFE and Resource Efficiency: Decoupling Growth from Resource Use
Luxem�ourg: Pu�lications Office of the European Union
2011 - 72p - 21 x 29.7 cm�SBN 978-92-79-19764-2�SSN 1725-5619doi:10.2779/74370
�SSN 1725-56191725-5619
KH
-AJ-11-002-E
N-C
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