The role of consultation in sludge management issues
Emmanuel ADLER
ACONSULT- Club ATOUT BOUES
Centre d'Affaires des Monts d'Or - 69290 St Genis les Ollières - France
tel 33 - 4 78 57 3939 fax 33 - 4 78 44 8074
Philosophy is the whole of the questions where the one asking the question is himself concerned by the question, Merleau-Ponty
Summary
Through various angles (history, sociology, case studies and international comparisons), we should demonstrate that consultation in sludge management issues is an issue by itself that requires special attentions.
For environmental utilities of public concern (waste facilities, industries, roads, airports..), people in developed countries tend to be more concerned by the "image"than by the technology itself. It seems thatanthropological issues are becoming more important than technological data. Therefore, it is necessary to elaborate new ways to process projects related to environmental public services. Because of public health concern, such decisions are strongly dependant on scientific knowledge and then challenged by the precautionary principle. Therefore, addressing expectations of the population becomes necessary (information,training and consultation…). Besides, because of the nature of biosolids, projects often involve other organic residues and stakeholders, making it compulsory to communicate properly. Other aspects (regulatory framework, pressure from the media…) also contribute to underline the strong need for more consultation.
1- Improving management practices in environmental public services
Convinced that environmental public services can no longer achieve sustainable development without strong changes in current management practices, we do believe consultation is the key word to solve most of present conflicts related to water or waste management. By consultation (see box n°1) , we shall comprise all actions targeted towards communication, concertation and negotiation.
Based upon industrial experience in drinking water & wastewater engineering, a simple methodology is being developed to facilitate biosolids projects using both technical and anthropological approaches[1].
This collective work involves various stakeholders[2] and several projects at different levels, from a community reed beds project[3] to an information website[4] for French speaking stakeholders and a national group[5] dedicated to promoting biological solutions for biowaste management (compost, methanisation, landspreading).
The present paper presents our analysis concerning ways projects are or not implemented and attached procedures for taking key decisions. First, we should consider statutory and regulatory changes related to environmental decisions, underlying the strong need for more public participation.
box n°1 - what consultation is about
2- About environmental decisions
Communication and consultation for environmental projects are becoming more and more importantbecause, on one side, people are demanding more confidence and participation, and, on the other side, because scienceitself, revised by the precautionary principle, requires transparency and holistic approach. We should consider two selected examples as follow :
At the community level,the Aarhus convention from 25.6.98and the Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment have been adopted. Recently, the European Commission services sent out in April 2002 a first Working Document outlining the basic ideas on a proposal for a Directive on Access to Justice in Environmental Matters with the objective to contribute to the enforcement of legislation relating to the environment and to reduce existing enforcement deficiencies, in order to ensure a high level of environmental protection.
In the United Kingdom, the Interdepartmental Liaison Group on Risk Assessment (UK-ILGRA) defining the Precautionary Principle, wrote that “Precaution is controversial because the 'why', 'when' and 'how' of precautionary intervention goes to the heart of the regulation of hazardous activities and their place in society… Properly applied it is a positive, proportionate policy tool to encourage technological innovation and sustainable development by helping to engender stakeholder confidence that appropriate risk control measures are in place”.
3- Setting up the framework – considering the confusion
Assessing the present of sludge[6] management and trying to forecast its future is obviously not very easy as everyone here, in this international specialised conference, can experience it, looking for up-to date information in order to improve the efficiency. Obviously our problem, though human excreta do have to be considered special, does not exclusively apply to biosolids management and can be transposed to other environmental issues of public concern, especially those related to waste management but not only (i.e water and air quality).
Thus, today, the management of residues is becoming more and more difficult for various types of reasons (regulatory, social, technical, financial, political…). This is why it is necessary to consider the biosolids problem as part of a larger one, with other residues and stakeholders.
3.1 Biosolids among other residues
It can then be pointed out, especially for professionals coming from the water sector, that biosolids management issues can no longer be considered alone and require to take into account the hole set of organic residues (from municipalities, farms or industries). In order to better understand the situation of biosolids, data related to domesticanimals[7] and organic fluxes can be provided.
For instance and for France, table 1 presents recent estimates for animal populations, and graph 1 shows major organic residues fluxes applied to land, underlying the fact that 96% of the total amount is coming from the countryside and only 4% from municipalities and industries (food processing, paper, chemical…).
Tab 1 –estimates of animal populations in France (1999)
species / population / % of total N content releasedmillions / %
beef cattle / 20 / 4,7 / 74
pigs / 16 / 3,8 / 10
sheep / 9,5 / 2,3 / 6
goats / 1,2 / 0,3 / 1
horses / 0,4 / 0,1 / 2
poultry / 313 / 74,2 / 7
Human / 62 / 14,7 / ?
Graph 1 – major organic residues fluxes applied to land in France (2000)
To get an overview of the hole set of organic residues produced in France, graph 2 presents current available data :
Graph 2 - estimates of organic residues in France (millions tons Wet Matter 2000)
3.2 Diversity of technological solutions
As it can be demonstrated with the conference program with over 100 presentations, the nature and number of management solutions for biosolids are becoming more and more numerous involving as many new stakeholders coming from various horizons.
Compiling all possible technological solutionfor human excreta management, starting from activated sludge reactor (but why not event start from scratch with "just after" the restrooms ?) to sonic device (before digestion) would be unachievable. Projects involving organic residue management (biosolids, municipal waste or cattle dejections) require various technologies described as follow :
-destruction processes (incineration, gasification, pyrolysis…),
-storage process (land filing of either sludges or its solid mineral content other destruction),
-land recycling processes (direct spreading of liquid residues or biological treatments, i.e. mainly composting and methanisation)
4- Major obstacles for projects implementation
Though History does remind us human excreta management has always been an inextricable problem for society[8], things are endlessly evolving (from "what we eat" to "how we process residues") and require new assessments.
In fact, we shall all agree managing biosolids is becoming more and more complex, both at :
-local level (community),
-and at higher levels (national legislation[9], European directives, WHO or EPA recommendations…).
4.1 Setting up limits
To that extent, we shall consider the issue of standardization for organic residues based upon a recent WARP report[10]. We therefore Extracted limit values for mercury contentfor product quality in different international standardsare presented in graph 3, pointing out the necessity for improved consultation at that type of stage[11].
Graph 3
limit values in different standards for mercury for composts and sludges (mg/kg DM)
4.2 Main issues
To summarize, we can consider the following obstaclesfor implementing biosolids projects (excluding technological & financial aspects) :
-absence of scientific consensus[12] given precautionary principle policies,
-diversity of stakeholders concerned (public authorities, citizens, firms, scientists...),
-complexity of decision making processes.
Crisis may occur according to different scenarios, depending on local situations and on general socio-cultural conditions.
5- Examples of crisis
Recent examples can illustrate how difficult it is to implement new projects. We shall focus on NGO activism and consider various actions.
5.1 Actions against incineration
The Greenpeace association released a report on health and incinerators[13] followed by a very aggressive campaign in various countries. The pictures in box 2 have been considered representative :
box n°2 - Greenpeace actions against incineration
It is also interesting to mention local associations which focus on a specific projects :
box n°3 - exemple of a US association against incineration
5.2 Actions against land filling
Spreading liquid or treated wastewater sludge can create serious oppositions. The pictures in box 4 have been considered representative :
box n°4 - selected actions against land application of sludge
6- Developing consultation tools to prevent crisis
6.2 Definitions
Concert :to plan together; to settle or adjust by conference, agreement, or consultation; to devise; to arrange; to act in harmony or conjunction; to form combined plans.
Negotiation : the deliberation which takes place between the parties touching a proposed agreement. That which transpires in the negotiation makes no part of the agreement, unless introduced into it. It is a general rule that no evidence can be given to add, diminish, contradict or alter a written instrument.
merc. law. The act by which a bill of exchange or promissory note is put into circulation by being passed by one of the original parties to another person. Until an accommodation bill or note has been negotiated, there is no contract which can be enforced on the note: the contract, either express or implied, that the party accommodated will indemnify the other, is, till then, conditional.
6.2 Examples to feed the debate
Recent examples can illustrate how communication is becoming crucial for selecting solutions. Pictures in box 5 have been considered representative :
box n°5 - selected actions of communication
Debate over the sludge issue in a US county / Debate over public perception and drinking water (AWWA, 2002)Debate over the sludge issue in a scientific journal / Biosolids, odors and poetry (NBP, 2000)
As presented in 2001 in this conference, we do consider History as a major input for developing consciousness and consultation related to biosolids projects. We provide here after two examples of the past that could help communicating…
human excreta management in Paris, 16th century /
recent book on the history of lavatories
6.3Perspectives
What the future of biosolids will be ? Most likely, it will depend more and more on consensus and therefore will be a mix of local and general opinions. For project promoters, appraising necessities and possible tensions is imperative. If no one can talk for all the numerous stakeholders, consultation shall improve project management.
Our team is in the process of developing those new consultation tools.
Emmanuel ADLER p 1
[1] We have to thank Pr JP GOUBERT from EHESS for his strong support on the human science side.
[2] Public and private partnership have been developed with a strong focus on communication issues.
[3] Several projects have been followed in the Rhône area for rural villages
[4]
[5] This large group is attached to the French professional association AGHTM and puts together over 60 different professional stakeholders concerned by biowaste management. To develop appropriate tools, four working groups have been set up (health, technology and R & D, town-industry-farm cooperation & communication, regulatory issues).
[6] The question of terminology is very important as it reflects the way the residues are considered. We shall then latter use the commonly accepted name “biosolids” which, by the way, has no equivalent in French, though some professionals tried to adopt "biosolides"...
[7]It could be interesting to consider also animals living in houses, France being n°1 in the UE for pets (9 millions cats, 8 millions dogs, 27 millions fish, 7 millions birds, 2 millions mice and assimilated !)
[8] Please refer to our paper presented in Wakefield in 2001 called “human excreta management : in need for new paradigm”.
[9] See annex 1 for French regulation on organic residue (or product) management for land spreading.
[10]Comparison of compost standards within the EU, North America and Australasia, June 2002.
[11] It is interesting to recall the EU Memorandum in Doha, 11/11/2001, whish stated “We believe that standards of transparency and consultation for the definition of voluntary and mandatory labelling standards would help to reduce the costs of compliance with such standards”.
[12] This word is an absolute necessity for PCRD projects financing by the European Community DG Research.
[13] INCINERATIONAND HUMANHEALTH, State of Knowledge of the Impacts of Waste Incineratorson Human Health.Greenpeace Research Laboratories,University of Exeter, UK. (March 2001)