Eddy Wille, a senior advisor at OVAM (the Public Waste Agency of Flanders), presented on flooding risks and landfills. He discussed how waste management and the number of landfills in Flanders has changed over time, with a reduction in hazardous and non-hazardous landfills. However, studies show that around 30% of landfills in Austria are located in flood-prone areas, and flooding events can cause landfill emissions. ELFM (End-of-Life Foam Management) opportunities may help address problems of flooded landfills.

1. Eddy WILLE, geologist – senior advisor
COCOON Meeting,
Cordoba, 22 February 2018
Flooding risks and landfills.
LINEAR ECONOMY MEETS CLIMATE CHANGE.

2. Outline of the presentation
Brief introduction to Flanders and OVAM
Waste management and landfills in Flanders
Flooding risks
Problem solving and ELFM opportunities
.
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3. OVAM
§ Public Waste Agency of Flanders
§ Environmental Agency headed by the
Flemish Minister of Environmental Affairs
§ Established in 1981 (State reform of
1980)
§ Competent Authority for:
• Waste Management;
• Sustainable Material Management;
• Soil Remediation.
§ Staff: approx. 330 FTE
§ Offices : Mechelen – Belgium
§ www.ovam.be
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4. Waste management and landfills in Flanders
217 of the 308 municipalities achieved the target of 150kg/
inhabitant
71% selective collected
Flanders:
503 kg/inh
(2013)
EU 27:
481 kg/inh.
(2013)
Source: Eurostat
news release
26.03.2015
Production municipal solid waste (kg/capita): 1991 – 2013
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5. Number of landfills
1985 2017
Cat 1 (Hazardous waste) 11 4
Cat 2 (Non-hazardous waste) 34 9
Cat 3 (Inert waste) 73 4
Cat. 3
Cat. 2 - industrial
Cat. 2 - MSW
Cat. 1
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Waste management and landfills in Flanders

6. Waste management and landfills in Flanders
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7. Waste management and landfills in Flanders
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8. Flooding risks ? !
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Toxic waste sites flooded
At least 13 toxic waste sites in Texas were flooded or damaged by
Hurricane Harvey, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The agency announced Saturday that it had assessed 41 Superfund
sites using aerial images, and determined the ones badly affected by
the storm.
The impact of flooding on the sites is unknown. The EPA said its
workers have not been able to "safely access the sites" but are ready
to do so as soon as the floodwaters recede. In the Houston area,
authorities had said it would take 10-15 days for floodwaters to recede.
Harvey aftermath: Region begins long road to recovery
By Nicole Chavez, CNN
Updated 0658 GMT (1458 HKT) September 4, 2017

9. Flooding risks ? !
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10. Flooding risks ? !
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Jean-Pascal van Ypersele de
Strihou.
Former IPCC Vice-Chair
(Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change), Prof. Climate &
Env. Sc, UCLouvain, Belgium

11. Flooding risks ? !
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Just a hot issue in the media ?
or fake news ?
or getting attention ?
…

12. Flooding risks
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13. Flooding risks
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D.
Laner,
J.
Fellner,
P.
Brunner
inves3gated
the
risk
of
flooding
of
MSW
landfills
in
Austria.
Out
of
1064
landfills,
312
sites
or
about
30%
are
located
in
or
next
to
areas
flooded
on
average
once
in
200
years.
Around
5%
of
these
landfills
are
equipped
with
flood
protec3on
facili3es.
Material
inventories
of
147
landfill
sites
endangered
by
flooding
are
established,
and
poten3al
emissions
during
a
flood
event
are
es3mated
by
assuming
the
worst
case
of
complete
landfill
leaching
and
erosion.

14. Flooding risks
Distribution of landfills and flooding risk zones
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15. Flooding risks
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16. Flooding risks
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PhD dissertation : siting of industrial
activities 1795-1926.

17. Flooding risks
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18. Flooding risks
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ELFM
4

19. Flooding risks
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ELFM
4

21. Problem solving and ELFM opportunities
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Article 7

22. Problem solving and ELFM opportunities
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23. Problem solving and ELFM opportunities
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24. Thanks for your attention
Government of Flanders
Public Waste Agency
of Flanders
Stationsstraat 110
2800 Mechelen, Belgium
T: 015 284 284
F: 015 203 275
www.ovam.be
info@ovam.be
Eddy WILLE, ewille@ovam.be
Acknowledgements :
Colleagues ELFM-division at OVAM : Kathleen de
Turck, Katrien Van de Wiele, Tom Behets, Peter
Nagels, Luk Umans, Michaël Van Raemdonck
Vito: Caroline Vermeiren