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MIN-NOVATION - GIVE WASTE A SECOND CHANCE

On October 24th, 2012, the MIN-NOVATION project will be hosting a conference on mining waste management policy and practice in the Baltic Sea Region which will delve into the question: why doesn't more mine and mineral processing waste get re-used/recycled? The focus of this conference will be on the legal framework and the incentives and disincentives for greater re-use of these secondary raw materials. The conference will take place in Wroclaw, Poland and will be attended by a range of Baltic Sea Region and EU experts, government officials and practitioners. More info and the full programme is available at www.min-novation.eu.

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Information Manager:

Foundation Of Innovative Initiatives
ul. Cegielniana 4a
30-404 Krakow
PL
Piotr Szmigielski
E-mail: piotr.szmigielski@fii.org.pl
Phone: +48 603 060 957
Fax: +48 423 37 60

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Summary description of the project:

MIN-NOVATION rests on the idea that there's more to mining waste than just 'waste'. The project will strive to build a better understanding and appreciation of the potential of mining waste as a source of valuable elements and a product in its own right. Knowledge will be transferred to businesses in 6 MIN-NOVATION regions found in Poland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Estonia. The project participants, which represent both universities and regional/local authorities, will launch a trans-national network and regional networks to analyse regional variations but also areas of common concern/interest in the Baltic Sea Region as a whole. Close cooperation between universities, local governments and businesses in these networks will ensure that recommendations for actions which will improve the prospects of mining waste management will be made and select actions pursued. The main results of the project will be: 1. a Min-Novation Baltic Network - the network

will function as a forum for sharing knowledge about the MIN-NOVATION regions but also for developing bilateral or multilateral links which may result in further cooperation opportunities 2. Min-Novation Regional Networks will bring together key stakeholders in the region interested and/or involved in mining waste management to discuss and decide on practical actions to deliver specific support to businesses and promote the topic to the general public 3. A Declaration on Waste Management and Prevention will list key actions that should be taken to lay the foundations for a thriving BSR mining waste management sector. 4. Technology Demonstrations will be carried out in Sweden, Poland, Estonia and Finland. The goal of each technology demonstration will be to show that waste is inherently a valuable resource. The Technology Demonstrations will allow for the testing of a variety of waste samples, including from outside the region where the demonstration is taking place.

Achievements of the project so far:

One of the main and enduring results of the projects is the knowledge base that has been created about good practices, the status of mining waste management and mining in general in each of the BSR countries represented in the consortium. The Compendium, the Final Publication, the Baltic Business Database and the Case Study Database, which are available for download online free of charge, and which have been disseminated among critical institutional stakeholders across the BSR and in Europe, are a very important starting point for policymakers and industrial stakeholders as well as the business community at large. They give a multi-faceted picture of the state of the waste management sector, without which it would be difficult to talk about the job-creating potential of this market segment, and the role of waste management in the broader context of EU policy on mineral recycling and re-use.The activities in the regions (MRNs) have made it possible to identify priority issues and

realistic steps which can be taken, sometimes in cooperation with other regions (i.e. on a Baltic or even European level) to set the stage for more dynamic growth in the waste-to-resource market. After establishing that much of the problems were related to laws and regulations which placed too many restrictions on waste management activity and/or placed the burden of action to handle waste strictly on the landowner, the Polish and Swedish partners have each delivered memoranda/letters to respective authorities identifying where improvements could be made and delivered their inputs during meetings. The same can be said for the Finnish partnership which through its topical seminars has identified what actions can go a long way toward improving innovation in the mining sector (in the particular segment of the market that is waste management).The MRNs in each region were tailored to the needs of the local businesses (primarily SMEs) active in the mining industry, leading to differences in

the range of topics addressed. In EE, the topics focused on new technologies; in SE new waste site exploitation was a focus; in PL, the majority of SMEs participating were well established in their respective markets, shifting the focus to strictly legal issues, while in DE emphasis was placed on the possibilities for exploiting copper waste. All 4 pilot installations have gone through the demonstration phase and by the end of the project period were used to test a selection of waste samples, including from abroad (follow-up samples) supplied mostly by small, local businesses. The pilot installations are accessible for R&D activities, whether initiated by R&D organizations or representatives of industry. Some of them are limited to a particular kind of waste (PL and EE - coal and oil shale; SE - metallic waste), while the FI installation is a lab which is open for testing a broad variety of mining and mineral processing waste.

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