Press | Umweltbundesamt

Ten winners received the German Ecodesign Award 2021 today. The award went to a very diverse set of innovative projects, ranging from personal care products one can mix at home, a school building with a climate-positive energy balance, mail order that does without packaging waste, to giving old fur a new life. read more

The construction sector is the second-largest consumer of plastics with a volume of some 2.6 million tonnes used in 2017. However, proper guidelines for the recycling of plastic building products are still lacking, and recycling volumes are not recorded adequately. read more

The German Environment Agency (UBA) is calling for the sustainable use of chemicals. At its Sustainability Transformation Conference held on 30.11.2021, UBA identified six key aspects of chemicals management that protects human health and the environment. These include giving preference to the use of non-harmful substances and achieving climate neutrality of chemicals throughout their life cycle. read more

Despite their separate administrative remits, cities and the urban hinterland are nevertheless closely linked and mutually dependent upon one another. A new strategy paper titled UMLANDSTADT umweltschonend shows how to link work and private life, recreation and mobility in cities and the surrounding areas, in order to increase the quality of life and to better protect the environment. read more

The German Environment Agency (UBA) is calling upon businesses to review their packaging systems and optimise their environmental friendliness. Significantly more reusable products would also have to be introduced – not only in beverage packaging but also in other areas, such as e-commerce and to-go consumption. read more

The phasing out of tax breaks for automobile and agricultural diesel, the private use of fossil-fuel company cars and agricultural vehicles, as well as of the commuter mileage allowance would generate additional revenues for the public sector in the double-digit billions. This is the conclusion of a new study by the German Environment Agency (UBA) on environmentally harmful subsidies in 2018. read more

Climate change in Germany is causing more heat, increased drought combined with water shortages and forest fires, less certainty of snow and an increase in heavy rainfall and flooding at the same time. A new study commissioned by the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) shows how these changes will affect tourism and what adaptation strategies are possible. read more

A new evaluation by the German Environment Agency (UBA) reports that municipalities, retailers and producers in Germany collected 947,067 tonnes of electrical waste in 2019. The amount corresponds to a collection rate of 44.3 percent, which means the minimum collection target of 65 percent which was set for all EU member states in 2019 was missed and fell short of some 443,000 tonnes. read more