Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Economy | Consumption, Air

COM draft proposal endangers level of health protection against hazardous VOC emissions from construction products

This Scientific Opinion Paper reports about current plans of the European Commission to issue a delegated act on communication of emissions of volatile organic compounds (⁠VOC⁠) from construction products in form of “VOC classes”. German authorities consider this draft delegated act as completely insufficient regarding health requirements for the marketing of construction products an...read more

Water

Waters in Germany

Status and assessment

Since 2016, there are new legal requirements for the assessment for nutrients and substances of the waters in Germany. New assessment procedures for hydromorphology were developed. These assessment instruments are described in the brochure "Waters in Germany: Status and Assessment". The results of the assessment clarify the still open problems in water protection. The long time series of data for...read more

Chemicals

Antifouling biocides in German coastal & inland waters – How reliable are exposure prognoses of EU-scenario models for marinas?

Reliable data regarding the amounts of leisure boasts and number of berths in marinas are needed for the EU biocidal products regulation of antifouling products. Since for Germany such data are lacking, a national survey was initiated by the German Federal Environmental Agency. The survey counted 206279 leisure boats, of which 71% is located in freshwater, 26% in brackish water, and 3% in salt wat...read more

Transport

Reverse Innovation

Rethinking Urban Transport through Global Learning

The joint UBA-GIZ brochure „Reverse Innovation – Rethinking Urban Transport through Global Learning“ looks into the potential of “reverse innovation” in the urban transport sector. Ten interesting innovations from developing- and emerging countries were selected, that offer relevant impulses for cities and towns in Germany. Alongside technical innovations, social, regulatory and business model inn...read more

Waste | Resources, Water

PIWI and the plastic soup

The Pool-Cleaning-Robot PIWI (Pool-Intelligent-Water-Inspector) PIWI 3.14 keeps his pool clean and ship-shape and is quite happy. However his friend, Wilma the cat, confuses the issue when she tells him what the next stream looks like. The two of them get on their way to sort things out.But that is not the only job, as the stream flows into the river and the river into the sea. Everywhere PIWI mak...read more

Chemikalien

National Implementation Plan of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Stockholm Convention

In the National Implementation Plan, Germany describes the measures taken to implement the obligations under the Stockholm Convention. These include both the legal measures implementing these obligations into national and European law and measures to reduce or eliminate releases of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from intentional and unintentional production and use as well as from stockpiles...read more

Chemicals

Identification of Priority Topics in the Field of Sustainable Chemistry

To enable the ISC3 a quick start in its substantive work, the customers (UBA/BMUB) have commis-sioned the drafting of three studies. The objective of this study was to identify to identify priority top-ics, i.e. technical solutions, concepts, business models etc., in the field of Sustainable Chemistry. A desk-top research has been performed to elucidate specific challenges and recent innovations i...read more

Chemicals

Sustainability initiatives and approaches in the chemical sector

To allow the ISC3 a quick start to its substantive work, the clients (UBA/BMUB) have commissioned the drafting of three studies. The objective of this study was to create a knowledge base by mapping the most relevant initiatives/approaches in the field of sustainable chemistry. For this purpose, the follow-ing sectors were examined: Green chemistry (n = 8), international organizations (2), (chemic...read more