Raw materials and energy are key resources when it comes to product manufacturing as well as product use – which, however is inextricably bound up with other resources as well. For product use can have an environmental impact on air, water and soil resources, and can even be harmful to ecosystems and biodiversity.
Under waste management law, manufacturers are required to assume responsibility for any product that engenders waste, particularly when it comes to taking products back and recycling them. Such stewardship is meant to encourage manufacturers to prevent waste already during the product design and manufacturing phases, and to ensure that end-of-life products can be recycled.
Technology transfer, particularly in developing nations, is an avowed goal of the administration, to which end we have set ourselves two waste technology objectives: (a) promoting sustainable waste management and harmonizing waste management practices with European environmental standards in the target countries; and (b) generating business for German waste management technology providers.
The term “asbestos” means a family of naturally occurring fibrous minerals. In the past, asbestos was widely used in myriad products owing to its exceptional heat and chemical resistance, whereby white asbestos (chrysotil asbestos) and blue asbestos (crocidolie asbestos) were the types most commonly used.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a worldwide problem. PCB, which is a POP, has not been used in Germany for years and only occurs in certain wastes.
The term “hazardous waste” refers to various types of waste with defined hazardous properties that are harmful for the environment and/or human health. Hazardous waste must be handled using special techniques and processes that ensure safe and environmentally sound disposal by elimination of the hazardous substances contained in the waste.
Thermal waste treatment, which is one of the mainstays of waste disposal in Germany, is carried out via various types of installations, depending on the type of waste involved. At nearly all such facilities, incineration energy is recovered to generate electricity, heat and/or process steam.
The aims of the German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) are "to protect the environment and health" and "to conserve natural resources". The basic prerequisites for achieving these aims are to prevent waste and an efficent, high quality recycling. The ElektroG also requires producers to assume responsibility for the entire life cycle of their products.
