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Producers subject to mandatory registration must be registered in LUCID packaging registry starting 1 January 2019

Software has a significant impact on the resource efficiency of IT hardware and on how long it is used. Programs which execute the same functions can have very different levels of energy consumption depending on how they are programmed. The German Environment Agency (UBA) has developed criteria to assess the environmental impact of software products.

The use of poisonous bait to control rats and mice can lead to an unintentional poisoning of pets and wild animals. In addition, most of the chemical substances used are very persistent in the environment and accumulate in organisms. A large number of risk mitigation measures must be taken to prevent these occurrences, for example the use of bait stations.

The Blue Angel is now available for resource-saving reusable cup systems. The aim is to cut down on disposable cups and promote environmentally friendly reusable cups.

The Position paper begins by discussing options on how to further develop EU soil protection law. Compared to the status-quo, strengthening the existing soil protection legislation at EU level would preserve transboundary ecosystem services of soils and also help to effectively implement the ‘land degradation neutrality’ objective.

Now available in English: UBA's biannual "What Matters" magazine covers current topics in environmental protection. The first edition “Recycling” takes an in-depth look at the circular economy in Germany with a special focus on plastics. The magazine offers data and facts and discusses current problems and possible solutions in Germany’s circular economy.

Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze presented awards to the winning projects of the National Sustainable Urban Logistics Competition which the Federal Ministry for Environment launched together with the German Environment Agency. The competition distinguishes innovative logistics strategies that foster environmentally and climate-friendly transport in urban areas.

The German Federal Government compensates for the climate gas emissions of its official trips. To do so the German Environment Agency (UBA) acquired and cancelled emissions credits worth roughly 300,000 tonnes of CO2 for official travel in 2017.

December 11th is the designated International Mountain Day. The day was designated by the UN to show the important role of mountain regions for sustainable development. In line with this, UBA has published a background paper describing the Alpine region on its way to becoming a model region for green economy.

Winning projects include sustainable silk production, a modularly constructed smartphone, an electric retrofittable bicycle engine, and an initiative to dispense free tap water for people on the move.

Germany narrowly missed the collection rate of 45 percent for waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) in 2016. Large household appliances in particular are not being collected in sufficient numbers.

The city and the countryside are closely interlinked, for example through daily flows of traffic and goods. In everyday practice, however, problems are common. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is now launching the “Stadt-Land-Plus” funding measure and already providing support for twelve collaborative projects between science and practice across Germany to implement new ideas.