Waste | Resources

Too much waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is still being disposed of improperly in Germany. A German Environment Agency (UBA) analysis found that some 86,000 tonnes per year land in the general waste bin instead of being recycled as prescribed. Germany’s recycling rate unfortunately still falls short of meeting the EU minimum recovery rate requirement of 65 percent.

The coronavirus pandemic led to a slight decrease in packaging consumption in Germany in 2020, marking the first decline since 2009. Total packaging waste in 2020 was 18.8 million tonnes, or 0.7 per cent less than in 2019. Per capita, this is 1.7 kg less than the average 225.8 kg.

In its two-day session early this week, the jury reviewed and evaluated 137 submissions in the project rooms of feldfünf e.V. in Berlin. After deliberations, the environmental and design experts nominated 28 projects for the German Ecodesign Award 2022. The ultimate winners of the award will be announced by Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke at the award ceremony on 5 December.

Wind turbine rotor blades are made of fibre composites and have been disposed of in very different ways up to now. The German Environment Agency (UBA) now presents a comprehensive overview of the sustainable use and waste processing of rotor blades.

With effect from 1 July 2022, food retailers with a total sales area of at least 800 square metres who offer electrical and electronic equipment several times a year or on a permanent basis must now also take back waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) free of charge. This will apply to the majority of food retailers in Germany.

Effective immediately, businesses of all sizes from all sectors, designers and students can submit their projects to apply for the award. The award targets creative design ideas and projects which also meet the highest ecological demands. The application deadline is 18 April 2022.

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.

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.

The greenhouse gas-neutral economic system of the future will continue to rely on hydrocarbons, for example in the chemical industry for the production of plastics or in aviation and maritime transport for the production of synthetic fuels. The carbon will be sourced from a new carbon circular economy but mainly from the atmosphere. The energy needs to come from fully renewable sources.

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.

The "Aktion Biotonne Deutschland" 2021 campaign to promote the collection of biowaste starts on 14 October. Through 30 November municipalities are thanking their citizens for the separate collection of biowaste. The six-week campaign involves various actions aiming at collecting larger amounts of biowaste and achieving more varietal purity.

The vocational school centre in Mühldorf am Inn wins the Federal ENVIRONMENT & BUILDING 2021 Award for its innovative energy concept. The building generates more energy than it consumes and stores waste heat in an ice storage. In addition to the main prize winner, another four projects were awarded recognitions, including two in the newly created category "climate-friendly refurbishment".