1.7 German Government’s Policy
Waste management legislation is based on European law, German federal law, the federal states law and the statutes of the local authority waste management services. It is also based on the precautionary principle, the polluter-pays principle and the principle of cooperation. The main pillar is the Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act. This act has been further developed on the basis of the new EU Waste Framework Directive in order to strengthen waste prevention and recovery. Through this act, industry and commercial sector have been made responsible for the recovery of waste that means that they have to bear the costs. All waste from private households and waste for disposal from other generators have to be passed on to waste institutions subject to public law. For this service, fees have to be paid.
For waste destined for disposal, it has been stipulated that priority should be given to disposal within Germany (self-sufficient principle), whilst waste destined for recovery underlies the free movement of goods within the EU. The enforcement of waste legislation in Germany is mainly the task of the federal states. It is governed by the requirements for waste supervision contained in the Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act and supported by requirements on waste recovery and disposal records, transport licenses and specialised wastemanagement companies. Modern waste policy in Germany has triggered the rapid evolution of recovery and disposal technologies – an important green market. Today, the waste industry employs more than 200.000 people and generates an annual turnover in excess of 40 billion. The infrastructure for all types of waste is in place.
Altogether, Germany’s waste recovery rates are the highest in the world and show how the waste industry contributes to sustainable economic production and management in Germany by saving raw materials and primary energy. The share of waste which cannot be recovered has to be consigned to disposal without inflicting harm on the environment or on human health. Organic waste always has to undergo mechanic-biological or thermal treatment to render it inert, thus helping to reduce drainage water leakages and releases of landfill gas.
Since June 2005, it is no longer permitted to landfill organic waste without prior treatment. 69 waste incineration facilities with a capacity of 20 million tonnes were available in 2011 for the treatment of residual waste. Moreover, 4.6 million tonnes in incineration capacities are available in 30 refuse-derived fuel power plants. For the mechanic-biological treatment of waste, 48 facilities with a capacity of around 6 million tonnes were available in 2011 and they treated around 4 million tonnes of waste.
The new five-stage waste hierarchy lays down the following waste management ranking:
- prevention
- preparing for re-use
- recycling
- disposal
The option most beneficial from an environmental perspective takes precedence. However, next to ecological impacts, technical, economic, and social implications also have to be taken into consideration. With the new waste hierarchy, the German closed cycle waste management sector is being consistently geared towards waste prevention and recycling without putting established and ecologically highly efficient disposal procedures at risk.
Today, 63 per cent of household waste is already recycled. The Closed Cycle Management Act asks for a permanent recycling rate of more than 65 % of municipal waste.
