- Ausdruck vom: 07.02.2012, 12:48:27 Uhr
- Quelle: http://www.retech-germany.net/660
The German waste management industry consists of various groups of main stakeholders: About 1000 municipal and private waste management companies (from One-man-firms to large concerns) fulfill the tasks of waste collection, recovery and disposal, with municipal companies accounting for a share of 35% in and private companies for a share of 65% in domestic waste handling. . Modern and innovative equipment needed for waste collection and treatment is supplied by the mechanical and plant engineering industry that has been one of Germany’s most innovative and successful sectors over last decades. An active academic environment including universities and leading research institutes discusses up-to-date waste management issues and is a driving force for research and innovation. Finally, the specific regulative framework for waste management is set by the authorities at the Federation (Bund), the Laender and at a regional and municipal level.
The distribution of competences between public and private waste management firms is generally regulated by the Closed Loop Waste Management Act. The act distinguishes wastes by their further use: „Waste for Disposal“ vs. „Waste for Recovery“, as well as by their source: waste coming from private households vs. commercial/industrial waste.
Waste for disposal from all sources and waste for recovery from private households can only be handled by public waste management firms, whereas commercial/industrial waste for recovery can as well be recycled by private companies. Exceptions from the obligation of having waste from private housholds and waste for disposal handed exist for a range of cases, e.g. direct disposal by waste producer, transfer of obligation for disposal to third parties, not-for-profit waste collection.
In practice, the differentiation between commercial and industrial waste for disposal and waste for recovery in some cases is a source of difficulties in defining. One special regulation refers to packaging waste. Commercial and industrial enterprises are obliged to take their packaging waste back, due to the Packaging Ordinance that came into force in 1991. In order to promote market competition, services for collecting, sorting and recycling of packaging have to be put out to tender.
The German Länder have the right to establish own regulations regarding the handling of waste through public or private firms, in order to ensure environmentally friendly waste management. This applies in particular for waste streams that require close monitoring (esp. hazardous wastes). These waste streams have to be left entirely to Länder-owned corporations for hazardous wastes.
With privatization expanding in the waste management system as in most other sectors formerly dominated by public institutions, the constellations in the German waste management system might change depending on the future development of German and EU legislation.
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