Abstract

German biodegradable waste is collected separately, recycled and ecologically and economically used. Compost and digestate are used as organic fertilizer or replace peat in potting soil and plant substrates. The bio-waste recycling may also directly contribute to climate protection if the methane produced during the fermentation is used for energy production. Around the world biodegradable waste in landfills is the main factor for the generation of the greenhouse gas methane. This environmental impact can be significantly reduced by the separate collection and recycling/use of organic waste. The separate collection of bio-waste is also a precondition for reutilizing of organic matter and nutrients. Only from separately collected bio-wasteit is possible to produce high-quality compost and digestate, which are suitable for agricultural or horticultural use.The separate collection of bio-waste from households affects the amount and composition of the residual waste. By separating bio-waste the remaining amount of waste is reduced up to a third. At the same time the residual waste contains less wet ingredients, which facilitate the waste sorting and makes the treatment in waste incineration plants more effective or even possible. Both, the recycling of compost and digestate on soils, as well as the energy recovery of bio-waste, contribute to climate protection and resource conservation. The operation of the treatment plants determines how much of the greenhouse gases methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia is released during the process. Some plant operators need to be awakened and their awareness of climate-relevant emissions from their bio-waste treatment plants has to be raised.Also the amount of collected organic waste should be further reinforced. In 2015 the separate collection of bio-waste has to improve!

Introduction

Germany has implemented a separate collection for waste, household and other kinds of waste, more than twenty years ago. Diverse environmental damages, lack of landfill space and the use of finite resources led in the early 90s to a rethink in waste management. Today, climate change and energy demand are important arguments for the separate collection and utilisation of all kinds of organic wastes. In response to the EU’s waste framework directive, the Waste Management Act of 2012 (KrWG) in § ۱۱ paragraph 1 obligates waste producers and mandated waste management authorities to collect bio-waste separately at the latest as of January 1st 2015. The term “biowaste” in § ۳ KrWG comprises yard, park, and landscape management waste as well as food and kitchen waste. The requirement in the Waste Management Act (KrWG) to collect bio-waste separately (§ ۱۱/۲ KrWG) is concretised in the Bio-waste Ordinance (BioAbfV).