Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group Alliance 90 / The Greens are the party of peace, social fairness, protection of the environment and a sustainable economic development. We are a constituent part of the German Parliament for 25 years now. Election results up to 8,6 %. From 1998 – 2005 Alliance 90 / the Greens were part of the government and Jürgen Trittin was the fist “green” Minister for environment. green successes of time in government were: phasing out of nuclear power, passing the Renewable Energy Act and implementation of the emission trading. Who we are

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group The “waste problem” was a central point of green environmental policy right from the beginning. Problem of the early days were: a lot of waste but very low standards for handling. The situation that time: –waste avoidance was a foreign word –even hazardous Waste was filled in unsecured hollows –incineration was - when practiced at all - known as an “dioxin slingshot” Germany: 1980’s

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group Germany: 2008 The commitment of the environmental groups of the early days was successful: –today waste avoidance has became a central policy target, –high readiness in the society for separating and collecting of waste, –high quotas on recycling, –multi way packing is promoted, –strong legal emission-limits for waste incineration, –no more untreated Waste in landfill sites since June 2005

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group waste avoidance and recycling quotas are not the solution, they are just a part of it, even recycling products become waste after use, alternatives for waste incineration like the biological stabilization have disadvantages (e.g. landfilling is still necessary), although many Members of the green party started their “carrier” in action groups against incineration plants, incineration with low emission level and energy recovery is very well accepted today. landfillig is not suitable for the future. To end depositing of waste in landfill sites has to be a primary target! Lessons learned

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group Waste is a resource use if applicable to LA source: IFEU Heidelberg

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group What does this mean for our future? promotion of an integrated product design; the behavior of a product as waste has to become part of the product development closing the loop for raw materials: recycling instead of “downcycling” avoidance of waste by implementation of a tax for primary raw materials further efficiency increase for waste incineration more production of electricity and heat Products have to become free of harmful substances away from oil, use of renewable resources for production (e.g. use of bioplastics)

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group we are campaigning to end the disposal of waste from human settlements on landfill sites by 2020 completely That means waste has to be sorted fully automatically and the valuable substances have to recovered. Sorting residues that are left over should be used to generate energy in waste incineration plants operated to very high standards. ->this is the link to MVR-technology Germany’s “concept 2020”: Zero waste

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group Why do we support the technology at MVR? –very low emissions, –high efficiency in recovering of heat and electricity, –use of different by-products by producing acid and gypsum –use of ashes e.g. in the building industry –only 2% of the input is left over and has to be deposited in the underground a System like MVR fits into Green future concept to reach the 2020 target: source: MVR-Hamburg

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group The sustainable handling of waste is a central element for protection of environment and climate. There is still a lot to do! 1.Closing the loop for raw materials and increased rate of recycling 2.Ending of landfilling as soon as possible 3.We conclude that using the best available, proven incineration technology is the only realistic option In Summary

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group Experiences with high or low tech alternatives Gasification and Pyrolysis –process itself causes high loss of energy, ecologic questionable and economic not profitable, examples: –“Babcock- pyrolysis“ capacity only t/a in the 80’s –“Schwel-Brenn-Verfahren” pilot plant never worked regular –“Thermoselect” end in 2004, loss of 400 Mill. € –“PKA –process” since 2007 off duty –“black pump” 2004 sold for one €uro, since 2007 using coal –… Mechanical Biological Treatments –Technical problems, no market for combustibles, landfilling is still necessary This technologies are not reliable!

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group Consequences of missing reliability definitely the worst case for the environment! –examples: Napoli, Italy and not working MBA Technology

Sustainable Waste Policy Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group The sustainable handling of waste is a central element for protection of environment and climate. There is still a lot to do! 1.Closing the loop for raw materials and increased rate of recycling 2.Ending of landfilling as soon as possible 3.We conclude that using the best available, proven incineration technology is the only realistic option In Summary

Dr. Michael Weltzin Scientific Assistant in the Parliamentary Group Thank you for your attention