Gültigkeitsgebiet: Bundesweit
Here you will find information on requirements and conditions for handling waste originating from professional and commercial activities.
Conditions for the treatment of various types of waste and hazardous waste originating from professional and commercial activities
The Circular Economy Act introduced new legal principles with the 5-step waste hierarchy. According to this, waste is primarily to be avoid, the preparation for Reuse, the Recycling, the other, in particular the energetic Recycling and ultimately to disposal. The hierarchy applies fundamentally to all types of waste. However, for individual waste streams, it requires concretization through subordinate regulations in order to ensure legal and investment certainty. This has been achieved, among other things, with the 2017 amendment to the Commercial Waste Ordinance (GewAbfV) Done.
The Commercial Waste Ordinance (GewAbfV) regulates the management of commercial municipal waste and certain construction and demolition waste in such a way that it must be collected separately by material stream and primarily directed towards preparation for reuse and recycling. In the event that a producer separately collects 90 percent of their commercial waste and sends it for recycling, the remaining ten percent can be thermally treated or disposed of without further pretreatment. Otherwise, waste mixtures that are not kept separate must be sent for pretreatment, during which a sorting rate of 85 percent and a recycling rate of 30 percent must be achieved. For this purpose, the sorting plants must be equipped with prescribed plant components or operated in combination with other sorting plants so that the required plant technology is available overall. Mineral waste must be subjected to processing in order to ensure the highest possible recovery rate for this waste as well.
The enforcement of the GewAbfV falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal states.
Electrical and electronic waste
EU legal basis for the disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is the Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste electrical and electronic equipment, the so-called WEEE Directive. The WEEE Directive was nationally through the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act Implemented.
The WEEE Directive sets regulations for the disposal of WEEE. The fundamental principle here is Product Responsibility the manufacturer. Thereafter, the manufacturers bear waste management responsibility for their products throughout their entire lifecycle.
It must be ensured, among other things, that:
WEEE must be collected separately from residual waste in accordance with the directive's specifications. For private consumers, this requires Return of old appliances must be free of charge. Corresponding collection systems must be set up based on population density. The obligation for distributors to take back items can apply both to distributors with a specific sales area for electrical appliances and to certain food retailers. Manufacturing companies have special Mandatory labeling requirements to be noted. For example, all electrical and electronic equipment falling within the scope of the directive bear the symbol of the crossed-out wheelie bin to be labeled. When handing over the device, consumers must be informed about the meaning of the symbol. In addition, the directive regulates technical requirements for the storage and treatment of waste equipment and specifies minimum requirements for this purpose. The specifications for the treatment of the collected equipment are governed by the Ordinance on Requirements for the Treatment of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.
Act for Promoting Circular Economy and Securing Environmentally Compatible Management of Waste
Ordinance on requirements for the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment
Legal bases
Act for Promoting Circular Economy and Securing Environmentally Compatible Management of Waste
Ordinance on requirements for the treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment
Directive 2012/19/EU on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
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