Disposal
Stricter rules: Biom waste may hardly contain plastic
Whether withered flowers, ram -like salad or obstacles: organic waste comes into the brown bin. But there are also plastic, glass or sheet metal. This is a nuisance for the waste industry.
Germany’s biotons may only contain very little plastic in the future so that the organic waste can be processed well into compost. From May 1st, state rules apply, according to which, according to the biom waste, plastics are no more than one percent of the weight.
Conventional plastic bags and plastic boxes are already prohibited in organic waste, but in some places the consumers and traders do not adhere to them. With the new rules, the pressure on the garbage disposal increases better quality in the bio-waste systems.
The proportion of foreign substances in general – in addition to plastic, is also meant stones, glass, ceramics and tin cans – may not exceed more than three percent of the weight. This is usually checked with the naked eye, but sensors and artificial intelligence applications are increasingly being used.
Waste industry sees new rules as progress
The Association (VKU) positively evaluates the new rules. They are “an important first step to reduce the entry of microplastics into the environment,” says VerbandsVice Uwe Feige.
From the perspective of the Federal Association of secondary raw materials and disposal (BVSE), a “right of rejection” contained in the rules is particularly important, on the basis of which system operators can refuse to accept heavily contaminated organic waste. Then the supplier threatens high costs if he has to invite the already unloaded garbage again and have to transport it elsewhere.
“The actual leap in quality is the possibility of not bringing inferior material into the recycling process,” says BVSE expert Andreas Habel. If the quality of organic waste is too bad, it has to be burned – and nothing becomes from the hoped -for use as a compost or biogas.
What are the consequences for consumers?
For consumers, nothing changes due to the new rules, but indirectly they could feel the consequences: the urban waste disposal could increase their efforts so that the quality of the organic waste they collected gets better. “The new limit values are primarily aimed at the municipalities, which can create incentives for better waste separation through waste statutes – for example through public relations, fee models or sanctions in the event of misstairs,” says Anja Siegesmund from the BDE industry association.
The industry expert is also annoyed that far too much organic waste still ends up in residual waste and not in the brown bin. The municipalities are required to carry out analyzes and take measures so that more organic waste in the brown ton.
dpa
Source: Stern
