|
|
|
Domestic waste and other municipal waste
|
|
Municipal solid waste is basically divided into two groups - domestic waste and other municipal waste.
Domestic waste is considered the waste collected by the municipalities in the grey bins from households and businesses that generate similar waste. In addition the following components are statistically accounted for as domestic waste: bulky domestic waste, biodegradeable waste (here: waste from biodegradeable fraction containers, garden, park and cemetery waste), other dry recyclable waste collected separately (glass, newspaper/cardboard/paperboard, light packaging/plastics, electronic appliances) as well as the hazardous waste occurring in the household (batteries, old paint, pharmaceuticals, etc.)
The most important other municipal waste is commercial domestic waste,
which is not collected by the municipal services, waste from street cleaning and market waste.
Sewage sludge
and waste from cleaning the sewer system are considered another type of municipal waste. Due to its specific characteristics, this waste is often viewed separately. Fecal sludge and waste from cleaning the sewage system have been classified as commercial domestic waste since 2002 in the waste statistics of the BMU (see below).
IFEUs research of municipal waste covers questions such as the changes in waste management, the climate potential in the waste management sector, the contribution to
sustainable development− as well as studies on individual types of waste (see links above). This provides valuable aids in decision-making for authorities and companies, e.g. for making
waste management plans and concepts
or similar studies on the possibilities of waste removal,
within or outside of the classical waste management system (e.g. co-incineration plants). |
|
| |
|
Volume of municipal waste |
|
The amount of municipal waste in Germany is queried directly from the waste management facility plants via the statistical environmental agencies for one, and secondly the federal states issue waste balances on the basis of the figures of the collected waste determined by the public waste disposal authorities. Data on the quantity of waste at a national level have been published by the BMU since 1996 "Statistics on Waste Management", having received the information from the Federal Statistical Office and the Environmental Statistics Authorities.
 Looking back at a time-series of the waste statistics from the BMU, the quantity of domestic waste has fluctuated little over the past years.
Deviations from one year to the next are generally caused by restructuring in the way a report has been filed or how the figures were classified. If the same type of waste is consistently listed and a time-series is created, it becomes clear that Germany has succeeded in decoupling the quantity of domestic waste from economic growth.
|
|
Printer friendly
Tell a friend