Waste Management And Soil Protection : Germany

In October 1996, the Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act entered into force. This Act represents a departure from the tradition of waste disposal, focusing instead on the concept of recycling so that raw materials and resources are effectively conserved, low-waste products are developed, and thus in the long term the entire consumption and production system is restructured into a closed substance cycle. Through a broadened definition of waste it deals with all operations in the production and consumption chain which are of relevance to waste disposal and lays down requirements for waste avoidance, the reuse of waste materials in other products or as a source of energy, as well as environmentally compatible disposal. It zeroes in on the “polluter pays” principle and the concept of product responsibility.

Waste avoidance and the recycling of waste is very important to a country like Germany which has few raw materials.The principle of product responsibility was legally established for the first time through the Packaging Ordinance, which obligates manufacturers and distributors of packaging materials to take back their products after use and recycle them. In 1992 the businesses and industries involved created the private-sector “Duales System Deutschland” (DSD, or “Green Dot"), which has taken over the job of collecting used packaging materials from consumers and recyling usable materials.