Trittin: Stricter provisions for the recovery of waste on landfills

With the Ordinance pertaining to the recovery of waste at surface landfills, which will enter into force tomorrow, the Environment Ministry has established standards for the recovery of waste which are similarly strict to those for disposal. From now on all waste has to be regularly pretreated prior to a disposal on landfills. In the future this will prevent the false declaration which is criticised by many waste treatment facility operators. Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin: "Scrap tires can no longer be used for degasification measures and rubber chips can no longer be used for road construction. This is not only beneficial for the environment. It also creates new jobs in waste management."

Landfill operators who comply with their legal obligations and fill and close down their landfills according to the best available technology shall not suffer economic disadvantages because of waste tourism. This is why strict provisions have been established especially for using waste to shape the surface of a landfill body (profiling), where big volumes of wastes are recovered. Therefore, waste may only be used for profiling if all other possibilities to minimize the volume necessary for this purpose have been exhausted.

Trittin: "The supervising authorities will have to take care that landfill operators do not push the scope granted by the Ordinance too far." For example it is essential to limit the volume of waste needed for profiling to the bare minimum. "If waste producers think, for example, that organic waste can be turned into landfill replacement construction material by simply solidifying it in order to be able to recover this, it would contradict the intention and requirements of this Ordinance", commented Minister Trittin. The competent authority can and has to intervene in such a case.

Further information: Ordinance pertaining to the recovery of waste at surface landfills