Abstract
Most developing and transitional economies are faced with daunting challenges related to household waste segregation, climate protection, environmentally compatible treatments and the utilisation of the various waste fractions.
Source separation has a major impact on the effectiveness of waste management systems, as it causes significant changes in the quantity and quality of waste that reaches final disposal, which is the main factor in the generation of the greenhouse gas, methane. This environmental impact can be significantly reduced by the separate collection and recycling/use of organic waste.
The German Closed Cycle Management Act is aimed at turning waste management into resource management. The realisation that waste can be a useful source of raw materials and energy is not new; metals, glass, organic waste and textiles have been collected before and put in to new use. The waste management policy, which has been adapted in Germany over the past 20 years, is based on closed cycles and assigns disposal responsibilities to the manufacturers and distributors of products. This has made people even more aware of the necessity to separate waste, has led to the introduction of new disposal technologies and increased recycling capacities (Nelles et al., Proc Environ Sci 35:6–14, 2016).
Nowadays, Germany has great experience in terms of waste separation. Around 14% of the raw materials used by German industry are recovered waste, thus leading to a reduction in extraction levels and the related environmental impact. Modern closed-cycle management contributes, with a share of approximately 20%, to achieving the German Kyoto targets for the reduction of climate-relevant emissions.
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Nassour, A., Hemidat, S., Lemke, A., Elnaas, A., Nelles, M. (2017). Separation by Manual Sorting at Home: State of the Art in Germany. In: Maletz, R., Dornack, C., Ziyang, L. (eds) Source Separation and Recycling. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 63. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2017_26
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2017_26
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