Germany's garbage sorting and recovery system
Germany has established the world's most successful garbage sorting and recovery system. In Germany, the garbage disposal industry has an annual income of about 50 billion euros to solve 240,000 jobs, the industry has become an important economic and employment field in Germany!
In terms of population and area, Germany cannot really be called a big country, but it is an absolute "garbage manufacturing" country. In Europe, Germany ranks second only to Russia in population, producing 617 kilograms of domestic waste per German per year, much higher than the European Union per capita (481 kilograms). So much rubbish, disposed of by traditional incineration or landfill methods, is obviously not suitable for a densely populated, small, highly industrialized country like Germany.
By 2013, 83% of the domestic waste will be recovered, 65% of the domestic waste will be recycled, and 18% of the energy will be recovered through incineration;
In recent years, keeping the recycling rate of domestic waste 65% has the highest recycling rate in the world, saving a lot of raw materials and energy, demonstrating the contribution of the waste recycling industry to sustainable economic development.
1.There are more than 8000 German environmental laws and regulations.
Today, Germany's rapid progress in garbage sorting and recovery is attributed to its improved legislation. According to incomplete statistics, the Federal Republic of Germany and the States currently have more than 8000 laws and regulations on environmental protection, which is the country with the most complete and detailed environmental protection system in the world. These laws have been enacted by German governments at all levels to meet the requirements of the nature and times of domestic waste in different periods.
A review of the history of garbage sorting in Germany dates back to the German Empire in 1907.
As early as 111 years ago, Germany began to implement urban waste sorting collection. Interestingly, in 1961, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Democratic Republic of Germany respectively produced a more formal waste classification system and mature legislation, the highly opposed East and West Germany reached an unprecedented tacit understanding on this issue.
Although Germany has a long history of garbage sorting and recycling, the effect was not obvious in the post-war practice. In the 1970s, Germany's garbage collection and management chaos, whether recycling end or processing end, can not achieve real waste classification and reuse. The background of promoting waste classification was the rise of environmentalism in Western countries. In order to protect the environment, relevant laws and supporting measures were formulated.
Among the numerous laws dealing with waste disposal and environmental protection, the following are decisive in the construction of the German waste recovery system:
In 1972, the Federal Government of Germany promulgated the Waste Treatment Act, which promoted the gradual shift from disorderly stacking to centralized disposal of refuse.
In 1986, the Waste Treatment Act was amended to be renamed the Waste Avoidance and Treatment Act, introducing the concept of reducing the amount of waste generated;
In the mid-1990s, the unified Germany implemented the Material Closed Cycle and Waste Management Act, which stipulated that in addition to the recovery of metals, textiles and paper products, other recyclable materials must be re-entered the economic cycle after classified collection;
Subsequently, the German government introduced the Waste Management Act and the Packaging Ordinance, thus establishing a two-track collection system for the classification of household discarded product packaging collection, recycling and disposal；
In 2005, Germany began enforcing stricter regulations than the EU Landfill Act, which prohibited untreated domestic and industrial waste from landfilling. Waste must be disposed of in treatment plants before landfilling, thus avoiding the formation of methane by microorganisms after landfilling.
Since then, the number of landfills in Germany has dropped significantly.
2.Equipment industry helps garbage classification
It is not enough to rely on a complete set of laws to classify and recycle waste effectively, and a complete set of supporting facilities is also needed. These facilities, in the final analysis, have only one purpose, which is to help ordinary people to classify garbage in their daily lives.Since Germany is a federal country, there are subtle differences in the classification of garbage between states. Generally speaking, German garbage can be divided into five categories: organic garbage, light packaging, paper products, glass products and other domestic waste, each of which has a representative color. All residential quarters or buildings in Germany are equipped with three basic types of garbage bins, which recycle organic waste, light packaging and paper products. All residents will sort the three kinds of garbage at home and then put them into their respective bins.
And in each block, there is a special recycling bin for glass products, often green, brown and white three colors, used to recycle three corresponding colors of glass bottles. As for other domestic waste, such as decoration materials, often need to be discarded to the designated treatment site, or pay a certain fee, please garbage disposal company door-to-door recycling. In Germany, all public places are also equipped with classified garbage bins, so that pedestrians can discard garbage directly when discarding.
3.Establish a complete garbage disposal industry system
There is no doubt that the key to combing the whole chain of garbage recycling is the end to end - how to make people consciously classify garbage, how to classify and recycle the garbage. It was Germany that firmly grasped both ends that made it an absolute leader in garbage sorting and recycling.
In German kindergartens, children are taught to categorize and discard rubbish. And in primary schools, the school will often systematically teach students the importance of waste classification for the protection of the ecological environment, and how to carry out scientific waste classification. It is this kind of early education and training that makes the German people establish a collective consciousness of "waste classification and recycling". In real life, if someone does not throw rubbish in accordance with the classification, they will often be criticized by others.
When the reporter first came to Germany to study and rent a house, the first thing he did was to be taught by the housekeeper how to use the kitchen's sorting bin for garbage sorting and discarding.
In addition, from time to time, German state governments will publish leaflets on waste classification knowledge and distribute them to residents, further strengthening the public awareness and ability of scientific waste classification.
4.German waste sorting and recycling
German garbage can be classified into six categories: organic waste, light packaging, paper, toxic waste, waste glass and other garbage. Some categories can also be subdivided, for example, glass can be divided into three types: white, green and brown glass. Batteries, large objects, etc. need to be thrown at the designated location.
Everyone participating in garbage classification can bring great social benefits. It not only reduces the total amount and cost of garbage disposal, but also reduces the difficulty of garbage disposal.
The waste paper, plastic and glass which has been sorted by the household will be transported free of charge by the corresponding recycling enterprises for professional recycling.
In terms of waste recycling, Germany introduced economic leverage and established a complete waste disposal industry system. The industry employs more than 250,000 people, covering engineers, workers, civil servants and other occupations. Its annual turnover is as high as 50 billion euros, accounting for about 1.5% of the country's economic output.
Not long ago, the reporter interviewed Europa Logistics and Garbage Recycling Site under Potsdam Square in central Berlin, visiting this garbage treatment "hub" 15 meters underground. In the underground work hall with a total area of 5000 square meters, distribution vehicles are running in an endless stream, and garbage disposal is orderly.
Potsdam Square is a famous commercial district in Berlin. There are many restaurants and shops. These restaurants produce a lot of organic waste every day, but there is almost no smell in this dump. The original waste treatment plant uses advanced treatment technology, kitchen waste dehydration, degreasing and chopping, after the treatment of grease is used as fuel, and refuse residue is sent to the biogas digester into heat. As for the large amount of packaging materials produced by shops, they are also collected and sent to suburban garbage treatment plants for classification and reuse.
What is worth mentioning is Germany's experience in recycling plastic bottles. In order to improve the recovery rate of plastic bottles, German companies charge a high deposit on plastic bottles, buying a bottle of mineral water at a price of 0.5 euros, often to pay an extra deposit of 0.25 euros on plastic bottles. In each supermarket, plastic bottle recycling machines are installed, so long as empty beverage bottles are thrown into the machine, you can return the deposit you paid earlier. Therefore, in German supermarkets, it is common to see people queuing up to get their deposits back from the plastic bottles they have accumulated.
5.Electronic waste disposal
According to German experts, there are more than 1,000 kinds of modern electronic products, and Germany produces about 1.8 million tons of electronic waste every year. In order to reduce e-waste, avoid waste of valuable raw materials and reduce the environmental burden, the German government passed the Electronic and Electrical Act in August 2005.
The Electronic and Electrical Law stipulates that old household electrical appliances should be centralized for recycling, and the manufacturer or importer of used electrical appliances should be obliged to do so. The law also stipulates that old batteries and old appliances must be treated separately.
6.Domestic waste incineration
Since June 2005, Germany has stipulated that only harmless waste can be landfilled to avoid secondary pollution of the surrounding environment. Since then, Germany has basically achieved zero landfill.Incineration plays a very important role in garbage that can not be recycled. Incineration has become the "pillar" of garbage disposal in Germany.
Waste incineration can be used to generate electricity, heat and steam, and the ash after incineration can be processed into road repair materials. Waste incineration plants not only profit from waste disposal, but also rely on power supply, energy and other income, without paying carbon dioxide tax.
At present, there are 68 incineration plants in Germany, and 100 new ones will be built. Germany produces about 14 million tons of garbage every year.
转自废塑料新观察