Die REMONDIS-Welt der Nachhaltigkeit
REMONDIS' World of Sustainability
De REMONDIS-wereld van de duurzaamheid
The whole notion of sustainability will be a lost cause unless we take action here and now to conserve our planet's natural resources. Future generations and today's developing countries will only be able to enjoy prosperous lives if steps are taken right now to counteract the growing shortages of raw materials. For us – being one of the world's leading recycling, service and water companies – there can be only one goal: to tackle this problem and lead by example. Why not join us on this path?!
Everyone agrees that global warming must be limited to 2°C – or preferably 1.5°C – if we wish to prevent our ecosystem from being irreparably damaged. Large areas of woodland in Germany are dying as the country suffers ever longer periods of drought. Pussyfooting around is not going to stop climate change. Some major action needs to be taken. And not just switching from fossil fuels to renewables but from virgin to recycled raw materials as well. We are showing how this can be done.
The Lippe Plant in Lünen is not only a high tech site, it is also an important project for combatting global warming. The various activities carried out at the site help to cut carbon emissions by 488,000t every single year. For a forest to have the same effect, it would need to contain 37 million trees. Certainly a lovely place to take a walk in but perhaps not an ideal place for creating 1,400 jobs.
People searching for an argument in favour of plastics recycling need look no further than at our seas and oceans. Vast areas of waste are floating around in them and are so big that they can even be seen from space. This problem, however, can only be solved on Earth – with more responsible consumer behaviour and systematic plastics recycling.
Talking the talk but not walking the walk? Not at REMONDIS. It goes without saying that our all-encompassing view of sustainability also includes us being sustainable ourselves. This covers all aspects of our business – from the energy efficiency levels of our head office buildings, all the way through to ensuring that all our locations adhere to our high social standards, no matter where in the world they may be.
Every company tries to make a profit. And things are no different at REMONDIS either. For us, however, money is always a means to a good end – which is why a large part of the profits we make is invested in developing new and innovative recycling processes and technologies. Helping to preserve our planet’s valuable natural resources.
Sustainability is not a state or a condition but an ongoing process. First and foremost, sustainability is team work. Which is why we cooperate closely with experts and research institutes that also feel strongly about conserving our planet’s natural resources and preventing climate change. Such work always leads to new approaches and innovations.
Wherever we see an opportunity to drive forward the notion of sustainability and to fix it even more firmly in the minds of people, then we are there, full of passion and enthusiasm for the cause. This covers a whole range of activities – from educational projects, to acting as advisers, to supporting universities.
Everyone is talking about the scarcity of raw materials and about sustainability. But what exactly is behind it all? We decided to do some research to find out what it’s all about – so that we could put together some pages with the most important background information for you to read.
Germany has often been called – and not without justification – a global role model when it comes to recycling. Even role models, however, must take a step back and look at themselves to see how they could do things even better. And there is certainly plenty of room for improvement in Germany. A study drawn up by the INFA Institute in 2014 revealed that 75% of German cities and districts have not yet achieved the highest possible collection and recycling rates. Projecting these results across the whole of the country, this means that a further 7.8 million tonnes of recyclables could be recovered from municipal waste. One way for the most to be made of this additional material would be for politicians to lay down clear efficiency requirements. Irrespective, however, of whether they decide to do this or not, each and every individual and each and every company in Germany could help increase the country's recycling rates right now by simply separating their waste better.
The complete INFA study on the volumes of recyclables that could still potentially be recovered from German municipal waste is available as a PDF download (German only)
The volumes of recyclables that could still be recovered from German waste
The new recyclables law drafted by the politicians in Berlin merely focuses on 1.5% of residual waste – i.e. on waste made of similar materials to sales packaging – which would increase the volume of recyclables collected by just 5kg per person. According to the INFA study, the volume of additional recyclables that could potentially be collected is actually 19 times higher.
Being Germany's largest recycling business, we also, of course, look closely at how the most could be made of the potential hidden in our country's waste. Our task is to develop systems that process the collected recyclables as efficiently as possible. The better the different materials are separated from each other, the easier it is to reach this goal. It is an undeniable fact that the recyclables (i.e. the materials that can be processed for re-use) that end up in the residual waste bin are in danger of being lost to us for ever. Only a very small number of local authorities have facilities for sorting residual waste. For the most part, this material is sent straight to a waste incineration plant for thermal treatment.
Recyclable material that could potentially be collected in Germany
A much greater volume of materials could be recycled in Germany if waste were segregated more systematically. A further 1.1 million tonnes from other collection systems not mentioned here – e.g. home composting – can be added to the 5.3 and 1.4 million tonnes listed here (potential from residual and bulky waste)
The INFA study not only revealed the potential hidden in municipal waste but also highlighted a number of problems. Perhaps the most pressing problem at the moment has to do with politics and red tape. What the country urgently needs is a recyclables law that guarantees that the kerbside collection of segregated plastics, metals and drinks cartons is carried out in a satisfactory and effective manner. Over the last few years, however, Germany's system of yellow recycling bags and "yellow bins" has proven to be inadequate. These bins and bags are for all types of sales packaging. This is, one the one hand, ineffective because the different materials are commingled and must still be separated from each other at a waste sorting facility. It is also counterproductive as consumers find it difficult to understand the difference between packaging and non-packaging and often throw their recyclables into the wrong bins. In other words: many products end up in the residual waste even though the recycling bin would be a more suitable place for them to be. Some districts have introduced a recycling bin for all waste plastic and metal – i.e. packaging and non-packaging – but this is still not an ideal solution.
It is not always necessary to create new laws to ensure the most is made of the waste that could potentially be recycled. Sometimes it is simply a matter of making sure that the existing regulations are enforced across the country. The organic waste bin is a great example of this. Although its use has been prescribed by law, there are still areas where it is not being used. The outcome here is that huge volumes of organic waste are ending up in the residual waste bin and so are unable to be recycled, for example to produce biogas. The organic waste collection rates are particularly bad in large cities with more than 2,000 inhabitants per km2. The average annual volume collected by such towns lies far below 30kg of biowaste per inhabitant. As a comparison: the city with the highest collection rate – the medium-sized town of Coesfeld – collects over 180kg per inhabitant. The biogas plants there, which are run by REMONDIS, are able to produce environmentally friendly energy for 1,400 households.
In 2015, the organic waste recycling facility in Coesfeld was accepted onto the KlimaExpo.NRW's list of qualified projects. Find our more in section Transfer of know-how
Looking at the findings regarding the volumes of recyclables that could still potentially be collected in Germany, REMONDIS decided to go a step further and commissioned two institutes to carry out a further independent study on their behalf. Their remit was to find out to what extent better recycling practices could reduce volumes of carbon emissions. This is particularly relevant because the waste management sector (and, therefore, REMONDIS) is under an obligation to gradually improve its carbon footprint – as all other industries are, too. An obligation, by the way, that our industry has been most successful at compared to all other sectors (looking at total emissions since 1990). The findings of the study carried out by CUTEC and Fraunhofer Umsicht are as persuasive as they are astounding. If all the recyclables that are currently being thrown into the residual waste bin were to be collected and recycled, then greenhouse gas emissions would be cut by 1.6 million tonnes every year. That is the same amount of CO2 emitted by 557,000 households over a twelve-month period.
The study on how greenhouse gas emissions can be cut and primary resources saved is available as a PDF download (German only)
What can be achieved by increasing collection rates
When we talk about the volumes of materials that are not yet being collected for recycling, we are not, of course, only thinking about municipal waste and what can be achieved today. What is perhaps even more important is what the future will bring. In particular the challenges that the businesses specialising in recovering raw materials, such as ourselves, will have to face. A look at the technology metals – i.e. the metals that are primarily used in high tech – reveals that there is much room for improvement here. The recycling rate currently lies at a mere 1%. The reason for this is because, at the moment, it still makes very little business sense to recycle such metals – for example, the so-called rare earths. Emphasis, however, should be put on "at the moment". Experts have been issuing warnings that supply levels of some rare earths may, sooner or later, become critical. One reason for this is that the majority of these substances are found in China which is considering introducing strict export regulations or even stopping exports all together. It is, therefore, necessary to think about systematically recycling rare earths and to find viable ways to recover them.
German recycling rates for classic metals, such as copper and iron, are 'good' to 'very good'. There is, however, still much room for improvement when it comes to the so-called rare earths
At the moment, practically all of the metals being recycled are production waste. By implication this means that once the metals have been installed in a product and bought by consumers they are unlikely to be recovered and returned to production cycles. There are simply not enough collection and recycling options around. What is needed is a recycling sector that focuses on recovering metals that are found in only tiny amounts in products. We have stepped up to this challenge by developing new processes. One example here is the state-of-the-art metal processing facility run by our subsidiary, TSR. Its facility in Buchloe in the south of Germany has developed a novel process for recycling aluminium that sorts the material according to various criteria (density, electrical conductivity, shape, colour). The outcome is a quality of aluminium recycling that has never been achieved before. Development, however, is not only made in the field of technology but always includes political and/or legislative components as well. Which is why we make every effort to ensure that framework conditions are created to make such recycling processes easier to implement.
Being one of the world’s leading recycling, service and water businesses with over 30,000 employees, everything we do revolves around sustainability. We ensure that the environment is protected and that natural resources are conserved in over 30 countries across four continents.
Our company
Diese Seite verwendet aktuelle Techniken, die in dem von Ihnen verwendeten Browser unter Umständen nicht korrekt angezeigt werden können.
Bitte aktualisieren Sie Ihren Internet-Explorer oder weichen auf einen anderen Browser wie Chrome oder Firefox aus.
Schließen
