City council approves waste management concept for the next seven years
The City Council unanimously approved the second update of the City of Chemnitz's waste management concept - now valid for the period 2014 to 2020. The local authority is legally obliged to draw up such a concept, the measures of which can be used to reduce the volume of waste and improve recycling. Updating the document, which was first drawn up in 1993, was now necessary as the legislator amended the Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Act two years ago in accordance with European law.
Municipal waste management concepts are planning instruments that provide an insight into the structures and tasks of the waste management organisations, evaluate the waste disposal situation and derive forecasts and targets for waste management. Population and economic development and waste management factors are taken into account. In addition to the legal basis, analyses of waste volumes, their composition and the treatment and recycling of individual types of waste are also included in this analysis and the future specifications.
Such a concept therefore includes, for example, measures for waste avoidance and utilisation and, in particular, preparation for reuse and recycling.
The City of Chemnitz does not intend to make any fundamental changes to its very well-positioned and efficient municipal waste management system over the next seven years, according to the document now approved by the City Council, which sees the current operator model as a guarantee for fee stability and the provision of a comprehensive service.
The aim now is to further improve the statutory service and at the same time take further precautions to avoid and recycle waste.
The latter includes, for example, the energy recovery of biowaste, the optimisation of the residual waste treatment plant and the use of old landfill sites for photovoltaic systems. The ASR collects 18,000 tonnes of organic waste per year via the organic waste bin alone. Added to this are seasonal green waste from public and private areas. This adds up to around 34,000 tonnes of biomass per year, which could be used to produce biogas in the future and thus help to reduce CO2 emissions.
The planned online second-hand goods exchange, which is being set up under the auspices of the ASR, is based on the principle of reuse instead of disposal.
One measure of the waste management concept is a pilot project in Altendorf, in which the city is investigating further options for the collection of recyclable materials, e.g. for plastics, metals and small electrical appliances. On the basis of this data and pending legal bases, an even more differentiated collection and utilisation of recyclable materials should be possible.