Campaign to Stop Burning Recyclables in Germany

Verwerten statt Verbrennen (Recycling instead of Burning) is a campaign run by the German NGO NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union) to stop the burning of recyclables in Germany.

Every household in Germany produces 1 ton of waste per year—that's 42 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) per year for the whole of Germany. More than 25 million tons of MSW per year are incinerated, and more incinerators are under construction. However, more incinerators are not needed. The fact is, while Germany recycles more than half of its waste, it is still burning many recyclables (mainly plastics).

To stop this, the NABU campaign is asking the German Parliament to introduce a mandatory "recycling bin," where the recyclables would be separated from the residuals, in order to stop the burning of recyclable materials.

Despite what is portrayed outside the country by the incineration industry, the German people support recycling and are often frustrated about the quantity of recyclables that end up in the incinerators. In fact, more than two-thirds of Germans see waste source separation at home as their first action to fight climate change.

The reason Germany continues to build incinerators is because the country can count on importing waste from neighbouring countries such as Italy and Poland. This approach, however, discourages recycling policies and contradicts the proximity principle, according to which waste should be managed as close as possible to where it is produced. Moreover, it is true that the German regions with the highest incineration rates are those that recycle the least and vice-versa—proof that incineration clearly competes with recycling for waste materials.

The campaign Verwerten statt Verbrennen highlights the fact that, despite the comparatively good waste management system in Germany, a significant amount of recyclables are being incinerated instead of recycled. You can support the campaign by clicking on the "like" button on the Facebook page of the campaign:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Verwerten-statt-Verbrennen/113095328743318

NABU is one of the oldest environmental associations in German, with more than 450,000 members and sponsors—making it the largest membership association in Germany. NABU is also the second-largest partner in BirdLife International, a global partnership of more than 100 conservation organizations.