Waste | Resources | Umweltbundesamt

For seven years, the Marine Litter Round Table has been developing recommendations for actions against plastic pollution in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The contributors are meeting in Berlin with patrons, Federal Minister for the Environment Steffi Lemke, Minister for Environment of Lower Saxony Christian Meyer and UBA President Dirk Messner to present results. read more

The German Environment Agency (UBA) recommends measures to increase the lifespan of technological devices and gives advice on how consumers can protect themselves. read more

A broad alliance of politicians, businesses and associations is campaigning for better organic waste collection. On 26 May, the "Organic Waste Bin Day" will be declared for the first time in Germany. The aim is to increase the amount of separately collected organic waste and to reduce the amount of incorrectly discarded waste. read more

The new Single-Use Plastic Fund Act requires manufacturers to pay the cost of waste from single-use plastic products generated in streets or parks. For this, companies will pay a levy into the Single-Use Plastics Fund, which is managed by the German Environment Agency (UBA) and administered via the digital platform DIVID. read more

The shortage of housing is a problem in many large cities and metropolitan areas. The building sector has for years failed to meet its environmental and climate targets. A position paper by the German Environment Agency (UBA) and the Commission for Sustainable Building (KNBau) at UBA investigates how affordable housing can be built without harm to the environment and human health. read more

100 major copper, iron ore and bauxite (“aluminium ore”) mine sites worldwide have been assessed for their environmental hazard potentials. Results have been published in an interactive map with a number of filter functions. In particular, companies can use the map to analyse environmental risks along supply chains and to support their environmental due diligence. read more

Whether coffee-to-go cups or cigarette butts, too much single-use plastic is landing on our streets and in parks. Cities and municipalities in particular incur costs of up to 434 million euros per year for collection and cleaning, says a study by the German Environment Agency (UBA). New EU regulation states that the manufacturers of single-use products will have to bear these costs. read more

A coalition of policymakers, business and associations is running “Action weeks for organic waste bins in Germany” to advocate for improvements in the collection of organic waste. For four weeks from 7 November 2022, the spotlight will be on local authorities in Germany as they run campaigns on the ground to promote the separate collection of organic waste. read more