German Waste Legislation and Sustainable Development

Guest lecture by Dr. Helmut Schnurer, Section Head at the Federal Environment Ministry, at the workshop being organised by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundationat the International Institute forAdvanced Studies (IIAS) in Kyoto/Japan vom 29.11. - 1.12.2002

In recent decades, the industrialised countries, as well as many developing and newly industrialising countries, have been confronted with a sharp increase in waste volumes. The reasons for thistrend include the escalating consumption of mass-produced, often cheaply manufactured goods, the trend towards a throw-away society, coupled with rising wages, all of which make it more expensive torepair an item than to purchase a replacement for defective goods. However, it is not only waste volumes which have grown. At the same time, production processes and products have become morecomplex, with the result that production waste and waste products now consist of a wide variety of different materials, and often contain harmful organic and inorganic pollutants as well.