The circular ecenomy, in particular recycling

Latest Update: September 2023

Significance

As an industrial nation, Germany is particularly dependent on the reliable availability of natural resources. The protection of natural resources, their economical use and the extraction of secondary natural resources1 from waste or residues are highly important, not only for man and the environment, but also for German industry, which is dependent on imports for a number of natural resources it needs.
Particularly against the background of the increasing global demand for natural resources, but also the challenges posed by climate change, the focus is increasingly shifting to a circular economy in which the aim is to achieve closed natural resource cycles with as little material loss as possible as early as the product development stage.
The first legal foundations for waste disposal were already developed in some parts of the country at the beginning of the 19th century. The first uniform federal regulation was created in 1972 with the enactment of the Waste Disposal Act (AbfG).

Legal base

Environmental pollution, the scarcity of landfill sites in the 1980s and the growing realisation that materials and energy sources derived from nature are valuable resources have triggered the development of a modern recycling economy. This is largely shaped by the Recycling Management Act (KrWG), which is based on the EU Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC.2008 An essential element of the KrWG is the so-called five-level waste hierarchy to be applied by waste owners and producers in the following order of priority: 1. Avoidance, 2. Preparation for reutilisation, 3. Recycling, 4. Other form of recovery – in particular energy recovery and backfilling, 5. Disposal.
One component of German waste legislation is the transfer of product responsibility to producers and distributors, who must ensure that the generation of waste is reduced from product development and production through to use and that environmentally-sound recycling or disposal procedures are in place. A new dimension is the “duty of care” introduced in the KrWG in 2020, which requires companies to make sure that the fitness for use of their products is maintained and they do not become waste.
The goal of a modern recycling economy is a sustainable use of recyclable materials and the decoupling of waste volumes from economic performance, preferably a reduction in waste volumes with increasing economic growth. This goes hand-in-hand with the protection of water, soil and the climate by avoiding e.g. climate-damaging gases from landfills and achieving a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption through the use of recycled natural resources. In Germany, a ban on landfilling untreated municipal waste has been in place since 2005 in order to noticeably reduce the generation of climate-damaging gases from landfills.
The product responsibility for electric equipment was developed further with the amendment of the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) and the re-adoption of the ordinance on requirements for processing old electric and electronic equipment, which comes into force on 1 January 2022. The Federal Government extended the existing obligation of retailers of electrical equipment to include the large discounters, supermarkets and other grocery retailers with a shop area of 800 m² or more. The collection network has been expanded, enabling consumers to dispose of old electrical and electronic equipment more easily and separating them from unsorted municipal waste at an early stage. The processing ordinance extended the existing requirements, which were essentially geared towards the targeted removal of pollutants and contaminated products from waste, to include the goal of resource conservation and thus the increased recovery of resource-relevant substances.

With the current re-adoption of the packaging law,2 which primarily came into force on 3 July 2021, further regulations were applied in addition to the existing system of extended manufacturer responsibility that already existed in relation to packaging. For instance, since 1 January 2023 the final distributor must offer multi-use packaging alternatives when placing on the market single-use food packaging and single-use beverage cups. In addition, a mandatory minimum proportion of recycled material was introduced for certain single-use plastic drink bottles on 1 January.

As part of the implementation of the amendment to Directive (EU) 2019/904 (EU Single-Use Plastics Directive), the marketing of certain single-use plastic products (e.g. cutlery, plates, plastic straws and to-go packaging and cups made of expanded polystyrene) was initially prohibited by the Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Ordinance (EWKVerbotV).3 The aim of the prohibitions is to help to manage plastics more sustainably along the value chain, to reduce throwing away waste carelessly and to combat pollution in the sea.

The Single-Use Plastic Marking Ordinance (EWKKennzV), also services these objectives. It is intended that this will help to further reduce the use of products made of single-use plastic. The EWKKennzV stipulates that single-use plastic products must be marked to indicate that, if the product is not disposed of in the proper way, it will have negative implications for the environment. The establishment of a single-use plastics fund is the final step in the transposition of the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive into national law. Extended producer responsibility is being introduced for certain single-use plastic products (such as to-go food containers, bag and film packaging, drinks cups and containers, lightweight carrier bags, wet wipes, balloons and tobacco filters (products) containing plastic). The central element is the creation and management of a single-use plastics fund, based on the Single-Use Plastics Fund Act (EWKFondsG). The manufacturers of the single-use plastic products pay an annual levy as contribution to the fund. The public waste management organisations and other legal entities under public law entitled to claim from the fund receive compensation for the costs they have incurred with regard to the waste management services provided and the cleaning of public spaces, as well as for awareness-raising measures. Up to now, these costs have been borne by the general public. The levy is to be paid for the first time in 2025 on the basis of the quantity of products sold in the calendar year 2024. The Single-Use Plastics Fund is intended to help promote cleanliness in public spaces and reduce littering of the environment with single-use plastic products.
The regulations on the export of plastic waste from the EU were tightened as of 1 January 2021 by amendments to the European Waste Shipment Regulation. The changes stem from amendments to the Basel Convention adopted in May 2019 and amendments to an OECD decision adopted in September 2020. According to these amendments and decisions, the export of hazardous plastic waste and non-hazardous plastic waste that is more difficult to recycle from the EU to non-OECD countries is prohibited. Further restrictions apply to the export of non-hazardous plastic waste that is easily recyclable from the EU to non-OECD countries in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007.
The new Substitute Building Materials Ordinance,4 as part of umbrella ordinance, stipulates requirements that apply nationwide and are legally binding regarding the production, quality assurance and the inclusion of mineral replacement substances in certain technical structures. Mineral substitute building materials within the scope of the ordinance include recycling building materials from construction and demolition waste, slag from metal production and ashes from thermal processes. The substitute building materials ordinance assists the aims of the circular economy. The aim is also to improve acceptance for using substitute building materials. This umbrella ordinance entered into force on 1 August 2023.

Waste volume and waste recovery

The total gross waste volume in Germany in 2021 was 411.5 million tonnes, a further decrease from the previous peak in 2018 (417.2 million tonnes). Construction and demolition waste accounted for €222.0 million tonnes, slightly more than half of the total gross volume (approx. 53.9%). The volume of municipal waste, secondary waste (from waste treatment plants) at around 51.8 million tonnes and other waste, which comes mainly from production and industry, was considerably lower at around 49.6 million tonnes. Around 29.9 million tonnes of waste was generated from the extraction and processing of natural resources.
Around 336.9 million tonnes of waste were recycled in 2021, of which 288.5 million tonnes were recycled as materials and 48.1 million tonnes as energy.5 The recycling rate for all waste has risen continuously over the last ten years from 74.3% in 2006 to 82% in 2021 and it has remained stable in recent years.6 The recycling rate measures the proportion (input) of collected waste that is fed into a material or energy recovery process. The (input) recycling rate, in other words, the proportion of waste recycled or prepared for reuse has remained constant over the last three years at around 70%.7
A new, output-centred calculation method was introduced with the amendment of the EU Waste Framework Directive in 2018. The recycling rate is no longer based on the quantity of waste sent to the recycling plants (input quantity) but instead how much material is actually recycled (output quantity, after screening out material that cannot be recycled). The recycling figures achieved according to the new procedure will only become gradually available.; the estimate is approx. 53% for 2020.
Recycling involves processing waste so that the materials obtained can be used to replace primary raw materials required for new products, whereas products prepared for reuse by means of repairs and other methods are returned to be used for their original purpose. A comprehensive network of approx. 14,400 pre-treatment, treatment, sorting and processing plants8 has been established in Germany for the recycling and, in particular, material recovery of waste. The network includes soil treatment plants, building rubble processing plants, sorting and dismantling plants (inter alia) in addition to chemical-physical, biological and mechanical treatment plants.

Examples of recycling and usage rates 9

In 2020, 91.4 per cent of tinplate from private final consumption was recycled in Germany. The recycling rate for total consumption of tinplate has also been stable at around 90% since 2006.10 Around 18.8 million tonnes of steel scrap were used in steel production in 2021. This corresponds to a utilisation rate of 46.6%.11 In 2020, around 2.25 million tonnes of non-ferrous metals (such as copper, aluminium, zinc, bronze, lead and brass) were produced. Of this, around 1.04 million tonnes were secondary metals, corresponding to a share of around 46.3%.12
Aluminium recycling rates range from 90 % to 95 % depending on the sector. The energy input for recycling aluminium is up to 95% lower compared to primary production.13 In 2021, the usage rate was approx. 53%.14 The recycling rate for copper is about 45%. In copper production around 38% of the copper used is recycled copper.15 The share of secondary raw materials in copper production has temporarily decreased in 2021 compared to 2020, partly due to remediation measures in the recycling smelter sector.16
Paper and glass also have high recycling and usage rates while the recycling of plastics still requires additional efforts:
  • Paper/paperboard/cardboard, which is mainly collected separately, achieves a recycling rate of almost 100%.17 The usage rate of recovered paper was 79% in 2021.18 Recycling saves primary natural resources such as wood, kaolin and lime, as well as water and energy. However, paper is not infinitely recyclable, since the fibres become progressively shorter during recycling and fresh fibers have to be added again.
  • In the case of glass packaging collection, the recycling rate also amounts to almost 100%.19 Today, every glass packaging unit consists of up to 60% recycled glass, and for green glass the usage rate is as high as 95%.20 The recovery of the glass reduces the demand for the primary natural resource which is quartz sand.
  • In 2021, a total of 65.5% of the packaging plastics collected via the dual systems were mechanically recovered (recycled). In total, around 5.9 million tonnes of used packaging from private final consumption was recycled in 2021. This represents an increase of around 3% compared to the previous year.21 Around 35% of the total plastic waste generated (1.96 out of 5.67 million tonnes) was recycled in 2021, 64% of plastic waste was recycled for energy purposes and 0.4% was recycled as natural resources or chemically.22 The recycling rates for 2021, some of which differ significantly from previous years, are due to the change in data collection based on EU Implementing Decision 2019/665 in the packaging sector.23
  • In 2021 the recycling rate for old electric devices was 84.5% and the utilisation rate was almost 98%. However, only just under 39% of the average amount of old electric devices placed on the market in the previous three years were actually collected in 2021 24. In order to increase this quantity and to achieve the collection rate of 65 % set by the EU from 2019 25, the Federal Government amended the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act in 2021 to extend the existing obligation of retailers of electrical equipment to include the large discounters, supermarkets and other grocery retailers with a shop area of 800 m² or more. As a result, the collection network is going to be expanded, enabling consumers to dispose of old electrical and electronic equipment more easily and separate them from unsorted municipal waste at an early stage. However, these measures will probably only have a noticeable effect in the next few years.

In the building sector, around 90% of the non-hazardous mineral construction and demolition waste generated is recycled. The processing of mineral building waste enabled the manufacture of 76.9 million tonnes of recycled building materials in 2020. Of these 50.3% were used in road construction, 23% in earthworks, 7.2% in other applications (mainly landfill construction) and 19.5% as aggregates in asphalt and concrete production.26

The building and waste disposal industry thus makes an important contribution to a sustainable and resource-efficient society. Thanks to the collection, sorting and material-based and energy-related recycling of waste, this industry not only fulfils an important ecological function, it also supplies our economy with natural resources. Overall, it now provides one sixth of the natural resources needed in Germany.27 The recycling industry also contributes significantly to Germany’s economic performance.28 It provides jobs for around 209,100 (2021) employees in nearly 7,200 municipal and private companies and has a turnover of around €48.3 billion.29 The gross value added amounts to 30.3 billion euros.30 The substitution of primary resources with secondary resources is also associated with significant savings in energy consumption, for  example.31

Future Challenges/Outlook

Germany has made a number of efforts to better close material cycles and to manage resources more sparingly. Nevertheless, there are several areas where there is potential for improvement.
For example, it is mainly the heavy, easily-recoverable natural resources and bulk metals such as iron, steel, copper, aluminium and very valuable precious metals that are recycled. In addition to the economic benefits, this is also due to the systematic nature of the existing recycling rates, which contribute to neglecting the recovery of low-concentration special elements. There is a need for action and catching up, particularly with regard to the strategically-important natural resources that are needed for new developments, the extraction of which can be problematic from an ecological and human rights perspective.32 They are partially used in very small quantities in e.g. electrical appliances, mobile phones, computers, solar panels and circuit boards. Recovery is often not yet economically feasible, even if it is sometimes technically possible and in some cases ecologically sensible. The aim must be to continue to foster research and development and, above all, to ensure that new processes and technologies come onto the market.
A very resource-intensive sector of the economy is the building and construction sector. In terms of quantity, not only is the consumption of natural resources very high here, but the largest and most relevant waste streams can be found in this sector. Although more than 90% of these quantities are already recycled today, this type of recycling is usually not a high-grade recycling, but a use in landfill construction, for backfilling excavations or as a substructure in road construction. Gypsum-based construction waste is even predominantly dumped in landfills, although gypsum is particularly well suited for use in a closed material cycle. Overall, the opportunities for higher-value use of construction waste, e.g. as an aggregate material for concrete in building construction, are hardly used; so there is still potential for development.
In the coalition agreement, the coalition partners have undertaken to promote the circular economy as an effective climate and resource protection, opportunity for sustainable economic development and jobs. In this context, the goal of reducing primary raw material consumption and creating closed material cycles was agreed. To this end, the existing legal framework is to be adapted, clear goals must be defined and waste legislation reviewed. In its final report33 presented on 19 October 2023, the Recycling Raw Materials Dialogue Platform identified a total of 94 options for action to strengthen the recycling of metals and industrial minerals. In the report, representatives from science, business, politics and society propose the following overarching measures for eight material flow-specific areas:
  • Promoting recycling-friendly product design,
  • Creating clear guidelines and framework conditions,
  • Establishing the circular economy more firmly as an overarching topic in legislation as a whole,
  • Making greater use of the potential of digitalisation (e.g. in collection, recording, sorting).
Furthermore, existing natural resources policies are to be bundled in a “National Circular Economy Strategy”.34 The National Circular Economy Strategy (NKWS) is being developed in a broad discussion process within the Federal Government, including social stakeholders and the scientific community 35. This process is supported by a research project. The dialogue process with broad stakeholder involvement started in spring 2023 and the strategy is to be adopted in 2024.
The natural resources strategy and the circular economy strategy should be closely interlinked and complement each other. The natural resources strategy supports companies in ensuring a secure, responsible and sustainable supply of natural resources, including the use of secondary resources. Besides, it should be examined whether supporting or supplementary financing instruments can secure demand for recycling natural resources and bring these technologies to the market in a timely manner through suitable investments.
The EU’s Circular Economy Package of 2018, as well as the design of the Commission’s 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan, oblige the member states to take many other measures to strengthen the waste hierarchy and the circular economy. For example, member states must take measures to promote the re-utilisation of products. The availability of spare parts, operating manuals and technical information is also to be improved.
In November 2022, the EU Commission presented its proposal for a packaging regulation to replace the current Packaging Directive. The draft regulation is currently being negotiated in the Council and Parliament. As part of the negotiations in the Council, Germany is in favour of ambitious and practical regulations.

1 DNR: Glossary. URL: https://www.dnr.de/rohstoffpolitik-20/glossar/grundbegriffe/primaer-und-sekundaerrohstoffe/  (Accessed on 4 July 2024).

2 Law on implementing the requirements of the Single-Use Plastics Directive and the Waste Framework Directive in the packaging and other laws dated 9 June 2021.

3 Ordinance prohibiting the placing on the market of certain single-use plastic products and products made from oxo-degradable plastic (EWKVerbotV) dated 20 January 2021.

4 Ordinance on requirements to include mineral substitute building materials in technical structures (ErsatzbaustoffV) dated 9 July 2021.

5 For the purposes of this Act, material recovery shall mean any recovery operation other than energy recovery and processing into materials intended for use as fuel or other means of energy production. Material recovery includes, in particular, preparation for reuse, recycling and backfilling (§3 (23a) KrWG). Energy-related recovery, on the other hand, means the preparation of waste for thermal recovery by means of incineration. However, a portion of the waste is also incinerated to dispose of it.

6 Destatis (2023): Waste Balance 2021. URL: https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Umwelt/Abfallwirtschaft/Tabellen/liste-abfallbilanz-kurzuebersicht.htl#647044 (Accessed on 17 July 2023).

7 Destatis (2023): Waste Balance 2021.

8 Federal Association of the German Waste Disposal, Water and natural resources Industry (BDE) (2024): Status report of the German recycling industry 2024 (Statusbericht der deutschen Kreislaufwirtschaft 2024). URL: https://statusbericht-kreislaufwirtschaft.de/ (Accesssed on 13 February 2024).

9 The recycling rate (calculated on the basis of the weight of waste sent to recycling facilities) differs from the usage rate (which is the percentage of materials actually recycled and their actual use in production).

10 Trade association for scrap, e-scrap and vehicle recycling  (bvse) (2022): Recycling News. URL: https://www.bvse.de/schrott-elektronikgeraete- recycling/nachrichten-schrott-eschrott-kfz/8234-weissblechverpackungen-aus-privatem-endverbrauch-zu-91-4-prozent-stofflich-recycelt.html (Accessed on 17 July 2023).

11 Federal Association for Secondary Raw Materials and Waste Disposal (Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung) (2023) Press release entitled “Schrottverbrauch der Stahlwerke in 2022 um 10% gesunken” ( Steelworks’ scrap consumption fell by 10% in 2022). URL: https://www.bvse.de/schrott-elektronikgeraete-recycling/pressemitteilungen-schrott/9783-bvse-schrottverbrauch-der-stahlwerke-in-2022-um-10-prozent-gesunken.html (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

12 Metal Trade Association (Wirtschaftsvereinigung Metalle) (2020): Metal Statistics 2020. URL: https://www.wvmetalle.de/presse/alle-publikationen/artikeldetail/?tx_artikel_feartik el%5Bfile%5D=e4ce262942322d1d9c622a02d74ca25da153e069&tx_artikel_feartikel%5Bsrc%5D=7990&tx_artikel_feartikel%5Baction%5D=download& (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

13 Aluminium Germany e.V.: Sustainability and recycling. URL: https://www.aluminiumdeutschland.de/themen/nachhaltigkeit-und-recycling/ (Accessed on 4 Januar 2024).

14 Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) (2022): Natural Resources Situation 2021. URL: https://www.bgr.bund.de/DE/Themen/Min_rohstoffe/Downloads/rohsit-2021.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4 (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

15 Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) (2022): Natural Resources Situation 2021. URL: https://www.bgr.bund.de/DE/Themen/Min_rohstoffe/Downloads/rohsit-2021.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4 (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

16 Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) (2022): Natural Resources Situation 2021. URL: https://www.bgr.bund.de/DE/Themen/Min_rohstoffe/Downloads/rohsit-2021.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4 (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

17 Destatis (2023): Waste Balance 2021.

18 Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung (Federal Association for Secondary Raw Materials and Waste Disposal) (2023) Opportunities and limits of waste paper recycling. URL:  https://www.bvse.de/papier-recycling-2/chancen-grenzen.html#:~:text=In%20Deutschland%20erreichte%20die%20Altpapier,Es%20gibt%20jedoch%20Grenzen (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

19 Destatis (2023): Waste Balance 2021.

20 Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (2020): Energy transition in industry. Potential and interactions with the energy sector. Glass industry fact sheet. URL: https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/Downloads/E/energiewende-in-der-industrie-ap2a-branchensteck-brief-glas.pdf?  blob=publicationFile&v=4 (Accessed on 9 December 2022).

21 Central Packaging Register Foundation (Stiftung Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister):  Packaging recycling volumes for private final consumption 2018-2021. URL: https://www.verpackungsregister.org/fileadmin/Auswertungen/ZSVR_Auswertung_Recyclingquoten_2018-2021.pdf (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

22 BKV (2022) Material flow diagram for plastics in Germany 2021: facts and figures on the life cycle of plastics, p.32. URL: https://www.bvse.de/dateien2020/2-PDF/01-Nachrichten/03-Kunststoff/2022/Kurzfassung_Stoffstrombild_2021_13102022_1_.pdf. (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

23 BKV (2022) Material flow diagram for plastics in Germany 2021: facts and figures on the life cycle of plastics, p.32. URL: https://www.bvse.de/dateien2020/2-PDF/01-Nachrichten/03-Kunststoff/2022/Kurzfassung_Stoffstrombild_2021_13102022_1_.pdf. (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

24 The Federal Environment and Consumer Protection Ministry (2023) Reporting obligation pursuant to Art. 16 (4) of Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment. URL: https://www.bmuv.de/fileadmin/Daten_BMU/Download_PDF/Abfallwirtschaft/elektronikgeraete_daten_2021_bf.pdf (Accessed on 14 February 2024).

Destatis (2023). Waste electrical and electronic equipment accepted for primary treatment in 2021. URL: https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Gesellschaft-Umwelt/Umwelt/Abfallwirtschaft/Tabellen/erstbehandlung-ers-2021.html?nn=211528 (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

25  German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) (2022): Collection and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment: Three key figures count. URL: https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/daten/ressourcen-abfall/verwertung-entsorgung-ausgewaehlter-abfallarten/elektro-elektronikaltgeraete#sammlung-und-verwertung-von-elektro-und-elektronikaltgeraten-drei-kennzahlen-zahlen (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

26Association of the German building materials industry, the construction industry and the waste management industry (Verbund der deutschen Baustoffindustrie, der Bauwirtschaft und der Entsorgungswirtschaft) (2023). Circular economy in construction. URL https://kreislaufwirtschaft-bau.de/ (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

27 German Building Materials Association – Quarried natural resources (2016): Study “The demand for primary and secondary natural resources of the quarried natural resources industry until 2035 in Germany” URL: https://www.baustoffindustrie.de/fileadmin/user_upload/bbs/Dateien/2016-04-07_BBS_Rohstoffstudie.pdf (Accessed on 14 July 2024).

28 The status report on the circular economy is published every two years and also includes the upstream and downstream value creation stages of technology and trade in the statistics on the circular economy. URL: https://statusbericht-kreislaufwirtschaft.de/ (Accessed on 7 Februar 2024).

29  Turnover figures: Destatis: Statistisches Unternehmensregister. Rechtliche Einheiten nach Wirtschaftsgruppen und Größenklassen des Umsatzes im Berichtsjahr 2021 (Wirtschaftsgruppen 38.1; 38.2; 38.3; 39.0)
Employment figures: Bundesagentur für Arbeit (2022) – Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit (2022): Tabellen, Beschäftigte nach Wirtschaftszweigen (WZ2008), Stichtag Dezember 2021, WKZ 38 und 39. URL: https://statistik.arbeitsagentur.de/Statistikdaten/Detail/202112/iiia6/beschaeftigung-sozbe-wz-heft/wz-heft-d-0-202112-xlsx.xlsx?__blob=publicationFile&v=1 (Accessed on 13. February 2024).

30 Destatis (2024) URL: https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/Wirtschaft/Volkswirtschaftliche-Gesamtrechnungen-Inlandsprodukt/Publikationen/Downloads-Inlandsprodukt/inlandsprodukt-endgueltig-pdf-2180140.pdf?__blob=publicationFile Seite 112 (WZ 37-39) (Accessed on 7 February 2024).

31 German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) (2019): Material flow-oriented determination of the contribution of the secondary raw materials industry to the conservation of primary raw materials and the increase of resource productivity. URL: https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/1410/publikationen/2019-03-27_ texte_34-2019_sekundaerrohstoffwirtschaft.pdf (Accessed on 14 July 2023).

32 These include the 17 metals of the rare earth group such as neodymium, but also conflict raw materials such as tin, tantalum (coltan), tungsten or even platinum and lithium.

33  Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (2023). Press release: Mehr Versorgungssicherheit durch Recycling von Metallen und Industriemineralen – Dialogplattform Rohstoffrecycling überreicht Abschlussbericht. URL: https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/Pressemitteilungen/2023/10/20231019-mehr-versorgungssicherheit-durch-recycling-von-metallen-und-industriemineralen.html (Accessed on 20 Oktober 2023); Dialog platform for recycling raw materials (2023). Abschlussbericht. URL: Dialogplattform Recyclingrohstoffe – Publikationen (Accessed 20 Oktober 2023).

34 Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (2023). National Circular Economy Strategy. URL: https://www.bmuv.de/themen/wasser-ressourcen-abfall/kreislaufwirtschaft/nationale-kreislaufwirtschaftsstrategie-nkws (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

35Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (2023). National Circular Economy Strategy – Information platform. URL: https://dialog-nkws.de/bmuv/de/home (Accessed on 1 September 2023).

RECYCLING

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Glossar

In Federal States in which legislation does not include an excavation law and the State-level Nature Conservation Law does not apply to the extraction of non-energetic, ground-based natural resources in the context of dry excavations, this type of natural resource extraction falls within the scope of the relevant state building regulations.

Legal limitations also exist: State building regulations apply to the excavation of solid rock (limestone, basalt, etc.), for example, in quarries with an area of up to 10 hectares (ha) in which no blasting is carried out. In the event that this area is exceeded, or if water bodies are formed after completion of the extraction operations, the German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) and/or Water Resources Act (WHG) are applicable.
In Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, the above-ground excavation of non-energetic, ground-based natural resources in the context of dry excavations is determined at state level by the existing excavation laws (AbgrG). For the excavation of solid rock (limestone, basalt, etc.) in quarries where blasting does not occur, the AbgrG applies to sites with an area of up to 10 ha. In the event that this area is exceeded, or if water bodies are formed after completion of the extraction operations, the German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) and/or Water Resources Act (WHG) are applicable. In the other Federal States, this type of natural resources extraction is regulated by the respective state building regulations or by the state-level nature conservation laws.

In general, the AbgrG applies to those raw materials the excavation of which is not directly subject to mining law or the mining authorities. These raw materials include (in particular) gravel, sand, clay, loam, limestone, dolomite and other rocks, bog mud and clays. However, the jurisdiction between AbgrG and mining law can vary from case to case in the case of certain raw materials, such as quartz gravels. The requested authority must always verify its own jurisdiction in each case. The AbgrG also encompasses surface area usage and the subsequent rehabilitation of the area.
The German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG) is the most important and practice-relevant law in the field of environmental law. It constitutes the basis for the approval of industrial and commercial installations. In the natural resources extraction industry, quarrying companies must have approval to extract stones and earth. Every quarrying area of 10 hectares or more must undergo a full approval procedure, including public participation and UVP (environmental impact assessment). A more simplified approval procedure is used for quarrying areas of less than 10 hectares.

The sphere of responsibility for the legal immission control approval procedure is fully specified in the Immission Control Acts of the Federal States. The Federal States are tasked with the administrative enforcement of the approval procedure. Each individual state’s Environment Ministry – the highest local immission protection authority – usually bears the responsibility for this procedure. Subordinate authorities include regional councils, district authorities and lower-level administrative authorities. Administrative jurisdiction generally lies with the lower-level administrative authorities.
The GDP measures the value of goods and services produced domestically (creation of value) within a given period (quarter, year). The Federal Office of Statistics calculates the GDP as follows: production value minus intermediate consumption = the gross value added; plus taxes on products and minus subsidies = GDP
The gross value added is calculated by deducting intermediate consumption from the production values, so it only includes the value added created during the production process. The gross value added is valued at manufacturing prices, i.e. without the taxes due (product taxes), but including the product subsidies received.

During the transition from gross value added (at manufacturing prices) to GDP, the net taxes (product taxes less product subsidies) are added globally to arrive at an assessment of the GDP at market prices’. Source: Destatis
The planning approval procedure under mining law is used for the approval procedure of a general operating plan for projects which require an environmental impact assessment (§§ 52(2a), in conjunction with 57 a of the BBergG).
There are different definitions and methodological approaches at the international as well as at the national level as to what subsidies are and how they are calculated. According to the definition of the German government’s subsidy report, this report considers federal subsidies for private companies and economic sectors (ie grants as cash payments and tax breaks as special tax exemptions) which are relevant to the budget. Subsidies at the federal level can be viewed via the subsidy reports of the federal states (see Appendix 5 of the German government subsidy report).
In compliance with § 68(1), Water Resources Act (WHG), the excavation of landowners’ natural resources such as gravel, sand, marl, clay, loam, peat and stone in wet extraction operations requires a planning approval procedure. The reason for this is that groundwater is exposed in wet extraction, resulting in above-ground water. The planning approval procedure is implemented by lower-level water authorities.

The procedural steps of the planning approval procedure are governed by the general provisions of §§ 72 to 78 of the Administrative Procedures Act (VerwVfG). Within the meaning of § 68(3), nos. 1 and 2 of the WHG, the plan may only be established or approved if an impairment of the common good is not to be expected and other requirements of the WHG as well as other public-law provisions are fulfilled.