Commercial Waste Ordinance

On August 1, 2017, the revised Commercial Waste Ordinance (GewAbfV, see right) came into force. This leads to new requirements for both waste producers and waste disposers.

As before, the ordinance essentially regulates the handling of commercial municipal waste and certain construction and demolition waste. Private households are not affected by the ordinance.

The ordinance, as before, mandates separate collection of various waste fractions, unless already required by special regulations (e.g., batteries or electronic devices).

The following must be collected and disposed of separately:

• Biowaste
• Glass
• Wood
• Plastics
• Metals
• Paper/cardboard
• Textiles
   

An exemption from the aforementioned separate collection requirements is possible if separate collection is technically not feasible (e.g., due to spatial constraints) or economically unreasonable (e.g., due to low quantities).

Newly introduced are documentation obligations. The documentation requirements are governed by § 4 paragraph 5 GewAbfV, with the scope described as an example. If exemptions are claimed, they should be included in the documentation and sufficiently justified. The documentation must be presented upon request by the authorities.

If the above-mentioned fractions are not separately collected, the resulting mixed waste must be sent to a mechanical pretreatment facility.

Producers must continue to use at least one waste container from the public legal disposal provider or a third party commissioned by them, the so-called mandatory residual waste bin.

Additionally, the waste producer must obtain confirmation from the operator of the pretreatment facility that the required equipment is available and a sorting rate of 85% is achieved.

Here too, exemptions from the aforementioned requirements are possible if the delivery of the waste mixture to an appropriate pretreatment facility is technically not feasible or economically unreasonable. This must also be documented and justified.

Another possibility exists if the waste producer can prove that in the previous year, at least 90% of their commercial municipal waste was subjected to separate collection (and this separate collection is still practiced). Then they can forego sending the remaining 10% to a pretreatment facility and dispose of the mixture as waste for recovery. Compliance with this separate collection rate must be documented annually by March 31 of the following year, and this documentation must additionally be reviewed by an expert.

Construction and demolition waste must also be kept separate and disposed of. Separate collection is required for:

• Gypsum-based building materials
• Concrete
• Bituminous mixtures
• Insulation materials
• Tiles
• Glass
• Wood
• Ceramics
• Plastics
• Metals
• Bricks
   

Documentation of separate collection is also required here, exemptions are only possible under the aforementioned conditions and must also be documented and sufficiently justified. The documentation must also only be presented upon request by the authorities. Documentation obligations are waived if less than 10 m³ of waste is generated.

If the mixtures predominantly contain plastics, metals, and wood, they must be sent to a mechanical pretreatment facility. If, instead, they predominantly contain concrete, bricks, tiles, or ceramics, they must be sent to a processing facility.

The waste producer must also obtain confirmation from the operator of the pretreatment facility that the required equipment is available and a sorting rate of 85% is achieved. Please also note the transitional provision in § 14 GewAbfV.

If you have further questions, the staff of the Lower Waste Management Authority will be happy to assist you.

For questions regarding requirements for operators of pretreatment and processing facilities, please contact the staff of the Lower Waste Management Authority. This also applies to further general and case-specific questions regarding the GewAbfV.