Comments on: Trash Planet: Germany

By: Nancy J.

Nancy J. — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:13:28 +0000

Undoubtably, Germany is a leader in waste diversion, but this article is misleading. It is unnecessary to restate what has already been said, instead I shall provide additional information: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,467239,00.html

Incineration is not completely ‘the enemy’ as was stated before, but the last step of a set of processes by which waste resources are maximized until they have no other use than for energetic purposes. ‘The greatest enemy’ remains to be what practices the United States does at this juncture: all the environmental impacts of various transformation technologies of waste (those include incineration, pyrolysis, distillation, or biological conversion other than composting, gasification, or biomass conversion), landfilling reaped the worst of all environmental practices.

The message is clear, waste management practices in the U.S. need to improve. Germany can serve as a model, but even Germany’s system is not near perfection.

By: Renaldo

Renaldo — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:00:26 +0000

Actually, the “packaging waste” issue that a couple of commenters mention is not that relevant here: the 70% figure is a pretty accurate reflection of German recycling and waste efficiency. If everything is included–like how Germans recycle automobiles–it is probably higher, with an even wider discrepancy compared with the US. Having lived in Germany for a decade there’s no question that Germans have an incomparably higher “Community Intelligence Quotient” than in the US, and a much greater awareness of the planet as a fragile ecosystem with limited resources.

Since the rise of Reaganism and the destructive effects of conservative values in the US, there has been a progressive erosion of community, infrastructure, planning, and the “common-wealth”. Socially conscious Americans are as much to blame as the conservatives themselves for not fighting this rise in American fascism. Indeed, America has much more to learn from Germany than just recycling.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 14:19:52 +0000

If you take a moment to compare the data sets you will realize the 70% applies only to Germany’s packaging waste, not all waste as the author implies. I was unable to find a definition of “packaging waste” in Germany’s data. It is safe to say “packaging waste” does not include food scraps and yard waste which comprise 25.3% of all U.S. waste. While everyone agrees it is in our best interest to maximize the efficiency of recycling streams, there are thousands of rural situations within the U.S. where processing and transportation of recyclables would use more embodied energy than it conserves.

By: Felix Staratschek

Felix Staratschek — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:00:30 +0000

70% recycling- level for germany is not true. The link leads to a colum diagram which only shows packaging- waste.
Germany has a powerfull lobby against better recycling. Incineration is the enemy of recycling, because its needs somethimhg for the fire.
And it is a big business for elctric power companies to produce the electricity for the synthezis of all sunstances, which are burned.
The concept of kryo- recycling is ignored since more than a decade: http://sites.google.com/site/kryorecycling
Some people say, that incinerastion is energy- recycling, but that is not true. Recycling is the true energy- recycling, becuase it saves the energy, which was used to create a material.

By: IamIan

IamIan — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 11:06:25 +0000

Source Articles ( thanks for providing links ) … they are not defining ‘waste’ the same way.

EU reference is for packaging only … U.S. reference is for Municipal Solid Waste only.

Nice article , but I think it should have been mentioned that the two sources are not using the term ‘waste’ the same way.

By: Jan

Jan — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:34:36 +0000

I am German and lived in Seattle for a while. I didn’t know what to do with old batteries, so I went to a store that sold batteries and asked for a recycling bin for batteries the way I would do here in Germany. I was very suprised when the lady told me to throw them into the “normal” trash like all the other stuff. Having no other alternative I did just that but felt bad for several days. Talking about conscientiousness! :-)

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By: Jason G

Jason G — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:23:51 +0000

Just giving more praise for this article. Incredibly informative and comprehensive, not to mention inspiring. I will go on record saying I’m a trash hater!

By: JoAnn Yukimura

JoAnn Yukimura — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:05:59 +0000

Thank you for a very informative and inspiring article. My question is how much of the trash that does occur is burned or incinerated? What percentage is recycled vs. burned in Germany?

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