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German Case Study:

 

Germany have 5 main ways of disposing their waste, this includes:

1. Landfill

2. Incineration

3. Recycling

4. Nuclear

5. Toxic

 

The first, Landfill, has a history that shows that most of the HIC’s waste is sent to Landfill sites. In 2008, Germany had a total of 160 landfill sites. The geology of the country has made landfill a cheap and easy option; an example of a landfill site is Luebeck.  Likewise, the geology is good because the impermeable rocks allow the waste to seep right through. However, before the waste is sent to landfills, they first go through treatment separately.

 

Furthermore, Incineration has an immense part-take in waste disposal within Germany for instance Darmstadt. A majority of Germany’s non-recyclables is disposed through incineration. In 2009, there were 68 incinerators that had an annual capacity of 68 million tons of waste and the government is potentially going to build an additional 100 incinerators in the next decade. This plan was originated to generate profit through charging other countries for their waste to be incinerated within the Incineration sites of Germany. For example, Naples sends 160,000 tons of waste to Germany yearly, by charging countries; Germany could make mammoth amounts of surplus money, therefore, triggering more economic growth. Also, energy from the incinerators offers local homes and businesses energy.

 

Moreover, another waste disposal method is Recycling. Germany is statistically proven as the world’s leading recyclers after figures show that the Europeans recycle 60% of their waste produced. The government names the recycling scheme as ‘Grune Punkt’ and that the scheme guarantees that “materials will be recycled” plus, households would have to pay between €100 and €200 for recycled products. This money is then spent on collecting and dividing waste. Similarly, Germany sends any of the non-recyclables to other countries for their use. Comparably, plastic shampoo bottles are turned into sandals in another country such as Indonesia.

 

As a fourth disposal method, nuclear waste is either stored in deep shafts or sent abroad due to the fact that Germany does not have any reprocessing sites therefore, they export the waste to Britain, Russia or France where it is then cleaned in specialist centers such as Sellafield. Besides that, the future of low-level waste is planned to be stored in Konrad. Although, harmful polluting materials such as e-waste are sent to mainly developing countries such as India and China for recycling purposes. The safety and environment laws in Germany would make the handling of the toxic metals too expensive locally. 

 

Finally, the fifth and final way Germany dispose of their waste is through Toxic. Although there may not be too much about Toxic, the majority of the toxic waste in Germany is exported for disposal. During the years of 1990 and 1995, Germany exported its waste to Egypt, but in 1992, 480 tons of waste was sent to Albania for removal.