Collecting Recyclables in the Czech Republic - Realistic Targets: bifa Umweltinstitut

In the Czech Republic, the predominant part of urban waste is landfilled. Within the scope of a joint research project, the Technical University of Brünn is investigating possibilities for following other procedures in waste management.

A part of this work is to estimate the amount of waste that will be available in the future for generating energy. Use for energy competes with use as a material. According to official statistics, approximately 30% of urban waste is utilised separately. We therefore have far to go before the specifications of the EU Waste Guideline (50% collection of recyclables) is reached. In the actualisation of the waste management plan, which was decided upon at the end of 2014, the Czech Ministry for the Environment has specified demanding degrees of utilisation, such as 80% of the sales packaging, put on the market.

For the Technical University of Brünn, bifa is investigating the recovery rates that can be achieved for paper, glass, plastics, metals and biowaste under different boundary conditions, and the measures, with which higher recovery rates can be attained. Only a portion of the material collected is suitable for being recycled. The proportion of waste from sorting activities that can be used for energy is estimated on the basis of experience in Bavaria. With that, the basis for realistic targets for separate waste collection of recyclable materials is created in order to estimate the amount of waste available in the future for its energy value.