Kassel/Giessen/Darmstadt. For tens of thousands of tons of waste annually, Hessen will need new capacities at the landfills in the state in the coming years. This was the result of a survey by the German Press Agency at the responsible regional councils in Kassel, Gießen and Darmstadt. Although there are currently no approval procedures for new landfill sites, planning approval procedures for expanding the capacities of some plants are pending. For example, for the landfill in Büttelborn in the Groß-Gerau district, whose operator is currently resisting the acceptance of demolition scrap from the former Biblis nuclear power plant in the neighboring Bergstrasse district. According to the Darmstadt Regional Council, no decision has yet been made.
According to the information, there are dozens of landfills in the areas of responsibility of the three authorities, for which the public waste disposal authorities are responsible under the Circular Economy Act. However, the praesidia each only see a good half dozen active landfill sites with significant residual capacities within their areas of responsibility. “The Hesse Waste Management Plan identifies the need for additional disposal capacities, especially in the area of disposal of uncontaminated or slightly contaminated excavated soil and construction waste,” says Darmstadt.
According to the Hesse waste management plan, a good 20 municipal and company landfills in the lower landfill classes were in operation in 2020. Landfills in which mineral waste such as building rubble or demolition waste up to contaminated but non-hazardous waste is stored.
However, this waste does not necessarily have to be landfilled in the federal state. “There is no legal obligation to dispose of the waste generated in Hesse that cannot be further processed exclusively in Hessian plants”, said the Ministry of Environment. This applies to the extent that the waste is not hazardous. Only mineral waste or waste after appropriate pre-treatment may be deposited in landfills. Household waste and the non-recyclable part of the bulky waste is incinerated in one of the four Hessian waste-to-energy plants.
According to the State Statistical Office, a good 2.9 million tons of household waste, such as organic, household, bulky waste or electrical appliances, were found in Hesse in 2021. According to the Ministry of the Environment, no significant permanent change in the amount of waste due to the corona pandemic could be demonstrated. (dpa)
