Publications | Umweltbundesamt

Waste | Resources

Urban Mining – Resource Conservation in the Anthropocene

Urban Mining has been on everyone’s lips for some years, being the quasi-mining of raw materials in urban areas both in cities and communities. Urban Mining requires more and better guidelines and a far-sighted strategy for material flow management. A management concept including a prospective knowledge and decision base for the secondary raw material industry and for local governments is needed....read more

Waste | Resources, Water

A benefit sharing mechanism appropriate for the Common Heritage of Mankind

Workshop summary

This report contains a summary of the international deep sea mining expert workshop „A benefit sharing mechanism appropriate for the Common Heritage of Mankind”. The overall objective was to stimulate debate on the Common Heritage of Mankind and its benefit sharing element by discussing first ideas how the benefit sharing required by Article 140 paragraph 2 UNCLOS could be appropriately conceptual...read more

Waste | Resources

Sewage Sludge Disposal in the Federal Republic of Germany

The novel sewage sludge ordinance entered into force on 03/10/2017. Therefore for wastewater treatment plants with more than 100,000 respectively 50,000 populations equivalents the utilization of sewage sludge on soil is only possible until 2029 respectively 2032. Afterwards phosphorus recovery is mandatory for sludge with minimum 20 g phosphorus/ kg as well as for sewage sludge ashes. Even now mo...read more

Climate | Energy, Air, Waste | Resources, Health, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters, Transport

Urban Environmental Protection

The strategic research agenda of the German Environment Agency

With this strategic research agenda, UBA identifies future research priorities for the development of urban areas which are based on environmental quality goals. Interfaces between disciplines and knowledge gaps in environmentally-oriented, socially responsible and health-promoting urban development are identified.read more

Waste | Resources

Annex to the final report: Resource and Climate Protection through integrated Waste Management Projects in Emerging Economies and Developing Countries – Example India

On the example of the Indian cities of Bangalore, Bhopal and Haridwar, it is explained which climate protection potential the introduction of integrated waste management in emerging and developing countries holds. In order to complement the final report, this annex report compiles the detailed assessment on the three cities with regard to the status quo of their waste management in the years 2015...read more

Waste | Resources

Resource and Climate Protection through integrated Waste Management Projects in Emerging Economies and Developing Countries – Example India

On the example of the Indian cities of Bangalore, Bhopal and Haridwar, it is explained which climate protection potential the introduction of integrated waste management in emerging and developing countries holds. In order to describe the waste management systems of the 3 cities, unavailable data was completed by local expertise and assumptions. Greenhouse gas balances according to the LCA method...read more

Air

Environmental impacts on biogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Volatile organic hydrocarbons, which are released to the atmosphere by plants (biogenic ⁠VOC⁠, BVOC), have large influence on atmospheric chemistry and thus air quality. They are beside nitrogen oxides and anthropogenic VOC eminent precursors for tropospheric ozone and may also foster the creation of aerosols. This literature review summarizes the current knowledge about functions, d...read more

Climate | Energy, Waste | Resources

A resource efficient pathway towards a greenhouse gas neutral Germany

The study shows that it is possible to transform Germany to both greenhouse gas neutral and resource efficient. One side of the balance is greenhouse gas and raw material saving due to exit from fossil energy carriers and the other is the increased raw material use for the construction of the renewable energy system. In the “GreenEe” scenario it is possible to reduce the GHG emissions in 2050 by 9...read more