In order to recycle commercial municipal waste and certain construction and demolition waste to the highest possible quality, the legislator has issued the Commercial Waste Ordinance (GewAbfV), according to which waste must be collected separately. The regulations of the Commercial Waste Ordinance must be observed by commercial waste producers and owners. The latter are those who possess this waste without having produced it. This may include, for example, waste transporters or operators of pre-treatment plants.
Commercial municipal waste for separate collection is primarily paper, cardboard and carton, glass, plastics, metals, wood, textiles, biowaste (in accordance with the Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Act) and possibly other waste.
Separate collection must be documented in accordance with the requirements of the Commercial Waste Ordinance. If, in exceptional cases, separate collection is technically impossible or economically unreasonable, these waste mixtures must be delivered to a pre-treatment plant. The pre-treatment plant must be state of the art and confirm this to the waste producer/owner. The mixture must be kept separate from other waste and must not contain certain waste that makes pre-treatment difficult. The exception must also be documented by means of practical evidence. In the rare case that a mixture cannot be pretreated (technically impossible or economically unreasonable), it must be kept separate from the other mixtures and immediately sent for high-quality recovery, in particular energy recovery. The mixture must not contain certain other wastes that make high-quality recovery more difficult. The exception that the mixture is not treatable must be documented.
Construction and demolition waste that must be collected separately is in particular glass, plastic, metals and their alloys, wood, insulation material, bitumen mixtures, gypsum-based building materials, concrete, bricks, tiles and ceramics as well as other waste fractions where applicable. Separate collection must be documented in accordance with the requirements of the Commercial Waste Ordinance if a total of more than 10m3 of waste is generated. If, as an exception, the separate collection of construction and demolition waste is technically impossible or economically unreasonable, these waste mixtures must be handed over to a pre-treatment or processing plant, depending on whether it is a predominantly non-mineral mixture (to a pre-treatment plant) or a predominantly mineral mixture (to a processing plant). Proof by documentation of the exception that cannot be collected separately: Practical evidence must be used to document the technical impossibility or economic unreasonableness of separate collection if a total of more than 10m3 of waste is generated. If a mixture is not treatable (technically impossible or economically unreasonable), it must be kept separate from other waste and immediately recycled to a high standard. The exception that the mixture is not treatable or recyclable must be documented if a total of more than 10m3 of waste is generated.
The ban on mixing, including the dilution of hazardous waste with other waste, substances or materials also applies to commercial municipal waste and construction and demolition waste.
Non-recyclable waste must be handed over to the public waste disposal company unless it has been excluded by statute.