the circular economy state of rhineland-palatinate · rhineland-palatinate plays a significant role...

Ministry of the Environment, Forests and Consumer Protection

Ministry for the Economy, Commerce, Agriculture and Viticulture

The Circular Economy State of Rhineland-Palatinate

The Circular Economy State of Rhineland-Palatinate

Circular Economy State of Rhineland-Palatinate 3

Foreword

“The markets of the future are green” Rising raw material energy prices due to growing global demand is just as reponsible for fundamen-tal rethinking within our industrial society as the European climate control aims for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Access to research and new product and service developments are con-nected to this. As once stated by the President of the Club of Rome, His Royal Highness Prince Hassan of Jordan: “The markets of the future are green”. German companies have developed “green markets”, which have experienced a double figure growth rate in the meantime, into an economic sector of great importance. Germany is particularly viewed as a global market leader in the market of environmentally friendly power generation and Rhineland-Palatinate plays a significant role in this context.

Economy and ecology are no longer seen as oppo-sites. While any cooperation between the two fields would have been an exception only a few years ago, integration of environmental protection into corpo-rate behaviour is now seen as the best solution against progressive environmental pollution and the enormous resulting costs.

With its circular economy strategy which is applied throughout the state, Rhineland-Palatinate goes be-yond the requirements of German recycling and waste laws including the optimisation of waste flows which benefits the treatment of material and energy flows. One important instrument is “mate-rial flow management”. This brings transparency to the integration of material flows from the pro-duction of raw materials and manufacturing through to consumption and disposal while high-lighting the regional net product associated with it. By putting the corresponding parameters in place, the “Circular Economic State of Rhineland-Palati-nate” also sees itself as an engine for private invest-ment. The cooperation between the environmental and economic ministries corresponds with scien-tific consultation through the “Institute for Applied Material Flow Management” at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld at Trier University.

We have produced this brochure in order to give interested domestic and overseas parties an over-view of selected products, innovative technologies and services related to environmental protection in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Margit Conrad Minister for the Environ-ment, Forests and Consumer Protection

Hendrik HeringMinister for the Economy, Commerce, Agriculture and Viticulture

4 Circular Economy State of Rhineland-Palatinate


Contents

Foreword 3

Contents 5

Circular Economy and material flow management 6

1 Sustainable municipal planning 10

2 An opportunity for conversion: The “Zero Emission University” at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld 12

3 Hinkel Netzwerk International: From waste disposal mangement to circular economy 16

4 Sustainable strategies in industry 18

5 The paper industry – a modern recycling industry 20

6 Recycling of used glass 22

7 Recycling of plastics 24

8 Recycling of scrap metal and electrical waste 26

9 Sorting and conditioning waste 28

10 Biomass machinery and waste conditioning 30

11 Efficient power generation from residual waste and secondary raw materials 32

12 Efficient wastewater treatment 34

13 Thermal and agricultural recycling of sewage sludge 36

14 Biogas technology in Rhineland-Palatinate 38

15 Material and energetic recycling of biomass 40

16 Heat of the future for Rhineland-Palatinate 44

17 Wind power 46

18 Solar power 48

19 Sustainable building design and renovation 50

20 Conservation of the cultural landscape 52

21 Teaching, informing, researching and motivating 54

Project locations 56

Photo credits 58

Publication notes 59


At the start of the 21st century, the growth of prosperity and the global economy remains

closely connected to the increasing consumption of energy and raw materials. The pollution of air, wa-ter and soil, extreme weather, the loss of biodiver-sity and social unrest caused by the increasing scar-city of (fossil) resources are the results. These de-velopments represent a strong challenge to our modern society. High oil and gas prices on one hand, and the changing climate situation on the other, are just the tip of the iceberg. Due to the rapid boom in countries with high population lev-els, access to sources (resources) and decline (envi-ronmental mediums such as soil, water and air) will become more intense. Continually rising de-mands are now facing continually diminishing sup-plies!

After the scientists were certain that they had es-tablished the causes and economic, ecological and social effects of climate change and the increasing scarcity of resources, they were able to deliver a theoretical basis on how the earth can protected from these negative changes. It is now time to cre-ate innovative concepts for the implementation of sustainable economic models with efficient supply and disposal systems.

Various approaches have already been developed around the world to bring about more efficient use of existing resources which should protect sources of natural materials and minimise the strain on natural sinks and therefore be oriented towards the principles of sustainability. Models show that this is possible without major cutbacks and show that “twice the value for half of the resources” could work quite well.

Circular Economy and Material Flow Management


In the 1970s technologies were developed which were solely aimed at the conclusive reduction or elimination of the pollution created during the pro-duction process. Unfortunately this did little to ad-dress the causes of the negative effects that were being created. After this phase of reactionary envi-ronmental protection, also known as the ‘end of pipe’ approach, the 1980s saw the development of the precautionary approach to environmental pro-tection, with technical and organisational meas-ures used to avoid harmful emissions at an earlier stage, namely during the production process. This in-house optimisation of material and energy flows is also described as “Cleaner Production” and is frequently accompanied by instruments such as environmental management systems (ISO 14001, EMAS), ecological balance and life cycle assess-ments. Based on the Rio Conference, the 1990s were shaped by the concept of a sustainable and

stable environmentally compatible society as an improvement and alternative to society concen-trated on growth.

The United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo de-scribed the “zero emissions” concept as “the next step on the road to the integration of sustainable approaches in industrial processes and the control and reduction of damaging emissions and waste”. This approach, which is being requested by the UNU, is directed towards the sustainable cycles in nature. The aim is the almost entire utilisation of natural resources while simultaneously employing maximum use of renewable materials in order to bring the natural resources which are still present in our ecosystem, back to a sustainable level. The waste from production processes is then consist-ently employed as input for other production proc-esses, even if it is unrealistic to expect comprehen-

Circular Economy

Renewableresources

Ener

gy e

xtra

ctio

n

Iner

ting

Environmentally friendly design

Ecological product development

Regional material flow management

Modification of consumer behaviour

Energy efficiency and energy savings

Product-integrated environmental protection

Product liability

Environmental management systems

Industrial material flow management

Eco-sufficiency Efficiency

Energetic recycling

Energetic utilisation of waste

Reutilisation and recycling

Subsystem EconomyEcosystem

Fossil raw materials Raw materials and energy

Raw materials and energy

Materialrecycling

Landfill


sive cover between input and output. The term “zero emissions” must nevertheless be viewed as an integrated treatment and a continuing improve-ment process.

In the United States the term “industrial ecology” is gaining in poularity. “Industrial ecology” emu-lates the field of industrial production processes based on ecological cycles. Around the globe, so-called “ecological indsutrial parks” are being cre-ated in an attempt to maximise the synergy be-tween material energy cycles and therefore save resources and stop decline.

In practice, new circular economy models and effi-ciency approaches with different focal themes are being developed throughout the world at present. They intend to aim at nothing less than renuncia-tion of the linear economy which has been domi-nant up until now. Growth built on consumption can only be successful in a period with cheap raw materials and functioning sinks. However, in the 21st century, it will be those nations who can apply the techniques and management processes of cir-cular economy at the right time, who will enjoy lasting success. Alongside China, Japan has made particular efforts to improve its economic and eco-logical performance. The concept of the “3 R’s So-ciety” has been enforced here. This refers to the trading hierarchy based on “reduce”, “reuse” and “recycle” while in Germany, the first directive ac-cording to recycling and waste laws is to avoid waste. The secondary goal is the recycling of mate-rials or energetic recycling in order to prevent the removal of waste. In Japan, for example, “3R” is pursued in the context of an overall economic re-duction strategy which is significantly more com-pulsory than in other countries.

The state of Rhineland-Palatinate goes a step fur-ther with its circular economy applied throughout the state. The term “circular economy” is not lim-ited to the usual definition in the sense of German recyling and waste laws and therefore not only con-centrates on the optimisation of waste flows but focuses on the optimisation of material flows (raw materials, biomass, water, waste, energy, etc) within a system. The Rhineland-Palatinate closed circular economy strategy promotes business pat-terns that achieve the greatest possible completion of material cycles based on the model of natural ecosystem cycles.

The goals of the circular economy approach can be described as follows:

l• Protection of the environment through the con-servation of sources and sinks

l• Reduction of dependence on resource suppliers l• Cost reductions in raw materials and energy

provision l• Minimisation of outflow of purchasing power l• Creation and retention of local jobs l• Formation of networks l• Increased competitiveness l• Establishment of regional net product l• Conservation and stabilisation of areas of un-

spoiled nature with particular consideration for the maintenance of cultural areas.

Material flow management is particularly suited to the practical implementation of the circular econ-omy approach which is described here. This instru-ment contains the necessary steps and measures for the conversion from a linear economic system (“flow-through society”) into a durable recycling society (“circular economy”). Material flow man-


agement is oriented towards economic, ecological and social principles. These are:

l• Integrated consideration of the entire social sys-tem (consumption, supply and waste disposal, infrastructure, commerce and agriculture etc.) and its industrial activities

l• Linking of material and energy flows intrinsic to the system and networking of the corre-sponding players

l• Utilisation of potentials intrinsic to the system (raw materials, waste materials, processes)

l• Increased implementation of renewable ener-gies and secondary fuels

l• Increase of energy efficiency in the private and industrial area

l• Decentralisation of the energy supply

Material management links intelligent technolo-gies with efficient, interdisciplinary planning ap-proaches and systematic thinking. This enables the activation and realisation of substantial potential at a microeconomic and macroeconomic level. In a world with dwindling resources and exhausted sinks, this represents a series of new business op-tions.

Large new markets for optimising technologies and management approaches are arising. The de-mand in water, energy, waste and resource areas is turning towards intelligent concepts instead of the old reactive “end-of-pipe” technologies. “Clean technologies” and material flow management will be major exports in the near future, or already are today, in areas such as the energy industry.

Germany can exhibit significant successes and promising approaches in this area. As a Federal state shaped by medium-sized enterprises, Rhine-land-Palatinate stands at the forefront of the na-tional efforts to optimise resources, save energy and utilise renewable energies. A multitude of in-novative universities, institutes and companies join with modern municipal governments to dem-onstrate a working model of practical future viabil-ities. State government, universities and enter-prises work hand-in-hand to establish a genuine circular economy.

Technical, economic and administrative problems are regarded as challenges which lead to even more innovation and strengths.

This brochure takes sample projects to illustrate how the first “integrated” circular economy ap-proaches have been implemented in Rhineland-Palatinate and how they have led to improvements at economic, ecological and social levels. Citizens and enterprises from Rhineland-Palatinate along with any interested members of public and indus-try experts from throughout Germany and the world are invited to visit, to join in a discussion and to help implement a mutual circular economy.


1 Sustainable municipal planning

Modern local governments are an important partner in the effort to reduce dependence

on imported resources. They have the power to stipulate efficient usage of renewable regional re-sources, therefore preventing purchasing power leaving the region. Integrated, long-term optimisa-tion of regional material flows not only contributes to global climate protection, but also achieves an in-crease in the regional net product and increases the attractiveness of the region for citizens and busi-ness.

Numerous Rhineland-Palatinate communities are already successfully pursuing the basic idea of sus-tainable development; “Think globally, act locally”.

With its “Zero Emission Village” project, the West Palatinate community of Weilerbach is seeking to achieve an extremely broad based, CO2 neutral, 100% renewable energy supply for its 14,700 in-habitants.

Supported by a project study by the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management, as well as in-tensive public relations work and the networking of regional players (community, energy providers, ag-riculture and private persons etc.), five wind power units (5 ∑ 2 MW) and roughly 90 photovoltaic units with a generative rating of roughly 700 kWp have been installed since the project’s launch in 2001. These measures mean that approx. 50 percent of the community’s overall electric needs are now al-ready being met through regenerative sources, with roughly 13,000 tonnes of CO2 being avoided in the process. Local heating systems based on biomass have been set up to provide heat to more than 450 residential units, as well as numerous small fur-naces (pellets or firewood) and 140 solar thermal modules across a collector surface of more than 1,200 m2. Energy-related renovations to all of the primary school buildings have also managed to make savings of 50% for heating costs.

Based on the successes to date, Weilerbach is plan-ning the construction of a biogas plant, the expan-sion of local heating systems as well as more photo-voltaic units. The community’s efforts have also been accompanied by numerous individual initia-tives, such as the founding of a bioenergy farm.

The Hunsrück community of Morbach has enjoyed equal success with its “Morbach Energy Landscape”

Energiesparlampe Ut lobore er ipsummo diatem quat alisi.

Solar drinking water conditioning

Biomass

Education/research

Leisure time

Extension areaPhotovoltaic 2

Extensio

n area

Photovoltaic 1

Photovoltaic

Commercial

Wind power unit

iEducation/research

Solar drinking water conditioning

BiomassCommercial

Wind power unit

Leisure time

Extension areaPhotovoltaic 2

Photovoltaic

Extensio

n area

Photovoltaic 1

“Morbach Energy Landscape” development concept


concept. Wind power, bio gas and photovol taic equipment have been collected on the grounds of a former ammunition dump and are networked with the regional agricultural and forestry economies as well as producing industries.

Following the formulation of a material flow con-cept, the first units were installed in 2001. 14 wind power turbines now produce some 45,000 MWh of electric energy per year. This is enough to supply 13,000 households with energy and save approx. 27,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.

A photvoltaic unit containing 3,072 modules with a surface area of 3,460 m2 also contributes to renew-able energy resources. This corresponds to a capac-ity of 455 MWh.

The biogas facility with a nominal rating of 500 KW of electricity and 700 KW of thermal energy was brought into operation in September 2006. The re-newable raw materials required for the facility are supplied by agricultural operations in the region.

A wood pellet factory launched operations in the immediate vicinity of the biogas plant in August 2007. The supply of raw materials is based on saw and mill chippings produced by the Hunsrück saw-mill. Additional wood chippings come from a log cabin maker who has also set up business on the site. The waste heat from the biogas plant is used to dry the wood chips. The material and energy flow between the Morbach energy landscape and the neighbouring region is thereby formed into an ex-emplary circuit. In order to expand the economic cycle even further, the products are marketed in the region.

Since the start of the project in 2001, the “educa-tional-touristic use” of the area has been part of the overall concept, alongside the construction of the energy units. Guided tours conducted through the energy landscape are on offer now. An information centre and energy education trail are planned.

All private households can now be supplied with re-newable energy through the innovative energy con-cept. Within the next five years, local businesses should also be integrated into the circular economy of regional supply. This is the reason why planning permission is currently waiting to be approved for the construction of a wind power unit in the Mor-bach Energy Landscape which will reach a height of 210 m. This will make it the tallest in the world.

Photos: Left: A multi-fuel furnace in a private home.

Right: Wood pellet heating with a solarthermic unit in a private

house in the Weilerbach district.

A photovoltaic unit on a private house, the Rodenbach Commu-

nity Centre and the Rodenbach Primary School which are all lo-

cated in the Weilerbach district.


Living, learning and working in a special place: The Environmental Campus Birkenfeld (UCB),

which is part of Trier’s University for Applied Sci-ences, is one of Germany’s most unusual higher educational facilities. It offers students an interdis-ciplinary curriculum on Europe’s only “Zero Emis-sions Campus”, which is not only designed accord-ing to ecological construction concepts and cutting-edge structural and systems engineering, but is also supplied with energy and heat free of CO2.

The Environmental Campus started operations on 1 October 1996 on the grounds of a former US re-serve military hospital in the Birkenfeld district. It was part of conversion measures by the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. The main focus is the “environment” and more than 2,400 students, who are currently enrolled, enjoy a education directed towards the future in the specialist subjects of environmental planning/engi-neering and environmental economy/law. Environ-mental concerns create the link between the eight Bachelor courses and nine Master courses of study which require intensive interdisciplinary coopera-tion between the individual subjects. The network-ing of ecological, economic, technical and social re-

quirements serves the purpose of training students in the analysis and optimisation of complex sys-tems. These are highly valuable skills for their fu-ture careers. The practice-oriented education pro-vides students with the opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge to the test in numerous re-search organisations and centres of excellence lo-cated at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld. The Institute for Applied Material Flow Manage-ment (IfaS), which houses the centre of excellence for material flow management and the competence network for environmental technology in Rhine-land-Palatinate, is located on campus along with the centre of excellence for fuel cells and further re-search institutions in various disciplines. The re-sults of this research work make a significant con-tribution to ensuring the quality of the education available here.

The environmentally oriented education is sup-ported by the campus’ innovative design which also becomes an integral part of the education.

The concept of “ecological construction” is applied in various areas: A space saving construction style contributes to the protection of soil and vegetation

2 An opportunity for conversion: The “Zero Emission University” at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld


as does the layout of biotopes and green spaces. This allows the opportunity to avoid the soil sealing over and supports the collection and infiltration of precipitation throughout the grounds. Strains on the water supply are reduced through the use of rain water. Rain water from approx. 2,000 m2 of roof surface area is collected in two rain water tanks and, after a mechanical purifica-tion process, is used for flushing toilets, watering plants, for cleaning duties and as a coolant for an adsorption refridgeration system.Rain water which is not caught by the storage units is directed onto a retention surface between the two buildings where it can then soak into the ground-water supply. The roof surfaces are partially planted to help maintain biodiversity.Criteria relevant to the environment came into play in the selection of construction and other materials, such as the primary energy efficiency, the overall energy balance of the products during manufactur-

ing, the pollution emissions and the availability and recyclability of the materials.

The energy and heating supply which neutralises CO2 is provided to the Universtiy of Applied Sci-ences through a local heating network fed by the biomass cogeneration plant in Neubrück, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the campus, in the “Ökompark” industrial and commercial area. The woodchip burning facility uses renewable ma-terials such as used and scrap wood as fuel, as well as forestry waste, production waste from the wood-working industry and cuttings from the agricultural sector. The two cogeneration plants use biogas from the nearby fermentation facility for communal bio-waste from households in the administrative dis-

The New Main Building at the UCB with rooftop garden

Birkenfeld Campus at the University of Applied Sciences in Trier: The ecological concept

Fachhochschule Trier, Standort BirkenfeldDas ökologische Konzept

Heat recovery

Rooftop gardening

Sun shading

Daylight steering system

Rainwater tank

Thick cladding

Transparent roof surfaces

Exterior air without Ground collector

Exterior air via Ground collector

Solar collector

Solar power Rain

PhotovoltaicEnergy production

Evaporation cooling tower

Rainwater soakawayDamp climateplant facility

Heat reservoir Heat pump Cold reservoir

Adsorptioncooling machine

Structural element tempering

U-value min.

Trombe wall

Overlayheat insulation through solid structural elements

Overlayheat insulation

Rainwater utilisationToilet flushing

Wind


tricts of Birkenfeld and Bad Kreuznach to produce electricity and heat. The fermentation remains are processed into high-quality compost. Due to the re-muneration available through Germany’s Renewa-ble Energy Act, the electricity that is produced in this manner is not fed directly to the campus, but is fed into the public grid. Due to the fact that the vol-ume of electricity generated greatly exceeds the an-nual consumption by the University of Applied Sci-ences, and the fact that the site can theoretically cover its entire heating and power demands with renewable energy, the campus has been classified as a “Zero Emission University”.

This sustainable provision of heat and electricity is supported through the location’s building and sys-tems engineering.

Several photovoltaic units provide additional contri-butions towards energy production. Both multi- and polycrystalline as well as amorphous cells of-

fering an overall generative power of 19 kWp were installed on a total surface area of 370 m2. The mod-ules are primarily integrated into the facade of the glass building and help guard the adjoining con-necting corridors from excessive glare and over-heating in the summer months.The campus’s electricity consumption is reduced through the use of rooftop light shafts, known as sky lights, since these reduce the amount of time during which artifical lighting is required.

Various efficient technologies are combined to air condition the buildings.The ventilation system for the new main building comes through three intake pipes with fresh ambi-ent air. First of all, the supply of air streams through earth collectors which are 55 m long and buried 3.75 m into the ground. Given the practically con-stant 12°C temperature of the earth at this depth, the temperature of the air flow can be raised or low-ered by up to 6°C throughout the year. A heat ex-changer and solid absorber for heat retrieval from the used exhaust air also contribute to pre-warming the fresh air. Through this pre-cooling or pre-warm-ing of the supply air, the individually adjustable room temperatures can be achieved with a substan-tially low expenditure of energy. Transparent heat insulating elements were installed in front of vari-ous solid walls to act as a solar wall heater, reducing heat loss and contributing to the conversion of ra-diation energy into heat energy.On average, roughly 30 MWh of thermal energy is drawn from the solar thermal units (260 m2/120 kW power) which are applied to support the building heating during the cold months as well as being used for cooling in the summer months with the help of adsorption refrigeration. The adsorption re-frigeration machine uses heat from the solar ther-mal unit and district heating as the driving temper-

New Main Building at the UCB with three fresh air intake pipes


ature. A silica gel adsorption agent flows through a tower cooled with rain water in order to produce cool air.

This environmentally friendly building engineering system is controlled and optimised using a compu-ter-controlled building automation system. The sys-tem controls both natural and artificial lighting, heating and cooling of the building as well as the opening and closing of windows. The fresh air sup-ply in the reading room is managed using CO2 sen-sors.

In the future, the intention is that the campus’ zero emissions concept will be extended to include wa-ter. Preparations for an innovative and sustainable water management system for the site are currently being designed under the leadership of the IfaS as part of the teaching curriculum and scientific work. Alongside the usage of rain water which has already been implemented, seperation of the water into grey, brown or yellow water will take place, in order to regain the nutrients contained. The remaining waste water will be channeled into an extensive en-ergy constructed wetland.

Ökompark Projektentwicklungs- und Marketing GmbH (ÖPEM), a service enterprise located on the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, promotes the principles behind the entwinement of research, teaching and the economy. Business ideas devel-oped at the UCB find their place in the sustainable industry and commercial parks which are devel-

oped and implemented by the ÖPEM. Companies located on the campus benefit from logistical and supply-related advantages. The Ökomparks, as they are known, are characterised by decentralised inte-gration systems directed towards a circular econ-omy, in which the synergy effects between compa-nies are consistently used. Alongside the value gained from waste recycling, the focus includes the energetic use of waste and the increased applica-tion of renewable energy sources.

The Ökompark in the Birkenfeld district not only houses the OIE AG biomass cogeneration plant and the SULO Group biowaste fermentation plant but also seven other companies from the fields of software development, geo thermal technology, tele-control and monitoring systems, biometry, water conditioning, waste disposal and building and sys-tems engineering.The Baumholder location is home to companies who dismantle and recycle used electronic equip-ment as well as a lab for environmental analytics.Together, the UCB and the Ökompark in Birkenfeld establish a valuable partnership with potential for economic and scientific growth.

New Main Building at the UCB with solar thermal equipment

(integrated into roof and façade)

Glass ceiling in foyer of the UCB (background),

Rain water infiltration area (foreground)


Many countries around the world are looking to move from unregulated waste disposal in-

dustries to an efficient circular economy through the use of regional material and energy resources. Know-how and technology for the planning and implementation of individual cycle-oriented munci-pal waste management concepts are provided through Rhineland-Palatinate’s Hinkel Netzwerk International. The network develops municipal waste management solutions for regions and com-munities in developing nations and emerging mar-kets. The company is a single source for an entire range of services which varies from the collection, transport and treatment of muncipal waste and ma-terials through to energetic and material recycling of groups of waste and the storage of inert materi-als.

Modern societies are being encouraged to leave their old concepts of waste behind and to recognise waste as a regionally available material flow in the sense of a circular economy, with potential for value increases which can lead to optimisation of mate-rial and energetic usage. This in turn leads to opti-mised material and power consumption. Sustaina-ble material flow management strategies and con-cepts ensure climate protection, waste disposal safety, promote lasting relief of the environment and the minimisation of national economic risks such as maintenance costs for landfills.

While tested and customised methods for the solu-tion of technical aspects are available, it continues to become clearer that the so-called “soft” factors in the sense of social, national, economic and struc-tural parameters must also be given an equally high priority level. Therefore the prerequisite for the es-tablishment of circular economy strategies not only involves the adaptation of suitable technologies but also changes to the respective social, cultural, finan-cial, legal, institutional and political parameters. In emerging and developing countries in particular, special locally adapted concepts and tailored solu-tions are required. The Hinkel Netzwerk Interna-tional offers contemporary and economic solutions which place great importance on these “soft fac-tors” due to the fact that local administrative struc-tures are drawn into the planning process at an early stage and the relevant civil authorities are of-fered long-term cooperations of between 15 and 20 years.

3 Hinkel Netzwerk International: From waste disposal mangement to circular economy

Photos: Above; Residual waste collection

Right; Demolition work/additional continuing processing of con-

crete on site


Six companies which are active in domestic and in-ternational markets and an institute of higher edu-cation belong to the Müll Hinkel GmbH network, which is a medium-sized company located in Rhineland-Palatinate. The waste disposal special-ists are known for their vast experience in the field, as are the other private sector partners from plant engineering, logistics and vehicle construction fields, who have come together as “Hinkel Netzwerk International” to provide their services together on international markets from one source. Starting with the early development phase, the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management (IfaS) works with the companies on projects ranging from scien-tific designs of regional material flow management strategies to complementary measures for product implementation, such as tailor-made training and further education programs.

Hinkel Netzwerk International is able to create so-lutions attuned to local conditions which allows them to compete successfully with larger corpora-tions. The group’s first success came with the award of an international tender for the collection, trans-port, treatment, recycling and storage of municipal waste in the Moroccan port city of Larache. Since August 2007, Hinkel Netzwerk International has organised the management of municipal waste from 120,000 inhabitants. The introduction of sep-arate collections for groups of organic muncipal waste which can be processed into a high-quality compost to be marketed regionally, is a first in Mo-rocco.

Concrete product as a material for recycling

Source: Fritz Schäfer GmbH

Reduced landfill volume with separated collection:

Biogenous wastePaper & cardboardGlassPackaging (DSD)Residual waste


In order to maintain long-term competitiveness on international markets, modern industrial en-

terprises are facing challenges about how to reduce costs while acting sustainably. Numerous manage-ment instruments are available to companies for the implementation of sustainable strategies. These include environmental protection measures inte-grated into production, environmental manage-ment systems, industrial material flow manage-ment concepts and ecological product designs to achieve optimum material and energy flows inside the factory and beyond. All of these instruments contribute to the conservation of resources and the reduction of emissions.

When sustainability is anchored into the thought processes in the organisational and management systems of a company, it forms the basis for circu-lar economics. BASF AG in Ludwigshafen/Rhine has created structures to implement sustainable corporate behaviour in its production processes as well as in its supply and marketing units.

The “Responsible Care” centre of excellence brings specialists from around the world together to de-velop sustainable management and guide the company’s joint activities in the areas of environ-mental protection, safety and health. BASF has set ambitious environmental goals and presents the

4 Sustainable strategies in industry


progress of the company in an annual report. Among other targets, the company aims at emitting 10 percent less greenhouse gasses per tonne of marketable product by 2012.

BASF has developed a method of analysing the eco-clogical efficiency of the life cycle of a product or manufacturing process from “the cradle to the grave” in terms of ecological and economical as-pects. BASF is one of the first companies in the chemical industry to implement this methodology for deciding which products and processes are wor-thy of investment from an ecological efficiency standpoint.

In the production area, BASF has implemented what is known as the compound design concept, notable for its consistent and efficient networking of individual production facilities. Lucrative net product chains can be constructed through the con-nection of production facilities and the by-products and waste products attained from production can be applied in a new production process as raw ma-terials.

This has allowed the company to successfully bal-ance production quantities and the fossil fuel en-ergy required used to create them: Since the mid 70s, the fossil fuels requirements for the produc-tion of steam at the main factory in Ludwigshafen has sunk by 44%, while production has increased by approximately 59% during the same period. The key to this success was the construction of an en-ergy consortium that worked to convert waste heat energy from production operations during exother-mic chemical processes, turning it into steam di-rectly on site and feeding it into the company’s steam network. Roughly 55 percent of the steam consumption at BASF today is covered through waste heat utilisation and burning of waste materi-als from production.

The company also applies alternative fuels instead of natural gas in its production facilities. The poly-styrene factory in Ludwigshafen was converted ac-cordingly in spring 2006; additional fa ci lities will follow this year. The company is also pursuing the circulation principle for its water management sys-tem. The goal is to keep water consumption low and to use the water within the circuit as often as possible.

BASF, and its sustainability service “success”, also provides its customers with sustainable solutions in energy, product liability, health, safety and sus-tainability management areas. The services on offer vary, depending on the region and industry, from inventories and surveying to process and product analysis and the corresponding development of strategic solutions.

Photo left: Factory grounds of BASF AG, Ludwigshafen


Rhineland-Palatinate is an important location for the modern production of paper, carton and

cardboard. Recycled paper and secondary fibre sources have been a part of paper and cardboard production since the process was first invented. In terms of volume, recycled paper now represents the most important raw material for the German paper industry. The paper industry is an impressive exam-ple of how a circular economy can work through tar-geted material flow management with its use of wood and recycled paper as raw materials as well as its recycling management of water and the extrac-tion of heat and energy.

Some Rhineland-Palatinate companies which are heavily involved in recycled paper are Buchmann in Anweiler, a producer of cardboard boxes, WEIG in

Mayen, WEPA in Mainz, a producer of sanitary pa-per, and the Palm paper plant in Wörth. The paper plant possesses one of the world’s largest paper ma-chines for corrugated cardboard which annually employs 700,000 tonnes of recycled paper as a raw material.

Nevertheless, the addition of primary (wood) fibre is still required when manufacturing new paper from recycled paper. In Germany, these fresh plant fibres are gained from wood produced from forest thinning, which gives stronger roots better oppor-tunity to grow, or from the wood chips produced by sawmills.

The forests from which wood originates for use in the German paper industry, are maintained sus-tainably. No more wood is removed than can grow

5 The paper industry – a modern recycling industry

Paper machine from the Palm company in Wörth


back again. This preserves the functionality of the forest ecosystem. This applies both to the domestic woodlands and to countries that provide raw mate-rials to the German paper industry, such as Scandi-navia, Canada or Brazil. A corresponding certifica-tion system has been established to ensure observ-ance of environmental standards for responsible and sustainable forest cultivation.

In addition to the increased deployment of recycled paper and the sustainable use of wood as a raw ma-terial, the paper industry has also worked hard in the past decades to achieve significant increases in efficiency in the production process.

Water is an essential part of paper making, serving as a transport medium for the fibrous material. Through the establishment of captive industrial wa-ter circulation systems, only ten to twelve litres of fresh water are now required to produce one kilogram of pa-per. Only a few decades ago the number of litres required stood at 50 to 100. Water is now run through a paper plant more than ten times. This circulation also allows the heat contained in the process water to be used sev-eral times.During the necessary drying process for the paper, the pa-per industry reduces its en-ergy requirements through the reclamation of the heat from the paper machines as well as by in-house energy production through cogen-eration.

For example, the WEIG-Karton company based in Mayen, uses fibre fragments and filler materials from carton production to gain thermal energy. The residual materials created in the process are primarily used in the construction industry. WEIG-Karton replaces the use of natural gas by employing biogas created during waste water purification. Waste heat from energy production and carton manufacturing is fed into the city of Mayen’s district heating system. This example shows how the implementation of material flow management concepts within and outside of the company can even allow sectors which require a high amount of energy, such as the paper indus-try, to apply efficient, sustainable business pat-terns and to put the immediate economic and eco-logical benefits to work for the company and the environment.

Retrieval and multi-uses: Water circulation in a paper factory

Reuse Treated water

Waste water purification

Pulp catcher

Pulp condition-

ing

Residual materials

Paper machine Paper

Fibrous materialAdditives

Fresh water

Primary loop

Terti

ary

loop

Secondary loop


6 Recycling of used glass

T he return of waste glass (mainly glass contain-ers from the food and beverage industry) into

the production process is one of the oldest exam-ples of the consistent utilisation of resources. Ger-many’s glass recycling system has been in place for more than 30 years. Glass can be melted down as often as desired without a reduction in quality. Melting of recycled glass shards requires signifi-cantly less energy than the use of primary raw ma-terials.

For example, up to 90% of the shards can be used for the production of green bottles. Waste glass is therefore the most important basic material for the production of new glass products. The collection of up to 80% of glass packaging takes place with the

help of depot containers. The system successfully separates the collection of glass into white, brown and green glass. The glass collection system, in-stalled in all corners of the nation, has not only achieved the material reutilisation rates stipulated in packaging laws (75% of weight is stipulated while the current rates are over 90% of weight) but has surpassed them.

Rhineland-Palatinate collected 26.7 kg of glass packaging per inhabitant in 2006 and recycled over 109,000 tonnes from household waste; this repre-sents a weight increase of 0.7% in comparison to the previous year. That puts Rhineland-Palatinate among the leading Federal states in terms of glass recycling rates.

Just like colleagues throughout Germany, manufac-turers in Rhineland-Palatinate have oriented their glass production towards an increased use of waste glass shards and have adjusted their production fa-cilities accordingly. The goal is the best possible shard quality, i.e. the waste glass shards must be free of foreign particles prior to their return to the glass smelter and carefully sorted by colour. The first stage of the glass treatment process involves the removal of impurities as well as ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the waste glass. An opto-electronic process is used to separate ceramics, stones and porcelain from the raw shards. The next step involves an infrared transmitting system to sort out any remaining residual materials.

The sorting process in the conditioning facility pro-duces granulated glass which is separated by colour measuring between 0 and 60mm along the egde,


which is then used as a pure secondary raw mate-rial, especially in the production of new hollow and flat glass containers as well as in the insulation in-dustry. Upon customer request, the granulated glass can be sieved to achieve an average size.The G.R.I.-Glasrecycling NV company has been op-erating this type of facility for this type for hollow glass treatment in Worms since 1980.

The EURA Glasrecycling GmbH & Co KG prepares waste glass into a ready-to-melt glass powder. The benefit of glass powder is that it is easier to handle in comparison to glass shards and is easier to mix with other raw materials.

It is now possible to manufacture fibre glass insula-tion with up to 70 percent recycled waste glass. As part of the process, the sorted waste glass is melted and then shredded. Glass wool created in this way is then reutilised in individual insulation products. In Rhineland-Palatinate, companies producing glass wool from waste glass include Saint-Gobain Isover G+H AG of Ludwigshafen, which produces the material at its Speyer production site. The glass

wool products have the “Blue Angel” environmen-tal seal of approval due to the high content of recy-cled glass.

This production process is another good example of a functioning circular economy; glass wool is characterised by the fact that it produced from recy-cled glass and is recycable itself. Product residues can be returned to the production process or em-ployed as an aggregate in the manufacture of bricks or tiles. The water required for production is also channelled into a closed cycle, meaning that no wastewater is produced and the supply of fresh wa-ter is reduced. Climate protection also benefits from this process; the use of glass wool as an insu-lating material (in low-energy and efficient houses for example) can significantly reduce both CO2 emissions and energy consumption.

Attic insulation using glass wool web from

Saint-Gobain Isover G+H AG

Separated glass collection by G.R.I.-Glasrecycling


Plastics have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. They are all around us. This

means that special emphasis must be placed on the disposal of used plastics. Plastic recycling processes oriented toward basic and raw materials close mate-rial cycles and are therefore a fundamental compo-nent of the recycling economy.

Basic material plastic recycling

Since 1993, the Hahn Kunststoffe GmbH company has been operating under the brand name hanit®, focused on basic material recycling from yellow sacks (light packaging recycling). The Hahn Kunst-stoffe GmbH has its headquarters on site at Frank-furt’s Hahn Airport. The company conditions

roughly 18,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually. The source materials are used plastics from house-hold waste collected in “yellow sacks” which are pressed into bales. These are primarily taken from regional sorting facilities. On site the materials are then sorted again with magnets to ensure that only a plastic mix is processed, which is comprised of 80 percent polyethylene, 18 percent polypropylene and 2 percent foreign matter (i.e. paper and wood fibres). Industrial production centred around in-trusion, press, injection moulding and extrusion processes allows for a variety of product designs. The production program encompasses more than 1,000 articles, primarily in the garden and land-scaping field. Alongside rubbish bins, tables, benches, pots, palisades, composters and path slabs, the product catalogue also includes fences and soundproof walls. Due to their durability and environmental friendliness, the products can be used in a variety of applications.

7 Recycling of plastics

Used plastics from household waste form the base material

for material recycling at Hahn Kunststoffe GmbH.

RAMPF Ecosystems produces recycling polyols using PET waste

which flows into polyurethane production.


Raw material plastic recycling

For more than 15 years, the company RAMPF Eco-systems has been working on the recycling of poly-urethane (PUR) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The extensive know-how at RAMPF Ecosystems GmbH & Co. KG enables the company to provide chemical recycling for almost all polyurethane ap-plications, including obtaining high-quality recycla-ble polyols. Polyurethane is primarily used for the creation of foams. Used plastics made of PUR are purified into (recycling) polyol using a special chemical process. This Recypol® or Petol® is then redirected into the creation of polyurethane. The company has developed a recycling plant for ther-mal glycolysis that is currently the largest plant of its kind in Europe.

The company, a part of the international RAMPF Group since 2003, also develops semi-rigid integral foam systems based on Recypol®. A new produc-tion line for PUR moulded parts has also been con-structed parallel to that. Some 45 different series of moulds are being produced and are used in applica-tions such as fitness equipment and transport sys-tems for the automotive industry.

In the areas of research and development, the com-pany is focusing on the pursuit of new polyols with a vegetable oil basis.

Products made of hanit® recycled plastic.

RAMPF Ecosystems from Pirmasens has developed Europe‘s

largest facility for thermal glycolysis


8 Recycling of scrap metal and electrical waste

The growing worldwide demand for resources is mirrored in the constantly rising price for raw

materials and makes it clear that only limited amounts of raw materials are available. Scrap metal and electronic waste from households and industry contain valuable materials that can be recycled and conditioned into secondary raw materials. The use of more modern and efficient recycling technolo-gies enables an almost complete recirculation of raw materials into the production cycle, while si-multaneously channelling hazardous materials, or other substances which could be a concern to the environment, into proper disposal systems.

Rhineland-Palatinate is the destination for scrap metal from throughout Europe; used car chassis’, machines, engines and other equipment arrive from European companies of all sizes in the steel and automotive industries. For example, the com-pany Theo Steil GmbH works in the port of Trier, running one of Germany’s most modern steel and metal recycling operations. Scrap metal arriving at the company is freed of foreign matter and contam-inants to achieve the degree of purity required us-ing an innovative recycling technology. Metal shred-ders, car compactors, scrap shears and sink/float equipment reduce the scrap into small pieces and

Left photo: Output belt for the shredder machine

with separated product

Grounds of the Steil company in Trier


separate out contaminants at a precision of up to one tenth of a percent. Theo Steil GmbH recycles roughly 1,700,000 tonnes of scrap and non-ferrous metals annually, which are then primarily reused in the regional steel industry and regional smelters.

Günther Schmelzer GmbH from Ludwigshafen uses state-of-the-art shredding and separation tech-nology to recycle metal and scrap into a product that can be directly deployed by steel mills and foundries to produce steel. The equipment which is used allows achievement of the best possible recy-cling quota because not only steel, but also other metals such as aluminium, can be reclaimed. The input material comes from both municipal recy-cling collection as well as the private sector.

The company RDE GmbH, based in Baumholder, is a Rhineland-Palatinate company focused on the recycling of electric and electronic devices. RDE owns manual disassembly and sorting equipment, including a hazardous waste depot for condensers, batteries, fluorescent tubes and other products con-taining mercury. As part of its efforts toward pre-ventive conservation of the environment, the com-pany also offers consulting services in the area of recycling-friendly product design.

ALBA R-plus GmbH also recycles electric and elec-tronic devices. The company runs a cutting-edge recycling facility in Lustadt that combines manual and automated processes to enable recycling of all kinds of electric scrap. The recycling technology employed ensures a high degree of purity. The groups of materials produced are marketed world-wide as secondary raw materials and are reutilised in products in the steel and foundry industries as well as the plastics processing industry.

Raw material separation for electronic scrap at RDE

A dry mechanical preparation facility for electronic waste at

Alba R-Plus GmbH in Lustadt


T he idea of waste as a resource – be it for mate-rial or energetic utilisation – is the core state-

ment behind the recycling-oriented resource econ-omy. The material recycling of glass, plastics, metal, paper and building rubble, or the energetic utilisa-tion of high fuel values as replacement fuels as well as the energetic and material use of organic frac-tions from muncipal waste, all help conserve re-sources. The most important prerequisite for recy-cling material flows is the separate collection of the individual fractions. This is possible through man-ual separation by the consumer or by using modern sorting technology. Rhineland-Palatinate is home to providers of both customer-specific sorting equip-ment with high level technology which is fit for the future as well as disposal and recycling companies who put the technology to work.

TiTech Visionsort GmbH started developing ad-vanced technology for sorting material flows at its site in Andernach which it now continues at the new location in Mülheim-Kärlich. Its AutoSort® MF, the most flexible optical sorting system in the

world, boasts a 98 percent purity level and an out-put efficiency of 95 percent, meaning that it is capa-ble of fully automated sorting of waste based on material types, colours and paper types. Up to 10 tonnes of material per hour can be efficiently sorted if the purity level is secure and constant as well as if the alignment of sorting criteria is flexible. Materi-als are illuminated on a conveyor belt while light is reflected off them at a wavelength close to infrared. This reveals a unique identification characteristic for each type of material. Software then helps effi-ciently determine the material type, object size, ob-ject shape and position on the conveyor belt. The sorting system also possesses a “Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black” sensor that allows it to examine printed paper and cartons for colour printing, sort-ing out materials from which the ink can be re-moved. The various colours for transparent and opaque objects like PETP bottles are determined using a ‘visual’ sensor. To improve material and col-our recognition, ‘object view’ software is capable of positively identifying the edges of the object and therefore enable precise comparison of the objects.

TiTech sorting technology has been deployed by the waste disposal firm “A.R.T Abfallberatungs- und Verwertungsgesellschaft mbH” whose main repon-sibility is the sorting of light packaging in the city of Trier and the administrative district of Trier-Saar-burg. In 2006, A.R.T GmbH separated some 60,000 tonnes at the port of Trier in its sorting fa-cility for consumer goods packaging with the “green dot” logo. One technique for separating plastics which goes beyond the “conventional” status of sorting technology is particularly forward-thinking; the automated sorting of packaging using near-in-frared technology for polyethylene (PET), polypro-pylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene

9 Sorting and conditioning of waste

TiTech Autosort system at work


terephthalate (PETP) forms the heart of the equip-ment. The plastic stream is conducted through an air separator which then divides the remaining plastics into flexible and dimensionally stable pack-aging one more time. The flexible parts are directed into the mixed plastics section. The stable plastics then reach a near-infrared seperator which auto-matically identifies the items belonging to a certain plastic type and uses pulses of compressed air to seperate them from the other materials. This pro-duces fractions which are more than 92% pure. Just like the foils, these plastics are pressed into bales and delivered to recycling partners who can make use of the high-grade materials.

Since 1980, Scherer + Kohl GmbH has been oper-ating three conditioning facilities in which mineral waste is conditioned into recycling elements. With the third plant in Kaiserwörthhafen in Ludwig-shafen, the company now possesses a mineral com-pound recycling centre which is unrivaled through-out Germany with an annual performance of 500,000 tonnes. The facility’s various process engi-neering possibilities enable the production of a

high quality secondary building material. In the goods-in area, mineral waste is separated into diffferent varieties and temporarily stored. The ma-terials are then conditioned into different mineral building materials using a process in which the contaminants are removed by multi-stage filtering, milling, magnetic sorting and manual sorting. These products are either utilised in road construc-tion or foundation work, or are purified in the cleaning station into high-grade secondary building materials. The company’s goal is to manufacture “secondary building materials” with the same qual-ity as “primary building materials” thereby contrib-uting to the conservation of existing natural re-sources. Even the waste products created during the production of the recycling building materials are channelled toward reutilisation; the “pre-filtered materials” which are captured from building rubble in the first screening process can be used as filling material and is sold as such. The fine particles cre-ated during the breaking of concrete and hard rock, known as coarse sand in the industry, can be used in joint compounds or for the further production of chippings. The secondary building materials cre-ated in this way are marketed regionally and along the Rhine, as well as nationally.

In addition to mineral waste, slag from waste-fuelled power plants is also conditioned into build-ing materials. Ferrous and non-ferrous parts are professionally recycled. Unburned slag parts are manually sorted and thermically recycled in waste fuelled power plants.

Demolition of a factory building – the concrete is separated from

the iron bars and will be used as a recycling material.

Recycling materials before screening.


Many material flows have to be mechanically processed, conditioned, sorted or transported

prior to recycling. Innovative technical solutions adapted to the customer’s specific requirements are increasingly in demand on both the domestic and international markets. Mechanical engineering has a long tradition in Rhineland-Palatinate and is one of the most important economic sectors for the state. High-quality Rhineland-Palatinate machinery underlines the demand for products from Rhine-land-Palatinate on international markets. The ex-port rates for the sector stood at over 60 percent in 2006, corresponding to a merchandise value of 4.6 billion Euros.

Since 1977, Rudnick & Enners Maschinen- und An-lagenbau GmbH from Alpenrod, a town in Rhine-land-Palatinate’s Westerwald, has been taking on the problems of its national and international cus-tomers with its tailor-made solutions from a single source. The engineering company projects, plans, finishes and installs complete stationary equipment

for biomass conditioning for energy or material re-cycling as well as equipment for used wood or con-ditioning residual waste or for the manufacture of wood pellets. Their speciality is the development of applications ranging from single-stage solutions for producing chippings directly from trunk wood to stationary, multi-stage systems for permanent avail-ability and maximum profitability. Even trunk di-ameters of up to 1,000 mm can be directly proc-essed into chips. Alongside the milling technology, Rudnick & Enners also delivers complete transpor-tation, screening and storage technology for the handling of biomass products, such as in the Ebers-walde cogeneration plant. Rudnick & Enners also has a refined solution ready for the production of wood pellets, which is a perfect source material. Particular attention is given to the quality of the chips which help lead to significant energy savings

10 Biomass machinery and waste conditioning

Ship loading on the grounds of HAAS GmbH

Photos: Above; Fuel delivery incl. segregation of oversized pieces

at the biomass cogeneration plant Eberswald,

Right; Storage silos at the HAAS GmbH company


in subsequent processes and can be excellently re-processed.

Dreisbach in the Westerwald district is home to HAAS Holzzerkleinerungs- und Fördertechnik GmbH, whose constant design improvements and market-oriented production planning has made it into a well-known producer and supplier of ready-to-use scrap wood recycling equipment in recent years. The company also produces further equip-ment and machines for grinding recycable materi-als. Founded in 1989, the family-owned company started with the design and manufacture of vertical and horizontal drum chippers, filters and transport equipment for sawmill waste disposal. Nowadays, HASS designs, produces and delivers complete new and scrap wood treatment equipment for the chipboard panel, paper pulp and paper industries, as well as biomass equipment and mobile grinding technology. An impressive example of scrap wood treatment can be seen in the Van Vliet project in the Netherlands, where HAAS constructed a scrap wood treatment facility including treatment, sort-ing and loading systems. Chips with a purity level of 99,5% are produced at the end of the process - a level which can satisfy the highest demands for quality. In the refuse recycling area (household, commercial and industrial waste), the company of-fers an extensive product range of mobile and sta-tionary grinders, filters and transport equipment for effective treatment of accumulated material. This allows the newly created products to be chan-nelled back into the material cycle with less re-source consumption.

Individual components and complete technical so-lutions for sustainable recycling of materials flows, treatment of recyclable materials as well as waste prevention, are some of the services offered by Ve-coplan Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG. Founded

in 1969 in Bad Marienberg as specialists for grind-ing machines, Vecoplan flourished quickly, rapidly growing into a leading national and international mechanical engineering firm for recycling technol-ogy. The more than 15,000 customers for its tai-lored treatment equipment are scattered across five continents. Alongside crushing technology, Vecop-lan also offers a comprehensive, high-performance range of transport, filtering and separation systems.

The convincingly high efficiency and availability of the Vecoplan transport and crushing systems were powerful arguments in Westerwald GmbH & Co. KG’s decision to purchase mechanical treatment equipment from Vecoplan. The company’s pre-grinding machines are employed in various opera-tions. The proven twin-shaft pre-grinder is espe-cially well suited for household, commercial and bulky refuse, as well as production waste. The key factors are high reliability paired with robustness, low operating costs and low wear and tear.

Waste treatment facility from Vecoplan


11 Efficient power generation from residual waste and secondary raw materials

Up until a few years ago, centralised energy and heat utilities and industrial plants with high

heating needs primarily employed fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal and gas in their production proc-esses. Substitutions for these primary energy sources by high thermal coefficient fractions such as residual waste are now becoming more and more important. In a circular economy, costly primary energy sources are saved by the increased energetic use of residual waste and so-called secondary fuels which minimise the need for landfill space by inert-ing waste.

One of the most energy-efficient waste fuelled power plants (MHKW) went into operation in Mainz in 2003. In many ways, new ground was broken with the concept for the plant; the waste-fuelled power plant, erected in the industrial area of Ingelheimer Aue, allows the generation of electric, steam and heat energy from waste due to a link with a state-of-the-art gas and steam turbine power generator.

Two incineration lines in the waste fuelled power plant energetically recycle some 230,000 tonnes of industrial and municipal waste each year. Due to the fact that the waste has a high calorific value, the incineration can be conducted without the use of additional primary energy. The construction of a third incineration line with corresponding purifica-tion of the exhaust gas (construction period: Febru-ary-autumn 2008) will increase the incineration capacity by roughly 50 percent, to some 340,000 tonnes per year.

The steam produced in the waste-fuelled power plant produces steam which is used to produce en-ergy and district heating at the nearby gas and steam turbine generation station (GuD-Kraftwerk) of the Mainz-Wiesbaden power plant. The power which is generated here is achieved through a gas turbine in which the fuel is directly used for energy production at first. The hot exhaust gases produced by combustion are then used to produce steam in the downstream production system for exhaust-heat steam. This, together with the steam created in the waste fuelled power plant, drives a steam tur-bine. The power generated in the facility corre-sponds to the electrical demands of over 40,000 households. A proportion of the steam is also re-

A waste fuelled power plant in Mainz


leased from the steam turbine and provides process steam and district heating to external consumers.

The gas and steam facility achieves an electric effi-ciency ratio of 58 percent. The cogeneration means that an overall utilisation ratio of 70 percent of the implemented primary energy is achieved. Given that the steam produced in the waste fuelled power plant is the primary energy source and a substitute for natural gas, CO2 emissions from the plant have also been significantly reduced. Alongside the waste fuelled power plant in Mainz, the State of Rhine-land-Palatinate also possesses additional waste fuelled power plants in Ludwigshafen und Pir-masens which also serve the generation of electric-ity and district heating.

BASF in Ludwigshafen also employs sludge for en-ergy production. The incineration of the sludge produces electricity and district heating, reducing the use of fossil energy sources.The company’s wastewater treatment system pro-duces roughly 1.6 million tonnes of sludge annu-ally, including a solid fraction of approx. 80,000 tonnes. The biosolids are conditioned with ash, coal and flocking agent, then dehydrated and burned to produce steam and electricity which can be used ef-ficiently. Some 75,000 MWh of useful heat and

60,000 MWh of electricity were generated in 2006. The steam is also used to produce up to 12 MW of electricity in a turbine generator station. Up to 15 MW of district heating are produced for the Tech-nische Werke Ludwigshafen and an additional 4 MW for the BASF facility in Frankenthal-Mörsch.

Another possibility for energetic recycling is pre-sented by the use of waste with high fuel values as a secondary fuel in industrial operations with high heat requirements. For example, the Dyckerhoff Göllheim factory replaces up to 40 percent of its fossil fuel requirements with secondary fuels for its cement manufacturing proceses. These replace-ment materials include used tyres, used oil, high thermal coefficient liquid waste as well as carpet and plastic left-overs.

Fractions of municpal waste

Old tyres for use as a secondary fuel


12 Efficient wastewater treatment

The securing of water supplies through efficient water usage and the establishment of water cy-

cles is a global challenge. Some 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water at present and almost double as many live without regulated sew-age systems. The Federal State of Rhineland-Palati-nate is meeting this challenge through efficient centralised and decentralised water purification concepts.

99 % of Rhineland-Palatinate’s population is con-nected to a wastewater treatment plant through sewage systems. The expansion of wastewater facil-ities and a high level of connection to sewer sys-tems have led to a decisive improvement in the wa-ter quality in Rhineland-Palatinate. Energy savings and energy production are a main priority in the ongoing process of constant improvement to mu-nicipal wastewater treatment systems, particularly when considering ecological factors. This promo-tion of innovative technologies and strategies spurs on the development of new processes to establish material cycles in wastewater treatment.

“Aus Abwasser mach R(h)einwasser” (Turning Wastewater into Pure Rhine Water) – that is the motto of the Mainz wastewater utility, which works to collect, treat and return contaminated water and precipitation to the Rhine once it is ecologically safe to do so. At the central treatment plant in the city district of Mombach, wastewater from over 210,000 inhabitants and the associated industrial firms is purified in several stages. The sludge created dur-ing treatment is channelled into septic tanks. Meth-ane is obtained as a result of the organic substances being degraded in the oxygen vacuum. The volume of sludge is reduced even more once it is dried. Wa-ter which is filtered out during the individual dry-ing stages is collected and returned for biological purification and therefore completes the water cycle.

Closed cycles of this kind are also found in the area of decentralised wastewater treatment. Decentral-ised wastewater treatment involves introducing constructed wetlands (in municipal, commercial and private areas) in locations where the creation of a sewer network for central treatment plants is not economical. Constructed wetlands generally consist of sealed earth basins filled with filter substrates. Reeds are planted to ensure lasting water permea-bility and to ensure that the filter substrate is en-riched with oxygen. After a mechanical or partially biological pre-treatment, the wastewater is chan-nelled into one or more covered earth filters. While the wastewater flows through the filter material, it is biologically purified by bacteria and micro-organ-isms. Chemical/physical exchange processes and binding reactions in the soil also make a significant contribution to the purification process. The puri-fied wastewater is then fed into a lake or river, the underground water table or a water reservoir.

A treatment facility with a septic tank for the production of

digester gas


Rhineland-Palatinate’s areal – Gesellschaft für nach-haltige Wasserwirtschaft mbH has been involved in the planning and establishment of these con-structed wetlands since 1990. In St. Alban in the Donnersberg administrative district, one of the company’s semi-centralised communal constructed wetlands has been cleaning wastewater for the com-munities of St. Alban and Gerbach since 2004. With 1,150 residents connected to the system and three modules for rainwater, wastewater and sludge treatment, it is considered as one of the largest and most innovative constructed wetlands in Germany. Alongside a pre-treatment pond with a volume of 1,100 m3, the facility also possesses over 2,750 m2 of fine filter and 1,250 m2 of coarse filter beds.

An example for a commercial implementation of an almost natural wastewater treatment facility by areal GmbH is the agricultural company Fehmel near Mutterstadt. The constructed wetland purifies the water for washing the vegetables, which is strongly silty and contaminated with plant residues. The constructed wetlands are designed so that a large percentage of sludge and coarse plant waste is restricted by the special sludge pits. The pre-treated wastewater is then applied to two soil filters covered with reeds which cover a total space of 800 m2. The purified washing water is then collected in a special storage reservoir and reused for the first washing process. The organic and mineral remains from the sludge pit are spread out across the company’s agri-cultural area. This means that water, organic and mineral remains are 100 percent recycled.

Separation systems are planned to promote the im-plementation of closed cycles in the future. Separa-tion systems prevent rain water and wastewater mixing and contribute to a reduction in the volume of water which needs to be purified. An on-going approach for the continuing separation of material

flows is represented by the spearation of faeces. The Ministry for the Environment, Forests and Consumer Protection has started a research project on this topic to quantify the existing potential for the retrieval of nutrients.

In September 2005 the Ministry also started the “Benchmarking Water Management in Rhineland-Palatinate” initiative, which seeks an increase in the energy efficiency of wastewater treatment facilities. Energy analysis from selected treatment facilities has shown that potential energy savings of around 30 percent can be achieved across the state. The im-plementation of concrete measures to increase effi-ciency in model facilities will make a contribution to the strengthening of technology transfer in this area.

Operational constructed wetland in St. Alban

Completed constructed wetland in St. Alban


13 Thermal and agricultural recycling of sewage sludge

Cooperation across the sectors for the effi-cient usage of material flows is a key indicator

for successful circular economy models. Therefore an example can be taken from sewage sludge, which is a recyclable material created at the end of the wastewater purification process, and can be used as a source of nutrients and as topsoil in agri-culture. Contaminated sewage sludge can be uti-lised as fuel for the cement industry. The calorific value and therefore the economic benefit of sewage sludge increases with the sludge’s degree of dry-ness. While sewage sludge that has only been me-chanically dehydrated is not ready for incineration, dried sewage sludge possesses an energy density which comes close to the calorific value of brown coal. The recycling of sewage sludge is only efficient if fossil fuels are not used in the drying process. The State of Rhineland-Palatinate has successfully implemented a variety of different concepts in this area.

With an energy content of roughly 11 MJ/kg, dried sewage sludge is becoming more and more interest-ing as a biogenous secondary fuel. A high level of use is achieved through co-incineration of dried sludge in cement plants, because the process of clinker produc-tion involves an energetic as well as a material recy-cling of sludge. The biogenous fraction serves as a replacement for coal, the mineral portion is incor-porated in the cement clinker. No ashes remain from this process and there are therefore no extra costs for disposal. This concept is successfully prac-ticed by Dyckerhoff at its Göllheim cement plant. The sewage sludge is dried for the cement plant in a sludge drying facility in the Rhineland-Palatinate town of Hochdorf-Assenheim, operated by the com-pany WVE GmbH in Kaiserslautern since 2007. The concept is based exclusively on the deployment of renewable energy sources, since solar energy and the waste heat from a biogas facility are used for drying.

Photo above: Interior view of hall for sludge drying in

Hochdorf-Assenheim


Since 2006, the biogas facility has been operating on the premises of the agricultural farm of Frie-drich Theo + Alexander GbR in Hochdorf-Assen-heim. Some 5000 m3 of liquid pig manure and 8,000 tonnes of maize silage are processed each year, with the maize coming from the surrounding farm fields. Alongside the thermal energy which covers the facility’s energy requirements and which is used for the drying process, the biogas is utilised in a cogeneration unit to produce electricity that is fed into the public power grid and which is paid for based on the German renewable energy law.

The EDZ drying facility, essentially an improve-ment on the existing solar drying facility, was erected in the immediate proximity of the biogas fa-cility. It consists of a hothouse and drying house covered with plastic film, with a total drying surface of some 1,400 m2. The facility is provided with heat for the drying process by natural sunlight and through a built-in low temperature underfloor heat-ing system. This underfloor heating makes it pos-sible for the waste heat from the cogeneration plant to be optimally used for drying the sewage sludge.

With its special transport and turning system, the sewage sludge drying facility can handle approxi-mately 5,000 tonnes of sludge each year. Solar heat, and the supporting effects of the underfloor heat-ing, vaporise the water contained in the sludge, which is dried to a matter with a solid content of over 90 percent on its way to the facility’s discharge system. The exchange of the moist air in the facility takes place through ventilation flaps in the roof of the drying house. The dried material, which has a solid, granular form and consistency, is transported to a nearby silo using an elevator on the front of the

unit. Transport to the cement plant is then handled by silo vehicles.

The combination of biogas and drying technology optimises the energy balances for the two compo-nents so that the sewage sludge burned actually aims for a positive energy and CO2 balance for the entire concept. The incineration in the cement plant brings about material recycling which also conserves valuable natural resources. All partici-pants benefit from this exemplary cross-industry cooperation: water resources management gains a sustainable recycling path, the farmer gains an ad-ditional source of income as an energy producer, the consumer is offered “green electricity” pro-duced in their own region and industry also gains an affordable, biogenous fuel that can be utilised energetically and materially.

Sludge drying using solar heat and waste warmth from a biogas

facility in Hochdorf-Assenheim


Biogas is created by the fermentation of organic waste materials from agriculture, commercial

operations and households, as well as from renew-able raw materials. The production of various en-ergy sources and forms like natural gas, electricity, heat and cold or alternative fuels is what differenti-ates the technology from other renewable energy sources. From a point of view of the materials, bio-gas technology can be implemented for the biologi-cal stabilisation of organic waste materials and con-taminated wastewater, as well as for the production of high-quality fertiliser from fermentation re-mains. The benefits of biogas technology therefore lie in its various areas of application in agriculture, industry and at a muncipal level.

Germany’s biogas facilities supplied 5,400 GWh of electricity in 2006. This corresponds to a share of approximatey 7 percent through renewable en-ergy sources supplied in 2006. This means that

4,041,000 tonnes of CO2 were saved. Some 90 bio-gas facilities are currently at work in Rhineland-Pa-latinate, making their contribution to this success. The commissioning of the 100th facility is expected in 2008.

Nowadays, the treatment of biological waste through fermentation in biogas facilities represents an eco-nomically and ecologically useful complement to composting. Biogas technology not only requires less space (space requirements are reduced by around 30%) but odorous emissions can also be substantially reduced as well. Significant benefits in biogas technology lie in the positive energy bal-ance and in the reduction of greenhouse gas emis-sions. In contrast to composting processes, the en-vironmetal damaging methane gas which has an influence on the environment and is 21 times

14 Biogas technology in Rhineland-Palatinate

Below photo: Biogas facility in Nusbaum-Freilingen


stronger than carbon dioxide, is collected and ener-getically recycled.

Rhineland-Palatinate’s Recybell Umweltschutzan-lagen GmbH & Co. KG, a subsidiary of the Bellers-heim corporate group, set up a biowaste fermenta-tion facility working on the single-stage mesophilic BIOSTAB-wet fermentation process at its Boden location. The biogas facility handles biowaste from approx. 350,000 inhabitants in the districts of Westerwald and Altenkirchen; this corresponds to a total volume of 45,000 tonnes of bio waste annu-ally, with an approved capacity of 57,500 tonnes per year. The facility feeds roughly 3 million kWh of electricity into the public grid. The process creates more than 12,000 tonnes of high-quality BioStab soil from biowaste each year. This is a soil which is recognised for its properties as a secondary raw fer-tiliser and soil enhancer.

An equally successful approach is pursued at the Zentrum für Energie & Umwelt Systeme (ZEUS) in Reinsfeld. For more than three years now, the 1MW biogas facility which was erected here, with project management and turnkey construction han-dled by the general contracting firm ÖKOBiT, has been fermenting a small proportion of regenerative raw materials as well as a larger share of biological waste material from industry and agriculture. The biogas produced is converted into electricity on site and provides more than 2,500 Rhineland-Palatinate households with continuous electricity through the public grid. In this context, it is particularly worth mentioning that the concept behind the biogas fa-cilities, where waste heat made available by the co-generation plant, is almost completed used for the hygienisation of the fermentation remains. By ap-plying the fermentation remains as high-quality fertiliser for the bordering fields, the nutrient cycle

is completed. The result is a renewable energy pro-duction cycle using biogas in a closed system which is therefore neutral of CO2.

The use of waste heat is a decisive factor for the economic operation of a biogas facility. Nusbaum-Freilingen, a town in the south part of the Eifel re-gion, is home to a fermentation facility operated by BOSZ-BIO-ENERGIE GmbH; the firm also runs a plant for wood and the production of dried grass meal pellets which serves as a concentrated feed for dairy cows and breeding pigs. The biogas facility, designed by the engineering firm H. Berg & Part-ner, annually produces some 1,800,000 m3 of bio-gas from the mixed fermentation of liquid excre-ment from cattle and pigs, solid droppings, renew-able raw materials, leftovers and fats. Electricity is created through the energetic recycling of biogas in a cogeneration plant and is then fed into the public grid. Excess waste heat, the equivalent to roughly 400,000 litres of heating oil, is channelled into a drying hall in the grounds of the biogas facility to aid in the production of wood and dried grass meal pellets. Through the combination of two technolo-gies and the implementation of an innovative heat-ing concept, the integrated use of biogas techno logy as an energy source is achieved.

Sanitation stage at the ZEUS biogas facility in Reinsfeld


15 Material and energetic recycling of biomass

The potential for added value for biogenous material flows has been adequately recog-

nised; this is also reflected in the growing competi-tion between material and energetic recycling of bi-omass. Waste materials from agriculture, forestry or commercial operations as well as renewable raw materials now represent valuable raw materials to enterprises both in the woodworking and biomass conditioning industries as well as for operators in electricity and heat production. While primary raw materials can be conserved through the material re-cycling of biomass, it is energetic applications that serve as a substitute for fossil fuels and help reduce CO2 emissions. As a state shaped by agriculture and forestry, Rhineland-Palatinate offers high po-tential for energetic and material use of biomass, as proven by the implementation of numerous pro-jects and facilities in this field.

The company Nolte Holzwerkstoff GmbH & Co. KG in Germersheim has been using an innovative recycling process for material utilisation of chip-board from used furniture for more than ten years. As a medium-sized manufacturer of furniture based on chipboard, the company developed a proc-

ess for reclaiming material from chippings left over from production as well as used chipboard from old furniture. Reusing the chips to produce new raw chipboard means an interaction with raw materials which is more kind to the environment. The source materials of raw chipboard and paper are optimally utilised in multistage recycling processes. With a capacity of 55,000 tonnes per year, the recycling fa-cility allows savings of raw wood materials of around 20 percent in the downstream chipboard factory. The facility has also meant that 350,000 tonnes of used chipboard has avoided landing on the landfill site.

Given the increasing scarcity of raw materials, an-nual and perennial plants are increasingly being used as a resource by the woodworking industry. The Ludwig Kuntz GmbH wood plant in Morbach has been occupied with the manufacture of espe-cially light chipboard from mixed raw materials for a long time. Their production experiments have augmented the traditional use of wood with alter-native raw materials like rapeseed or crop straw. Wood and hemp has already been used for the mass production of light chipboard for the furniture in-


dustry. Additional mixes based on recycled wood and various annual and perennial plants like maize and miscanthus are currently being tested as part of a European research project. The goal is to diver-sify the raw materials so that an especially light and environmentally friendly chipboard can be pro-duced, which offers similar mechanical and quali-tative characteristics to conventional chipboard. At the end of the product cycle, the mixed chipboard can either be recycled or reused thermally, thereby continuing to conserve more valuable wood re-sources.

Nowadays, agricultural waste along with waste products from forestry and woodworking indus-tries, can be used for the production of biofuels, which is a form of added value in itself. RLP Agro-Science GmbH in Neustadt an der Weinstraße de-velops concepts for thermal usage of solid produc-tion waste from fruit and vegetable plantations, vineyards and distilleries. Germany’s wine produc-ing regions produce significant amounts of grape pomace and rootstock that are almost exclusively disposed of agriculturally. As part of the “Pomace as a solid biofuel” project, RLP AgroScience GmbH is currently investigating whether the drying and pelletisation of pomace and rootstock could lead to a market-ready product which could contribute to

an economic strengthening of the rural area in the medium-term and ultimately to the creation of new jobs. The first test results have shown that it is fun-damentally possible to create the fuel. The pomace pellets not only fulfil the physical quality require-ments as laid out in DIN Plus for wood pellets, but even exceed the calorific value of wood pellets or lignite, with an average calorific value of 21.8 GJ/t. A pilot project is now intended to make further tests on the use of pellets in corresponding heating equipment together with the corresponding techni-

Dried rootstock

Pomace storage on the field

Incineration attempt with pomace pellets


cal and economic evaluations. In the future, the consistent implementation of this process, calcu-lated for all of Germany’s vineyards, could lead to some 265,000 tonnes of pomace and 318,000 tonnes of rootstock being utilised for energy with no adverse effects to wine production. In terms of fuel value, that would produce a theoretical energy potential of approx. 1,400 GWh. This corresponds to an equivalent of approx. 135 mn litres of heating oil, or the annual energy requirements of 115,000 family homes and CO2 savings of approx. 354,000 tonnes.

Since 1994, the Rhineland-Palatinate company Mann Naturenergie GmbH & Co. KG has been in-volved with the conditioning of biogenous materi-als and the production of energy and heat from bio-mass. The company processes shavings and wood chips, by-products of the woodworking industry,

into what are known as Westerwald wood pellets. The heat required by the production process is pro-vided through the company’s own biomass cogen-erator. This is operated on the basis of agricultural prunings. The waste heat from the biomass cogen-erator is not just used to dry the wood chips, but also to power a small district heating system which provides the company premises and a hothouse with heat. The generated electricity is fed into the public grid. The installation of a flue gas condenser in May 2007 increased the energy efficiency of the facility and reduced emissions even though fuel consumption has remained constant. Alongside the planning, construction oversight and commis-sioning of large projects in the wood pellet industry, the company also possesses experience in the oper-ation of vegetable oil motors. As part of a pilot project at the Langenbach site, used vegetable oil (deep fryer fat) was successfully used in a motor with 770 kw of thermal and electrical power. The knowledge gained from the experience has been used in several facilities across Europe with a ca-pacity of up to 18 MWel.

The Mutterstadt company Zeller Naturenergie GmbH & Co.KG conditions trimmings, wood and used wood from the region into chips which are de-livered to both smaller biomass heating units as well as cogeneration plants in the region with sev-eral MW of generative power.

Rhineland-Palatinate possesses more than eleven used wood power plants at present, whose capacity

The Mann company’s pellet factory

Right: Matrix for manufacture of wood pellets


covers all of the state’s requirement. These are joined by more than 160 large wood chip and wood pellet units with installed performance of more than 210 MW as well as several thousand small-scale units.

Kraft-Wärme-Wörth GmbH in Wörth am Rhein op-erates what is currently the largest wood chip heat-ing plant in Rhineland-Palatinate, with 1.5 MW of capacity. The unit provides numerous building complexes in the vicinity with environmentally friendly heat through wood chips from the region. The buildings include several larger social institu-tions such as the Bienwald Residence, a retirement centre with flats for the aged and infirm, a kinder-garten and two high-rises, each with 100 flats. A cogeneration plant is also part of the energy head-quarters, providing the entire small district heating system with electricity.

A 300 kW woodchip facility operated by Pfalzwerke AG covers the entire base heating needs of the Ei-senberg Realschule using CO2 neutralising technol-ogy. The woodchip heating system is not only capa-ble of using normal wood refuse but also a very

high proportion of greenery trimmings as fuel as well. The design of the wood furnace and its high temperature aeration chamber makes it especially well suited for the incineration of trimmings which are moist. This allows a large proportion of the trimmings accumulating in the Donnersberg dis-trict to be usefully recycled without the need for prior drying.

The forestry department of Cochem makes a spe-cial contribution to added regional value through the production of woodchips from the region’s state, municipal and private forests. These are sup-plied to woodchip heaters which provide the Co-chem secondary schools and the Moselbad swim-ming pool with warmth. The woodchip heating plant is operated by a contractor. After the first two heating periods, it was established that between the

Realschule and the Gymnasium woodchip heating systems which require 650 kW and the additional 50kW from the retrieval of exhaust gas, more than 90 percent of the annual thermal energy require-ments for the school buildings were covered. This makes an important contribution to the supply of CO2 neutralising energy for community institu-tions.

Mann Naturenergie GmbH & Co. KG / Delivery and comminu-

tion of biomass

A woodchip furnace including a heat exchanger for exhaust gas


Geothermal power is based on exploitation of the natural rise in temperature at increasing

depths of the earth’s crust. The Upper Rhine trench areas exhibit temperatures of up to 200°C at only three to five kilometres below the earth’s surface. This thermal anomaly, as it is known, ideally fulfils the prerequisites for efficient and economical use of geothermal energy in Rhineland-Palatinate.

One major advantage in the application of geother-mal energy is its basic load threshold, which means that it is unaffected by the time of day or season and can be produced used a very broad variety of technical processes.

Deep geothermal powerTest operations on a geothermal energy plant were commenced in 2007 in the city of Landau. The geo-thermal energy is harnessed here using what is known as a hydrothermal system which uses an “Organic Rankine Cycle” (ORC) to convert the ther-mal water supply at a depth of around 3,000 metres in the Upper Rhine trench into electrical energy: For this purpose, the water, which has a tempera-ture of over 150°C, is pumped from the bowels of the earth to the surface using a production well. A water/steam circuit is then used to create steam. This drives a turbine. A generator thereby converts the rotational energy created into electrical energy. The waste warmth from the process is tapped using a heating system that heats nearby houses while providing them with warm water. The water cooled down in the process is forced back underground using an injection probe.

In the initial construction stages, the installed elec-trical power of a geothermal energy plant will total 2.9 MW. This could lead to the generation of some 20 GWh of electricity per year which would provide around 6,000 households with their electricity needs. Roughly 300 households will also be pro-vided with heat during the initial phase using a small district heating system. Additional communi-ties will also be connected in the future and the plant’s thermal capacity will be raised to 6 MW.

The project will not only make use of regional en-ergy potentials and therefore help avoid the need to import energy, but it will also make an active contri-bution to protection of the climate. Calculations have shown that the geothermal energy plant in Landau could save roughly 5,800 tonnes of CO2 each year.The commitment by Rhineland-Palatinate’s power suppliers “Pfalzwerke” and “EnergieSüdwest” has played no insignificant role in the implementation of the ambitious project. Beside the founding of the

16 Heat of the future for Rhineland-Palatinate

A drilling rig at the geothermal plant in Landau


geox GmbH, which unites both company’s compe-tencies in the geothermal energy field, the power suppliers also assumed responsibility for a signifi-cant part of the investment themselves. The Landes-bank Rheinland-Pfalz, the Sparkasse Südliche Wein- straße and the Investitionsstrukturbank Mainz pro-vided the project company with the necessary loans. Additional geothermal projects are already planned in additional locations in Rhineland-Palatinate, such as Speyer, Worms, Offenbach (Palatinate) and Bellheim.

Surface Proximity of Geothermal PowerState-of-the-art environmental and pumping tech-nology now allows self-sustaining geothermal en-ergy to be provided to private households. The en-ergy volumes that can be achieved through geother-mal power which is close to the surface can enable the efficient operation of private thermal pumps for heating and hot water supply in Rhineland-Palati-nate.

For example, as part of the “Energiehaus der Zu-kunft – Innovative Projekte für mehr Energieeffi-zienz” project, which is a project initiated by RWE Rhein-Ruhr AG, the first “CO2-free heat pumping community” was developed. To date, 18 buildings

have been constructed in the new “Mühlenflur” building area in the Kröv-Bausendorf community using the latest equipment technology. The inno-vating heat pump system uses environmental warmth to heat buildings and to warm process wa-ter. Only some 25 percent of the electrical drive power for the heat pump is required to make the heat ready for use. This energy flows into the “En-ergy house of the future” from renewable energy sources, so that the heating and process water heat-ing in the building can be achieved completely free of CO2.

Diagram of geothermal utilisation

Drill head switch during creation of the injection well

for Landau geothermal power plant

Power plant

Thermal extraction

Decentralised (replacement) power plant

Injection wellProduction wellPump


17 Wind power

At approximately 2 billion kWh of electricity ge-nerated annually, wind power represents a sig-

nificant contributor to renewable power generation which is kind to the environment and is an impor-tant economic driver in the region.Numerous wind parks and companies in this innovative growth in-dustry make a solid impact on the creation of re-gional value.

In Morbach’s energy landscape, two experienced Rhineland-Palatinate companies will be setting a new world benchmark in the international wind power sector. The region’s energy landscape already possesses equipment to exploit solar and bioenergy as well as an existing wind park; the Mainz-based juwi Group is now planning construction of the world’s largest wind power turbine. The wind power technology to be used here originated in the Westerwald district: The Fuhrländer FL 2500 has a hub height of 210 meters. Thanks to new technolo-gies winds at great heights can be used economi-cally, which is of great interest to locations in Ger-many’s south-western region. The FL 2500 will be positioned some 50 to 60 meters below the highest point of the Morbach energy landscape. Given its large tower height, enormous rotors and nominal performance of 2.5 MW, the FL 2500 is expected to produce roughly 6.5 mn kWh of electricity per year. This corresponds to the energy consumption for roughly 2000 households. Construction of the equipment is expected to be complete in late 2008 / early 2009. The project required an invest-ment of some 3.5 million euros.

The juwi Group and Fuhrländer AG have already successfully implemented numerous wind power projects in Rhineland-Palatinate. Several of these projects are operated by pfalzwind GmbH, a joint subsidiary of the juwi Group and Pfalzwerke AG. This includes the wind parks in Dickesbach in the Birkenfeld administrative district, in Haserich in the Cochem-Zell administrative district, in Herx-heimweyher on the southern wine route and in Rülzheim in the Germersheim administrative dis-trict.

Morbach Energy Landscape: Clean electricity is being created in

Hunsrück using a varied mix of regenerative energies.


Rhineland-Palatinate also houses the largest wind park in southern Germany on the “Windfeld Rhein-hessen/Pfalz”. Twenty-eight wind power units with a total installed generative power of 32.9 MW pro-duce some 57 mn kWh of clean electricity per year which is enough to power around 16,000 house-holds.

Alongside new locations, further wind power po-tential in Rhineland-Palatinate lies particularly in what is known as repowering, the replacement of existing units through newer, more effective ones. One of the first repowering projects in Germany was launched in September 2003 on the Schnee-bergerhof near Gerbach in the Donnersberg ad-ministrative district. Two of the five existing wind

power units were equipped with more powerful machinery, meaning that the five units now achieve a total performance of 8.9 MW and generate 50 percent more total power than the older wind tur-bines.

These examples highlight the State of Rhineland-Palatinate’s extensive know-how in the field of wind power. Fuhrländer AG is the pioneer in the domes-tic use of wind power. The juwi Group is counted as one of leading German companies in the field of renewable energies by building and operating pho-tovoltaic, biomass and wind power facilities. The company now has 220 wind power units with a to-tal performance level of around 350 MW in Rhine-land-Palatinate alone and is also globally active.

Lettweil heights: Eleven wind power units all rotate on the hills to

the southwest of Bad Kreuznach.

Wind power unit 5 FL 2500 – 160 m tower

from the Fuhrländer company


18 Solar power

The economic use of environmentally friendly primary energy is one of the central elements

of Rhineland-Palatinate’s circular economy strategy. Suitable environmental technology can be used to convert solar primary energy directly into various target energy forms. The number of photovoltaic and solar thermal units on municipal and private roofs and surfaces is climbing constantly in Rhine-land-Palatinate. The innovative power of Rhineland-Palatinate industry also pays testament to solar en-gineering’s role as a growth industry in the state.

Since 2004, the City of Kaiserslautern has been working on a constant improvement of its solar city concept developed as part of the “Green Goal” envi-ronmental concept for the FIFA World Cup 2006. A photovoltaic unit was installed in time for the FIFA World Cup 2006 on the roofs of three of the four grandstands of the Fritz Walter Stadium, with work conducted by Solar Energie Dach GmbH. Once finished, some 800 kWp in photovoltaics are planned over a surface of 6,000 m2. The Fritz Wal-

ter Stadium was therefore the most environmen-tally friendly football stadium at the FIFA World Cup 2006. Additional photovoltaic equipment pro-viding 3.5 MWp in total has been installed within the city limits, as have solar heating units with a collection surface of 2,105 m2 (as of 30/09/2007), which is part of a joint project between the Landes-betrieb Liegenschafts- und Baubetreuung (LBB), BauAG and Westpfälzische Ver- und Entsorgungs-GmbH (WVE).

The multi-faceted potential for integration of alter-native energy sources in urban construction is also at work in a concept for a small district heating sys-tem supported by solar power for a new develop-ment. in the Rhineland-Palatinate town of Speyer. The heating energy and hot water for the 9,300 m2 of residential space in the “Alter Schlachthof” resi-dential district, constructed in 2001 using low-en-

Photo above: Photovoltaic usage on the buildings of Lebenshilfe

Kaiserslautern (child care centre on the Nussbaum)


ergy construction methods, comes through a 600 kW gas condensing boiler in connection with a so-lar thermal unit. The solar thermal unit is installed on the roofs and carports of the residential village and is planned with an overall size of approximately 550 m2 of collection area and 100 m3 of buffer stor-age. Once construction is completed, the solar en-ergy will contribute up to 22% of the heating supply for the entire community.

SCHOTT Solar GmbH has installed environmen-tally friendly photovoltaic modules for power gener-ation in Neustadt an der Weinstraße, on the site of the former Sembach US air force base, and in Bad Kreuznach.

SCHOTT Solarthermie GmbH is a worldwide leader in technology for receivers for second generation solar thermal parabolic trough power plants. The company has provided receivers for projects rang-ing from the “Nevada Solar One” power plant which

went onstream in June 2007 near the US city of Las Vegas to “Andasol”, scheduled to go onstream at Andalusia in Spain, in summer 2008.

alwitra Flachdach-Systeme GmbH in Trier devel-oped a new type of technology to protect structures against climactic influences even while directly con-verting solar radiation into electricity. It enables double the amount of use of the existing roof sur-faces through the integration of EVALON® Solar plastic roof and liner sheets with integrated amor-phous photovoltaic modules. The webs are very light, flexible and can be laid like traditional plastic liner sheets, because they adapt to any roof form and at roughly 4 kg/m2 of dead weight, only make a minor contribution to the load on the roof construc-tion.

The Hunsrücker glass refinement company Wage-ner GmbH & Co. KG in Kirchberg has developed transparent façade elements for the harmonised in-tegration of solar technology in buildings. These can be installed like conventional insulated or pan-elled glass surfaces in all standard building designs. A thin film technology with amorphous silicon ena-bled the company to structure its VOLTARLUX® solar power modules so finely that they appear transparent to the human eye, although they allow annual energy production volumes of up to 45 kWh/m2.

The companies juwi solar GmbH in Bolanden and City Solar Kraftwerke AG in Bad Kreuznach have enjoyed equal success both domestically and abroad. Both companies operate solar parks pro-ducing energy volumes of over 20 MW.

Above photo: EVALON® Solar web, photovoltaic unit in the form

of a walk-on roof foil

Left: Photovoltaic unit on the Hovet ice skating rink


Closed energy and materials cycles are the dis-tinguishing marks of high efficiency building

concepts. With a 41 percent share of end energy consumption, households and small consumers still represent a major factor in Rhineland-Palati-nate while 90% of this energy is used for the sup-ply of heat. The Rhineland-Palatinate state govern-ment is aware of the significant potential for sav-ings and has therefore launched the “Unser Ener” energy saving initiative. It aims at informing house owners about competent consultation and promo-tion programs covering the topics of energy and cost saving construction and renovation: The best type of energy is saved energy. Saving energy is the most reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly way to ensure future supplies of electricity and heat. This is the reason why the state govern-ment is sponsoring the construction of passive and energy producing houses with 2 million Euros in subsidies.

Renovations to old buildings can also achieve sig-nificant energy savings. Innovative construction standards in new construction as well as moderni-sation concepts for old buildings not only allow en-ergy saving potential of between 50 and 80 percent nowadays, but when combined with the use of re-newable energy can also achieve positive energy balances. Rhineland-Palatinate is coming up with various trendsetting projects for the implementa-tion of the circular economy principles in the build-ing field.

One such forward thinking project is the “House in House” construction system, developed by Bio-So-lar-Haus Becher GmbH of St. Alban. The house has two structural shells, preventing rain from pen-etrating inside but allowing water vapour to escape. Sun and wood deliver the energy, which is con-sumed over the course of the year. Due to the fact that construction materials are comprised primarily of renewable raw materials, the energy expenditure for production of the construction materials is sig-nificantly lower than traditional construction meth-ods. The construction system, which guarantees a healthy living environment, has been implemented hundreds of times across Europe. At its location in the Sonnenpark St. Alban, the company allows po-tential buyers to experience the special living envi-ronment by trying it out before they buy.

The juwi Group’s headquarters in Bolanden is pow-ered exclusively through renewable energy sources.

19 Sustainable building design and renovation

Bio-Solar House in St. Alban

The new administrative building of the juwi GmbH company in

Bolanden; a passive construction with complete energy supply

through renewable energies


A 30 kWp photovoltaic unit feeds 27,000 kWh of electricity into the public grid each year. The two-storey house, built using passive technologies, is characterised by the active and passive usage of so-lar energy, the clear north/south orientation, con-sistent utilisation of rainwater and its wood pellet heating system.

In 2001, the Lugwigshafen-based LUWOGE, a resi-dential company of the BASF group, managed to modernise a building from the 1950s into Europe’s first 3-litre house. That means it has a heating en-ergy consumption of less than 3 litres of heating oil per square meter of residential space per year. State-of-the-art Neopor® insulation material was used in the process, as well as triple glazed window panes and a controlled ventilation and exhaust to allow for the extraction of thermal energy from the ambient air. A fuel cell in the cellar of the building produces both electricity and heat.

The next developments of the 3-litre house have led to the “zero litre” or “zero heating cost houses” by LUWOGE in Ludwighafen’s Pfingstweide district through the integration of additional technological steps. The pilot project demonstrates how energy- related measures can be implemented affordably for both tenant and landlord. Energy consumption is reduced to a technical/economic optimum level through energetic modernisation steps. During the renovation of an inhabited structure from the 1970s, tried-and-tested building insulation and heat reclamation technologies were supplemented with additional innovative measures such as triple glazed warmth-radiating window panes. The required re-

sidual energy is gained through the use of regener-ative energy sources via solar collectors on the south façade and a photovoltaic unit on the roof. The saved energy costs are applied for refinancing. This means that building and water heating expendi-tures are completely eliminated from the operating costs.

Tenants do not have to worry about rising heating oil prices as their rent payment includes the heat-ing bill. In 2002, the city government of Wittlich and the finance minister for Rhineland-Palatinate decided to propose a test project based on the topic of energy efficiency in new private residential con-struction. Regional architects and craftsman planned and constructed twelve environmentally friendly single family homes with 30 residential units; 15 of these residential units achieve the con-sumption level of a passive house in their energy needs, which means that they consume no more than 15 kWh per square meter of living space per year. The mere energetic optimisation of the con-struction plans can account for energy savings of 20 to 30 percent, as heating losses are minimised and solar gains increased. Additional increases in efficiency can be achieved through the deployment of ground heat exchangers, a gas condensing boiler or solar thermal units. A material cycle is achieved in this model project through pre-cipitation management: Rain wa-ter is collected separately and is channelled into “retention sur-faces” and “troughs” where it is in-filtrated into the natural water cy-cle.

The renovation of an older building into a ‘Zero Litre House’ in

Ludwigs hafen, Pfingstweide district

Photo right:

Thermal image of an office building


Nature parks are examples of a circular econ-omy and represent a fair balance of interests

between commercial and tourist development on one hand and nature conservation on the other. Na-ture parks integrate nature and resource conserva-tion, recreation and tourism, environmental educa-tion, environmentally sound land utilisation and regional development. They are the proof that the integrated, sustainable development of rural areas, as called for on a national and European level, can work.

The Pfälzerwald Nature Park was founded in 1958 as one of Germany’s first nature parks. Today, at a size of 179,000 hectares, it is one of the largest na-ture parks in the nation. In 1992, the United Na-tions Education, Scientific and Cultural Organiza-tion (UNESCO) named the Pfälzerwald Nature Park as the twelfth German biosphere reserve in the worldwide network of biosphere reserves, praising its exemplary characteristics. The German section of the Vosges du Nord/Pfälzerwald Transboundary Biosphere Reserve was recognised by UNESCO in 1998.The biosphere reserve has developed an integrated concept to increase added value in the region. The

primary goal of the nature park was to maintain and develop an large, extensively unspoilt landscape as a recreational area which is close to nature, where people from nearby metropolitan areas can encounter nature. In order for the biosphere reserve to contribute to the quality of life and the economic basis of the population and to strengthen the rural culture and provide jobs, environmentally friendly cultivation of land, the marketing of regional natural products and socially and environmentally friendly tourism is strived towards.

The marketing of regional products from the agri-cultural and forestry fields and from handcraft trades ensure the continuing cultivation of land and therefore the preservation of the cultural landscape. The idea for the “Partnerbetriebe” project was born by a core group of four organic producers with sup-port from the biosphere reserve administration in Lambrecht.Companies from the sanctuary work to-gether as “partner companies in the biosphere re-serve Vosges du Nord/Pfälzerwald” and develop channels for marketing regional and sustainably produced products. Particular priority is placed on short transport distances. The concept has been ex-

20 Conservation of the cultural landscape


panded to restaurateurs, forestry and woodworking companies and now encompasses some 39 partner companies.

The project “German-French Farmer’s Markets” was also originated as an initiative against the de-cline of agricultural trades. This initiative supports agriculture in the border region and the promotion of direct marketing of high-quality regional prod-ucts. Since 1999, a farmer’s market has been held four times a year alternating between German and French communities. This provides active, sustain-able support for commercial operations and simul-taneously communicates the exemplary concept behind the nature park.

The contribution of various communities to the Pfälzerwald Nature Park such as Leinbachtal bei Waldleiningen has also been exemplary. The major-ity of plots in Leinbachtal have lain fallow for many years. Agriculture in the valley is declining and the region is clearly threatened by an overgrowth of bushes and forests. To retain the traditional cultural landscape and valuable habitat for grassland plants and animals, fifteen Galloway cows now graze here. For correct treatment of the species, they are kept outside throughout the year for the management of the pasture. These landscape maintenance meas-ures not only secure sustainable natural conserva-tion areas, but also provide new earning potential.

Nature and landscape guides support eco-tourism in the Pfälzerwald biosphere reserve. Through na-ture and geography tours as well as sporting and adventure programmes, tourists gain new insights into the nature park while they learn about respon-sible interaction with nature in the Pfälzer wald.

The Biosphere House in Fischbach bei Dahn sup-ports the environmental awareness of tourists. As a visitor information centre for the Vosges du Nord/Pfälzerwald Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, it provides a vivid education about nature, landscapes and habitats. The unique features of the biosphere house are not only found in the “treetop path” or the “biosphere experience path” which are on offer, but also in the architecture and power supply for the house. The house is heated free of emissions and is almost exclusively through the use of renew-able energy.

Together with the forestry offices in the biosphere reserve and regional partners, the “Sustainability House” in Johanniskreuz offers a variety of consult-ing services. It focuses on the use of regional raw materials and energy sources as well as questions related to education and communication, leisure time planning and forest regeneration as well as bi-otope and species protection. Sustainability House sees itself as an institute which is an important ele-ment in a network of regional partners pursuing the common goal of developing sustainable usage strategies for the entire region. As a conference centre, it offers a communications platform to-gether with a permanent exhibition which provides a connection between the concept of sustainability, the people in the region and their activities within the scope of sustainable development. The building itself embodies sustainability through the energeti-cally optimal layout, the direction of the house and the use of renewable regional construction materi-als. The use of renewable energy sources is an im-portant element in the structural concept as well.

Photos: Above; Museum shop with regional products in the

Sustainability House

Left; Sustainability House


The concepts of the circular economy, from the initial design through to final implementation,

require the establishment and distribution of inno-vative knowledge. The State of Rhineland-Palatinate is home to a variety of institutes of higher educa-tion, initiatives and networks that offer comprehen-sive training and continuing education programs as well as consulting, research and development services in the area of circular economy.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, the need for information on all specialised topics related to the circular econ-omy is covered by the Effizienznetz Rheinland-Pfalz (EffNet). Effnet uses a virtual information and consulting platform to link the state’s various individual envi-ronment and energy-related initiatives and provides comprehensive professional consultation services. The EffCheck project/analysis for Product Inte-grated Environmental Protection (PIUS) in Rhine-land-Palatinate was one of the services carried out within the framework of EffNet. Small and me-dium-sized companies are provided with assistance in examining their process workflow. With the help

of external consultants, numerous potential savings in terms of operational Material Flow Management are uncovered.

The State Office for Environmental Educational Work in Rhineland-Palatinate (LZU) serves to pro-mote and implement the leading concepts of sus-tainable development, from conceptualisation to substantiation. In the past, the LZU has helped var-ious circular economy projects to get started, such as in the administrative district of Kaiserslautern. They also provide financial support for these projects. Motivated by the public’s interest in per-sonal committment, the LZU makes a significant social contribution to the education and involve-ment of citizens in the state’s recycling strategy.

Children and youths are given knowledge and mo-tivated in handling waste as a resource through school field trips to waste management facilities in Kaiserslautern, Kirchberg, Ludwigshafen and Mainz. Thanks to the experience oriented pedagogical con-cept, young people can learn about the idea of a cir-cular economy at first hand. The Sonderabfall-Manage ment-Gesell schaft Rheinland-Pfalz mbH (SAM) points out possibilities for avoiding, reduc-ing and recycling special waste flows. As the central contact partner for all producers and waste dispos-ers, the regional company monitors all special waste in Rhineland-Palatinate in the sense of the state’s circular economy strategy. SAM informs the public through publications, further education events, and individual consultation with compa-nies, as well as an extensive presence on the inter-net.

The networking of ecological, economic, technical and social requirements is all part of the student education at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld (UCB) at the University of Applied Sciences in

21 Teaching, informing, researching and motivating

International students at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld


Trier. The experiences gained through the practical elements of campus life teach the students analyti-cal skills for optimising complex systems which is important for their future careers. The practice-ori-ented education provides students with the oppor-tunity to put their theoretical knowledge to the test in numerous research organisations and centres of excellence located at the UCB. The Institute for Ap-plied Material Flow Management (IfaS) demon-strates how the circular economy can be applied in regional concepts. The IfaS offers systematic con-cepts for optimising regional materials systems on both national and international levels. Projects for the efficient use of resources are developed and im-plemented to contribute to long-term added re-gional value. The IfaS also operates the Umwelt-technik Rheinland-Pfalz knowledge network. A centre of excellence for fuel cells is also located on the Environmental Campus.

Rhineland-Palatinate students also receive an inter-disciplinary and a highly practical academic educa-tion through the Technical University (TU) Kaisers-lautern, which is connected to numerous renowned research institutions, transfer centres and coopera-tive networks. Efficient interaction with energy is the elementary foundation for a circular economy. The “Energy Efficiency Offensive Rhineland-Palati-nate (EOR)” is located at the TU in the department for Construction Physics and Technical Equip-ment / Structural Fire Protection. To promote ra-tional energy production, distribution and usage, energy saving and environmentally sound technol-ogies and renewable energy, the EOR energy agency provides information, helps match competent part-

ners and provides certification services for the trades, industry, communities and private persons.

Competent advice on all questions related to sewer-age is offered by the Center for Innovative Waste-Water Technology, tectraa. Tectraa provides consul-tation services to wastewater treatment facilities, companies and industrial plants on issues related to wastewater treatment. It also offers advice to sup-ply companies in the field of wastewater treatment plant/sewage network planning and machinery and planning offices for all issues related to process en-gineering and energy optimisation for municipal water management facilities. An additional area of expertise is the development and testing of sustain-able processing technologies for the establishment of water and materials cycles.

The curriculum at the University of Applied Sci-ences Bingen ranges from traditional engineering sciences to modern IT and communication tech-nology along with a broad selection of biology/nat-ural science majors. Research in the area of rational energy consumption and the use of renewable en-ergy sources has a long tradition at the FH Bingen. The transfer centre for “Rational and Renewable Energy Consumption in Bingen (TSB)” has been located at the site since 1989, working on the crea-tion of energy concepts, the development of energy systems, the adaptation of energy projects for com-panies and municipalities, the conduction of semi-nars and large information events along with the operation of various experimentation and demon-stration facilities. One emphasis is based on decen-tralised energy supplies through the development and operation of the Virtual Power Plant Rhineland-Palatinate.

Photos above and below: Students from the Environmental

Campus Birkenfeld out in the field


Project locations

1 Weilerbach

2, 39 Morbach

37 Föhren

5 Alzey

6, 11, 17, 20, 27, 30, 57Ludwigshafen

12 Worms

13, 40 Germersheim

14, 28

Pirmasens

15 Hahn

18 Lustadt

19 Baumholder

16, 22, 51Trier

21 Mülheim-Kärlich

69, 71, 729, 26, 32, 49, 50,

Mainz

55 Bad Kreuznach

65, 68 Bingen

29 Göllheim

31, 59 Hengstbacher-hof/St. Alban

33, 53, 64, 67, 70 Kaiserslautern

34 Boden

35 Reinsfeld

36 Nusbaum-Freilingen

38 Mußbach, Neustadt an der Weinstraße

41 Langenbach

42 Eisenberg

43 Cochem

7 Mayen

44 Mutterstadt

10, 45 Wörth

46 Landau8 Annweiler am Trifels

48 Waigandshain

52 Kirchberg

54 Speyer

58 Wittlich

56, 60 Bolanden

61, 62 Lambrecht

3, 4, 63, 66Hoppstädten-Weiersbach

24 Bad Marienberg

25 Dreisbach

23 Alpenrod

47 Bausendorf


Sustainable municipal planning 1 “Zero-Emission-Village”

Weilerbach, Weilerbach community www.weilerbach.de

2 Morbacher Energielandschaft, Morbach community www.energielandschaft.de

An opportunity for conversion: The “Zero Emission University” at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld3 “Zero Emission University”

University of Applied Sciences Trier – Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, Hoppstädten-Weiersbach www.ifas.umwelt-campus.de

4 Ökompark Projektentwicklungs- und Marketing GmbH, Hoppstädten-Weiersbach www.landkreis-birkenfeld.de/ oekompark www.oepem.de

Hinkel Netzwerk International: From waste disposal mangement to circular economy 5 Hinkel International Network

Hinkel Group of Companies, Alzey www.muell-hinkel-alzey.de

Sustainable strategies in industry6 BASF AG, Ludwigshafen

www.corporate.basf.com/de

The paper industry – a modern recycling industry 7 Moritz J. Weig GmbH & Co. KG,

Mayen www.weig-karton.de

8 Buchmann GmbH, Annweiler am Trifels www.buchmannkarton.de

9 WEPA Mainz GmbH, Mainz www.wepa.de

10 Papierfabrik Palm GmbH & Co. KG, Wörth www.papierfabrik-palm.de

Recycling of used glass11 Saint-Gobain Isover G+H AG,

Ludwigshafen www.isover.de

12 G.R.I.-Glasrecycling NV, Worms www.gri-glasrecycling.de

13 EURA Glasrecycling GmbH & Co KG, Germersheim www.eura-glas.de

Recycling of plastics14 Rampf Ecosystems

GmbH & Co. KG, Pirmasens www.rampf-ecosystems.de

15 Hahn Kunststoffe GmbH, Hahn Airport www.hahnkunststoffe.de

Recycling of scrap metal and electric waste16 Theo Steil GmbH, Trier

www.steil.de

17 Schmelzer Günther GmbH, Ludwigshafen

18 ALBA R-plus GmbH, Lustadt, www.alba.info

19 RDE GmbH, Baumholder www.rde-gmbh.de

Sorting and conditioning of waste 20 Scherer + Kohl GmbH,

Ludwigshafen www.scherer-kohl.de

21 TiTech Visionsort GmbH, Mülheim-Kärlich www.titech.com

22 A.R.T. Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts, Trier www.art-trier.de

Biomass machinery and waste conditioning23 Rudnick & Enners Maschinen-

u. Anlagenbau GmbH, Alpenrod www.rudnick-enners.de

24 Vecoplan AG, Bad Marienberg www.vecoplan.de

25 HAAS Holzzerkleinerungs- und Fördertechnik GmbH, Dreisbach www.haas-recycling.de

Efficient power generation from residual waste and secondary raw materials26 Kraftwerke

Mainz-Wiesbaden AG, Mainz www.kmw-ag.de

27 GML Abfallwirtschaftsgesell-schaft mbH, Ludwigshafen www.ludwigshafen.de

28 ZAS – Zweckverband Abfall-verwertung (Waste Recycling Association) South West Palatinate www.zas-ps.de

29 Dyckerhoff AG, Göllheim www.dyckerhoff.com

30 BASF AG, Ludwigshafen www.corporate.basf.com/de

Efficient wastewater treatment31 areal GmbH, Hengstbacherhof

www.areal-gmbh.de32 Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz

www.wirtschaftsbetrieb.mainz.de

Thermal and agricultural recycling of sewage sludge 33 TWK Technische Werke

Kaiserslautern GmbH, WVE GmbH, Kaiserslautern www.twk-kl.de

Biogas technology in Rhineland- Palatinate 34 Bellers heim Group of Compa-

nies, Recybell Umweltschutz-anlagen GmbH & Co. KG, Boden www.bellersheim.de

35 ZEUS Betriebs-GmbH & Co. KG, Reinsfeld

36 BOSZ-BIO-ENERGIE GmbH, Nusbaum-Freilingen

37 Ökobit GmbH, Föhren www.oekobit.com

Material and energetic recycling of biomass 38 RLP Agroscience GmbH,

Neustadt an der Weinstraße www.agroscience.de

39 Elka Holzwerke – Lud. Kuntz GmbH, Morbach www.elka-holzwerke.de

40 Nolte Holzwerkstoff GmbH & Co. KG, Germersheim www.nolte.de

41 Mann Naturenergie GmbH & Co. KG, Langenbach www.mann-energie.de

42 Woodchip heating Realschule Eisenberg, Pfalzwerke AG, Ludwigshafen www.pfalzwerke.de

43 Holzhackschnitzelanlage Cochem, Cochem Forestry Office www.wald-rlp.de

44 Zeller Naturenergie GmbH & Co. KG, Mutterstadt www.zeller-naturenergie.de

45 Wörth ecological local heating network, Kraft-Wärme-Wörth GmbH, Pfalzwerke AG, Ludwigshafen www.pfalzwerke.de

Heat of the future for Rhineland-Palatinate46 Geothermal power plant

geox GmbH, Landau www.geox-gmbh.de

47 CO2-free heat pump estate Bausendorf, RWE Rhein Ruhr AG, Bad Kreuznach www.rwe.com

Wind power 48 Fuhrländer AG, Waigandshain

www.fuhrlaender.de49 juwi GmbH, Mainz

www.juwi.de

Solar power 50 Schott AG, Mainz

www.schott.com51 alwitra GmbH & Co.

Klaus Göbel, Trier www.alwitra.de

52 Glaswerke Arnold GmbH & Co. KG, Kirchberg www.glaswerke-arnold.de www.wagner-gruppe.de

53 Solarstadt Kaiserslautern, Dis-trict Authority of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern www.kaiserslautern-kreis.de

54 Local solar heating Speyer new-build estate, SWS Stadtwerke Speyer GmbH, Speyer www.sws.speyer.de

55 City Solar Kraftwerke AG, Bad Kreuznach www.city-solar.com

56 juwi solar GmbH, Bolanden www.juwi.de

Sustainable building design and renovation 57 3-litre house & zero heating

cost house, BASF AG, Ludwigs-hafen www.corporate.basf.com/de

58 Model projects ”5-litre house Wittlich”,Wittlich Town Council www.wittlich.de

59 St. Alban Bio Solar House www.bio-solar-haus.de

60 Passivhaus juwi GmbH, Mainz www.juwi.de

Conservation of the cultural landscape61 Biosphere Reserve Pfälzerwald-

Nordvogesen, Lambrecht www.biosphere-vosges- pfaelzerwald.org

62 Naturpark Pfälzerwald e.V., Lambrecht www.pfaelzerwald.de

Universities and Polytechnics63 Environmental Campus Birken-

feld, Birkenfeld www.umwelt-campus.de

64 University of Kaiserslautern www.uni-kl.de

65 University of Applied Sciences Bingen www.fh.bingen.de

Institutes and research institutions66 Institute for Applied Material

Flow Management, Environ-mental Campus Birkenfeld www.ifas.umwelt-campus.de

67 tectraa – Center for Innovative Waste Water Technology, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern www.tectraa.arubi.uni-kl.de

68 Transfer Center Bingen, Bingen www.tsb-energie.de

Initiatives, networks and associations69 State Office for Environmental

Educational Work in Rhineland-Palatinate, Mainz www.umdenken.de

70 EffizienzOffensive Energie Rheinland-Pfalz e.V., Office University of Kaisers-lautern, Kaiserslautern www.eor.de

71 Sonderabfall-Management- Gesellschaft Rheinland-Pfalz mbH (SAM), Mainz www.sam-rlp.de

72 Efficiency Network Rhineland-Palatinate (EffNet), jointly man-aged by the State Office for the Environment, Water Manage-ment and Commerce Inspector-ate Rhineland-Palatinate (LUWG) und EffizienzOffensive Energie Rheinland-Pfalz e.V., Mainz/Kaiserslautern www.luwg.rlp.de www.eor.de www.effnet.de


Photo credits

Alba R-plus GmbH (Page 27 below)alwitra GmbH & Co. Klaus Göbel (Page 49)areal GmbH (Page 35)BASF AG, Ludwigshafen (Page 18 and 19)Bio-Solar-Haus Becher GmbH (Page 50 above)City of Mainz (Page 34) District Authority Cochem-Zell (Page 43 right)elka Holzwerke Ludwig Kuntz GmbHEngineering consultancy H. Berg + Partner GmbH/Dipl.-Ing. Frank Platzbecker (Page 38) Fotolia.de: Page 6 (Collage by H. Klein with inclusion ofphotos from: Eisenhans, Patrick Doering, Roland Letscher, Berca, Gerhard Bernard, Hahn Kunststoffe GmbH (plastic waste), Pfalzwerke AG (Geothermal plant Landau), elka Holzwerke-Ludwig Kuntz GmbH (Tractor photo), digitalstock, photodisc)Page 9: Eric Martinez,Page 16 above: PDUPage 16 below: Stefanie MaertzPage 17 above: Franz PflueglPage 33 below: Frédéric GeorgelFritz Schäfer GmbH – Waste technology and recycling –(Page 17 below)Fuhrländer AG (Page 47 below)Hahn Kunststoffe GmbH (Page 24 left, Page 25 below)G.R.I. Glasrecycling NV (Page 22 and 23 below)Günter Franz (Page 52) Günther Schmelzer GmbH (Page 26 lower left and right)

HAAS Holzzerkleinerungs- und Fördertechnik GmbH (Page 30 upper and lower right)Housing company LUWOGE (Page 51 above) Institute for Applied Material Flow Management (IfaS) and Weilerbach community (Page 10, 11, 54 and 55)juwi GmbH (Page 46, 47 above, 50 below)Mann Naturenergie GmbH & Co.KG (Page 42 and 43)Papierfabrik Palm GmbH & Co. KG (Page 20 and 21)Pfalzwerke AG (Page 44 and 45) Power Plants Mainz-Wiesbaden AG (Page 32)Rampf Ecosystems GmbH & Co.KG (Page 24 right, p. 25 above) RDE GmbH (Page 27 above)Regional Forestry Commission Officer Rhineland-Palatinate/Michael Leschnig – Head of the House for Sustainability (Page 53)RLP Agro Science GmbH (Page 41)Rudnick & Enners Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH (Page 30 lower left)Saint-Gobain Isover G+H AG (Page 23 above)Scherer + Kohl GmbH (Page 29 below)State Office for the Environment, Water Management and Commerce Inspectorate Rhineland-Palatinate (Page 29 above) Theo Steil GmbH (Page 26 upper left) TiTech Visionsort GmbH (Page 28)Vecoplan Maschinenfabrik AG (Page 31)Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld (Page 12, 13, 14 and 15) WVE GmbH Kaiserslautern (Page 36, 37 and 48)ZEUS Betriebs-GmbH & Co.KG (Page 39)


Publisher: Ministry of the Environment, Forests and Consumer ProtectionKaiser-Friedrich-Straße 155116 MainzE-Mail: [email protected]: www.mufv.rlp.dePhone: +49 6131 16 - 0Fax: +49 6131 16 - 4646

Ministry for the Economy, Commerce, Agriculture and ViticultureStiftsstraße 955116 MainzE-Mail: [email protected]: www.mwvlw.rlp.dePhone: +49 6131 16 - 0Fax: +49 6131 16 - 2100

Press date: January 2008

Editors: Ministry of the Environment, Forests and Consumer ProtectionDepartment of Waste Management, Soil Protection, Energy Management, International Environmental Policy: Dr. Gottfried JungInternational Relations and Environmental Policy Unit, EU matters:Ilona Mende-Daum, Winfried EmmerichsFundamental Questions for Waste Management,Material Flow Management and Product Responsi-bility Unit: Dr. Dirk Grünhoff

Ministry for the Economy, Commerce,Agriculture and ViticultureForeign Trade and Trade Fairs Unit:Jürgen Weiler

Institute for Applied Material Flow Management(IfaS) on the Environmental Campus of the University of Applied Sciences Trier in Birkenfeld:Dr. Peter Heck, Nina Runge, Markus Blim,Stefanie Erbach

Layout:Harald Klein Design, Mainz

Printing:Druckerei Lindner, Mainz Mainz 2008

© Ministry of the Environment, Forests and Consumer Protection Rhineland-Palatinate, Mainz© Ministry for the Economy, Commerce,Agriculture and Viticulture Rhineland-Palatinate, Mainz

Permission is granted for reproduction and cost-free dissemination, including excerpts, for non-commercial purposes under citation of the source.Any dissemination, including excerpts, using electronic systems/media requires prior consent. All other rights reserved.

Publication notes

the circular economy state of rhineland-palatinate · rhineland-palatinate plays a significant role...

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