results - recovery rates

[questionary]    [recovery rates]    ["impurities" in biobin]    [processing]    [BDP composts]

A number of analysis campaigns (eight of them quantitative) were carried out during the pilot scheme to determine the composition of the various types of waste generated in Kassel, namely organic waste ("bio-waste"), packaging waste of the Dual System Germany (DSD "green dot") and the municipal solid wastes (MSW). The results were compared with those of an earlier status quo analysis campaign (August 2000). Analytical parameters included the percentages of impurities in the organic waste ("biobin"), and contents of BDP in the various waste streams.

Altogether, 31 tons of BDP packaging was delivered to Kassel during the pilot test. The highest percentage of BDP found in the bio-waste during the scheme was 0.5 wt percent. Expressed in terms of the total of 6 million tons of bio-waste generated nationally, this would translate to at least 30,000 tons of BDP products in Germany (assuming a 100 percent recycling rate through composting). Thus, roughly 30 percent of the current estimated market potential for BDP packaging in Germany had been mapped.

The recovery rate in bio-waste bins, i.e. the proportion of BDPs in the bins relative to the total amount found in the waste, from various types of urban area structures was also studied. The results varied according to urban area and the type of building development, with the average recovery rate being approx. 65 percent.
As for the volume demand of BDP products in bio-waste bins, there was no significant change in the used bin capacity . The usual seasonal fluctuation in bio-waste levels, i.e. amounts, was found to exert a much greater influence on the collection bin capacity. So, in this regard, collecting BDP products along with organic waste in this existing collection system does not cause any problems.