Barbara Zeschmar-Lahl

• Dr. rer. nat.
• Managing Director at BZL Kommunikation und Projektsteuerung GmbH, Germany

The amount of plastic produced worldwide has reached 400 million metric tonnes in 2022. Estimated 3–5% of this amount ends up in the environment, where it poses significant threats to ecosystems and biodiversity. Littering, a growing global challenge, requires a combination approach to tackle its causes and mitigate its impact. There are different...

In recent years, a market for chemical additives to improve the quality of plastic recyclates has been established. High growth opportunities are expected for these additives. The products are very diverse and can be used, for example, for the post-stabilization of recyclates or to reduce unpleasant odors. There are also products on the market that...

The complexity of plastic polymers and even more so of additives has increased enormously in recent years. This makes the material recycling of plastic waste considerably more difficult, especially in the case of mixed plastic waste. Some additives have now been strictly regulated or even completely banned for good reasons (‘legacy additives’). Mat...

The circular economy will be an important, if not the decisive source of raw materials for the European economy after 2030. This applies not only to the supply of metals, but also to non-fossil carbon. What about the fossil carbon in the stock (plastics)? Only if it is recycled will it not have a climate impact. However, there is currently no relia...

The complexity of plastic polymers and even more so of additives has increased enormously in recent years. This makes the high-quality recycling of mixed plastic waste considerably more difficult. Some additives have now been strictly regulated or even completely banned for good reasons ('legacy additives'). Material or mechanical recycling general...

Building on our “Critical Inventory”, we analyse the need for the regulation of PVC plastics in the EU and its member states. To this end, we checked the three phases of the life cycle of PVC plastics: production, use and end-of-life. In the production phase, we focus on the economic relationships between PVC and chlor-alkali electrolysis, in parti...

PVC has a special status, as chlorine is a component of the polymer molecule. The properties of chlorine are the reason why the polymer molecule needs additivation. PVC is the mass plastic to which the most diverse and quantitatively largest number of additives are added. This makes PVC difficult to recycle. More than three decades ago, the PVC ind...

On the basis of a stocktaking on PVC in Europe and on a current ECHA investigation report, we conclude that regulatory action at EU level is recommended. We support ECHA's regulatory proposals in the main, but come to a more comprehensive proposal for the phasing-out of PVC beyond the area of electrical installations. PVC stored in buildings and in...

The interface between chemicals and waste legislation is a major problem for the envisaged circular economy. To re-use or recycle more waste, information on its composition is needed. The EU Waste Framework Directive obliges producers to document the presence of substances of very high concern in a new database (SCIP), which went online in January...

Chemie spielt beim Recycling künftig eine größere Rolle. So soll „Scip“ – die neue Datenbank der EU – dafür sorgen, dass sehr gefährliche Schadstoffe nicht mit recycelt werden. Gute Idee! Doch drei Fallbeispiele zeigen, dass dies in der Praxis nicht einfach zu erreichen ist.

The authors of this contribution comment on the ‘tricky relationships’ of chemicals, waste and product legislation. Considering the interfaces and intersections of these frameworks they formulate eminent policy recommendations aimed to ensure that ‘Circular Economies’ are capable of avoiding the ‘recycling’ of problematic chemical substances presen...

Background In the 7th Environment Action Programme, the European Commission targets two essential goals in the handling of substances and materials known by the buzzwords “non-toxic environment” and “circular economy”. There are numerous interfaces in product, waste and chemicals legislation in these two areas. This leads to conflicting objectives,...

The „Circular Economy“ concept aims at maximizing re-use or recycling of products and materials from the technosphere. Hazardous compounds are among the most prominent obstacles towards this goal. Cadmium (Cd) belongs to the group of strictly regulated hazardous elements. In this paper, we collect the available knowledge about the fate of products...

The presence of persistent pharmaceutical residues in environmental media and drinking water is a problem not only in the countries where most of the production of these substances takes place (India and China), but also in Europe. An effective strategy for reducing drug residues in the aquatic environment must include measures along the entire lif...

What is understood by the circular economy concept is the re-use and recycling of used materials and waste. In many used products, hazardous compounds are found or might be present either because of the products’ present intended use or former applications that have been banned in the meantime. Clearly, recycling activities should not endanger man...

The construction of waste incinerators often encounters resistance from the public. A minimum requirement for the acceptance of these installations is a modern air pollution control technology and a safe disposal of its residues. However, many products that enter the waste stream already contain heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) an...

The construction of waste-to-energy or waste incineration plants (as well as other large-scale plants) often meets with public opposition, not only in Europe but also in many emerging economies. In this article, we analyze the experiences made in Germany with a focus on the question of which are the minimum requirements for creating acceptance of t...

Construction and demolition waste constitutes a large fraction of all the waste generated in Europe. Its specific impact can be considered rather low, but the large generated volume and embodied resource makes this waste stream an important focus of current European policies. The European Commission has proposed new targets and goals for this waste...

Since the beginning of 2018, the final report on the ISC3 project is finally available for download on the UBA website: With this project the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3) and the corresponding International Sustainable Chemistry Network (ISCnet) for experts and stakeholders were established at a conference in May...

The objective of this study was to create a knowledge base by mapping the most relevant initiatives/approaches in the field of sustainable chemistry. For this purpose, the following sectors were examined: Green chemistry (n = 8), international organizations (2), (chemical) industry approaches (5), approaches from the upstream/downstream value chain...

The objective of this study was to identify to identify priority topics, i.e. technical solutions, concepts, business models etc., in the field of Sustainable Chemistry. A desktop research has been performed to elucidate specific challenges and recent innovations in different fields of application and industrial sectors: 1) petrochemicals and base...

The “pay-as-you-throw” (PAYT) scheme is an economic instrument for waste management that applies the “polluter pays” principle by charging the inhabitants of municipalities according to the amount of residual, organic, and bulky waste they send for third-party waste management. When combined with well-developed infrastructure to collect the differe...

The “Pay-as-you-throw” scheme, PAYT, is an economic instrument of waste management that implements the “polluter pays” principle by charging inhabitants of municipalities according to the amount of residual, organic and bulky waste they send for third-party waste management. When combined with well-developed infrastructure to collect the different...

Since November 2014, BZL and E3 Environmental Consultants Ltd. (UK) produce the background report on Best Environmental Management Practice (BEMP) for the waste management sector to be used as a basis for the development of the referring Sectoral Reference Document (SRD) by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission in Seville.

Global waste recycling streams are accompanied by pollutant emission and concentration of hazardous substances within material cycles. For the latter, the term “risk cycle” is introduced. E.g. the illegal or semi-legal export of hazardous wastes like electronic scrap in developing countries for recycling is associated with risks for man and the env...

RISKCYCLE is an artificial word which addresses the risks associated with the global recycling streams. As part of materials like waste paper, plastic, and electronics, pollutants and chemical additives are transported abroad, e.g., they are exported to emerging and developing countries. Here these pollutants/additives can cause risks for humans an...

Waste management faces considerable problems as the increasing quantities of PVC products manufactured over recent decades come to the end of their useful lives. Despite large investments in PVC-recycling facilities over the past 5 years, less than half the fields of application of PVC are covered, and examples of true recycling remain rare. Logist...

Occupational health considerations and pollution regulations dictate that waste treatment plant should operate as closed systems with high levels of automation, encapsulated biological stages and approved air pollution control systems. There are as yet no binding regulations for the proximity to residential areas. It is recommended that aerial micr...

At two german garbage sorting facilities, germ concentrations in the air were analyzed at different working environments (waste reception, manual sorting). At plant A, maximum concentrations of total bacteria (14700 CFU/m3), gram-negative bacteria (7279 CFU/m3) and moulds (> 84806 CFU/m3) occurred in the air at the final manual sorting belts. Refer...

At two composting facilities (plants D and E), contamination of the air with total bacteria and mould fungi, and in addition with gram-negative bacteria (only at plant D) was analyzed at different indoor sites and outdoor in the vicinity. Statistical validity of the determination of contents of microorganisms in air samples was guaranteed by the co...

At three different composting facilities, co-composting of used panty diapers with an addition of 10% (weight) to the usual plant input was investigated for various hygienic and microbiological parameters. In nearly any case, a sufficient degree of germ reduction above 99.9% could be observed by determination of reduction rates of B. subtilis spore...

Seven wood burning facilities were analyzed for their emissions of PCDD/F and other parameters while the input was varied. PCDD/F emission concentrations ranged from 0.004 to 9.820 ng I-TEQ/Nm3, with the majority of values > 0.1 ng I-TEQ/Nm3, even if the input was untreated wood. Highest concentrations occurred after addition of halogenated materia...

PCDD/F concentration in clean gas ranged from 1.88 to 7.76 ng l-TEQ/Nm3 and varied for a factor of 4.1 during routine operation. During performance with Mg(OH)2 addition, clean gas concentrations ranged from 5.06 to 8.19 ng I-TEQ/Nm3 and varied for a factor of 1.6. Mg(OH)2 addition seemed to increase emissions concentrations of PCDD/F (I-TEQ), PCB...

The authors present their research findings at four different municipal waste incinerators (MWIs) concerning generation and release of dioxins and furans. The analytical results of the following design and operation conditions are described: “cold blowing”, flue gas cooling and “soot blowing”. In addition, input variation test results are presented...

An aircraft crash in a residential area followed by citizens’ complaints about adverse health effects led to the detection of PCB ground contamination, with maximum values of more than 100 ppm PCB in several reference soil samples taken from the nearby city park. Within the following investigation programme, nearly 300 soil samples and 25 indicator...

On the basis of the results of soil contamination analyses, the authors calculate the total emission of PCDD/PCDF for a limited test area. In the special case of the entire area of the City of Berlin, an annual immission of about 37 g I-TE/a PCDD/PCDF has to be expected. The input amounts of well-known emittents are either calculated using emission...

Meanwhile, thiazolinones belong to the most popular preservers in cosmetics and household cleaners. They are used as an undefinite mixture of single substances. Because of the lack of standardized analytical methods, an official supervision does not take place at all. The distance between applied concentrations in consumer products and effective co...

Die mechanisch-biologische Abfallbehandlung (MBA) soll zu einer Regelvariante der Restab-fallbehandlung in Deutschland gemacht werden (1). Im September 2000 wurde hierzu ein Verordnungspaket von der Bundesregierung vorgelegt (2), dem der Bunderat in seiner Sitzung am 21. Dezember 2000 grundsätzlich gefolgt ist (3). Allerdings hat der Bundesrat sein...