German cabinet adopts proposal to amend waste law

The German federal government approved a proposal to amend the country’s basic waste management law, the Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act, on 30 March. The proposal, which will now be forwarded to the Federal Council and the Federal Parliament for adoption, transposes central aspects of the revised EU Waste Framework Directive such as the five-stage waste hierarchy. It sets a minimum recycling target of 65 per cent for municipal waste by 2020, and makes the separate collection of biowaste, paper, metal, plastic and glass waste across the country mandatory from 2015 on. Furthermore, the proposal addresses the division of competences and tasks between municipal bodies and private waste management operators