Achieving Circular Economy Requires Incentives from State, Says German Waste Management Federal Association President Peter Kurth

Desislava Toncheva

BDE President Peter Kurth (left) and Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova (BTA Photo)

Sofia,

07.06.2023 13:44

(BTA)

A circular economy means being successful, not just reducing carbon emissions. Closing the circle means closer cooperation between countries, but also requires a precise legal framework at national and city level to deal with waste and the raw materials contained in it, said the President of the Federation of the German Waste, Water and Raw Materials Management Industry (BDE), Peter Kurth, at a forum on "Sustainable Circular Economy: Best Practices", organized on Wednesday by the Bulgarian Recovery and Recycling Association (BRRA) and BDE in cooperation Sofia Municipality and the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GBCIC).

Kurth explained that it is extremely important to collect packaging separately or to reduce its consumption, which cannot happen suddenly. He added that in order to achieve a circular economy, it is necessary to force producers to focus on the idea of it, including through incentives from the state, as well as to have a separate collection of waste from the population.

Kurth argued that it is scandalous that 50% of waste is still buried, instead of, for example, being burned in incinerators.. "We have to stop burying waste at the European level. We need help for every country to come up with an alternative," he said, adding that Germany's waste incineration process is not that profitable and that's why it comes to recycling, which is a step in achieving a circular economy.

/RY/