Kiyoshi Kawamura*, Yuzo Inoue*, Masahiro Ohsako* and Masato Yamada*

* Department of Waste Management Engineering, National Institute of Public Health

+ Correspondence should be addressed to Kiyoshi Kawamura:
(4-6-1 Shiroganedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8638 Japan)

Abstract

In the German waste management system, the treatment of bio-wastes, including trimmings, has become an important issue since the establishment of the Waste Avoidance and Management Act and the Technical Instructions on Waste from Human Settlements. The former legislation results in the higher content of bio-wastes in municipal wastes and the latter brings a request to minimize the organic content in the residues to be disposed for landfill. Under these circumstances, some trials for bio-waste treatment by using biological functions, namely composting, anaerobic methane production and mechanical-biological pretreatment, are being carried out. The current situation and the problems of these trials in Germany are introduced, since the information will be useful and helpful for the Japanese waste management system in the near future, after the enforcement of the Package Waste Recycling Law will be complated.

Key words: Germany, bio-wastes, composting, anaerobic methane production, mechanical-biological pretreatment