20 Years Of Landfill Bans in Germany – A Forgotten Climate Protection Measure

The IESP e.V. brings together leading figures from science and practice as well as representatives from industry and environmental associations in its campaign. The aim is to compile their perspectives on an important but forgotten development in a white book.

IESP e.V.

The initiative aims to discuss the central question: Is a landfill ban the decisive starting point for truly sustainable waste management – and what contribution can it make to overcoming the climate crisis?

President von der Leyen's State of the Union address on 10 September 2025 made it clear just how much importance the EU attaches to the circular economy. The EU's aim is to reduce dependencies and ensure that ‘industry here in Europe has the raw materials it needs.’ Von der Leyen argues on the basis of economics and security. ‘This transformation is indeed central to securing our independence. Because it reduces our dependence on energy. Because circular production limits our strategic dependencies.’

Circular production requires intelligent recycling. A strong recycling industry, in turn, requires a fair economic environment and a clear commitment from every government in Europe that recyclable materials will not disappear into landfills or end up in dumps. Since it is still possible to landfill waste in South-Eastern Europe until 2035/2040 and even then 10% may still be landfilled at EU level, the IESP e.V. wants to use its White Book on waste and climate protection to highlight the special significance of the landfill ban imposed in Germany in 2005. Austria implemented this ban a year earlier, in 2004.

The handling of residual waste and the climate impact of open deposits of untreated household waste are hardly mentioned in today's climate debate. Beyond the well-known critical environmental impacts of landfills and the market distortion they cause to the detriment of recycling, the IESP White Book aims to reflect on the forgotten environmental measure of a "strict landfill ban” from the perspective of a relevant climate protection measure.

Three quotes on this topic from the BACKGROUND paper published by the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) [1] on the climate relevance of waste management in 2011:

1. ‘Waste management in Germany makes a significant contribution to climate protection. Since 1990, it has contributed to around a quarter of the total greenhouse gas reduction achieved in Germany during this period through the material and energy recovery of waste.’
2. ‘A strict ban on landfilling untreated waste, following the example of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, would make a decisive contribution to improving the climate protection balance of waste management and is a necessary prerequisite for significant optimisation in the EU 27.’
3. "Ending the landfilling of untreated waste is the most important step for the EU 27 to exploit the existing significant CO2 reduction potential. Through thermal or mechanical-biological waste treatment, increased recycling and technical optimisation, a total of up to 192 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents could be saved by 2020. This corresponds to 32% of the remaining reduction target of 600 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents to which the EU 27 has voluntarily committed itself."

Instead of following the example set by the DACH region, the EU stipulated in Directive 2018/850 [2], that ‘the disposal of waste in landfills for non-hazardous waste shall be gradually reduced to a minimum’ without, however, imposing a rapid ban on landfills. Furthermore, the EU postulates that: ‘...a shift from landfill to increased waste incineration shall be prevented.’ It should also be prevented (10) that facilities for ‘...mechanical-biological treatment of untreated municipal waste are built, as this could undermine the achievement of the Union's long-term objectives in the areas of preparation for reuse and recycling of municipal waste, as set out in Directive 2008/98/EC.’

The fact that the EU decided in 2018 to pursue the long-term goals of reuse and recycling and, with its Circular Economy Action Plan [3], is committed to transforming the economy (extended producer responsibility, repair-friendliness) and society (consumer behaviour, sufficiency, etc.) is undoubtedly highly fascinating.

However, the economic and administrative parameters of implementation are currently leading to the opposite effect: waste in the EU (as well as worldwide) is increasing rapidly in line with economic growth. Waste such as valuable raw materials still ends up in illegal dumps in Eastern Europe (as well as worldwide). IESP e.V. would like to investigate this possible contradiction in European policy and have the climate relevance of the landfill ban – as an initial thesis – reviewed according to today's standards and put up for discussion.

To this end, IESP e.V. invites relevant authors from the fileds of administration, associations, science and industry in the DACH countries to apply their past experiences to today's world, discuss the contributions afterwards and make this interdisciplinary excursion available to the public. A great deal has changed since 2005 and the UBA studies in 2011.

Newer studies [4] should also be considered, which focus on shorter periods when converting methane to CO2 equivalents and use the Global Warming Potential 20. Since the effectiveness of methane over a period of 20 years with a conversion factor of 84 (GWP 20) is three times higher than in the long-term view over 100 years with a factor of 28 (GWP 100), this proves the greater significance of methane in combating the climate crisis.

The format of the IESP White Book provides a basis for research, authorities and industry to engage in dialogue with civil society actors and decision-makers on as broad a level as possible, enabling discourse beyond established echo chambers. This complements the technical discussion with perspectives from related sectors such as economics, sociology, psychology, ethics and medicine. Environmental organisations should be given just as much of a voice as protagonists from the industry.

The schedule for implementing the campaign is as follows:

• Distribution of existing texts in the second half of November 2025
• Internal discussions among the authors
• Online meeting at the end of November 2025
• Face-to-face meeting at the Bavarian Ministry of the Environment at the end of January 2026

Further measures are planned as follows:

• Printing and reproduction of the White Books
• Presentation of the campaign and its results at IFAT
• Initial internationalisation of the campaign through reproduction and discussion of individual contributions in WasteCulture (www.wasteculture.com)
• Internationalisation of the topic at EU level

To conclude with another quote from Von der Leyen's speech to the nation: ‘We must therefore make faster progress on the legislative act on the circular economy. ... And we must not slow down.’

The IESP e.V. campaign could result in a more consistent approach to waste management and disposal, drawing on the combined experience gained from the landfill ban in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

_{[1] https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/publikation/long/4061.pdf}

_{[2]https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018L0850}

_{[3] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/attachment/863187/EU_Greendeal_Circular_economy_de.pdf.pdf}

_{[4] Prognos /CE Delft / Prognos, 2022 https://www.prognos.com/de/projekt/hoeherer-klimanutzen-dank-der-europaeischen-abfallwirtschaft}