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Issue April 2013

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Waste Prevention – Old Wine in New Bottles?

In this issue of eco@work, we look at waste prevention. An age-old problem, I hear you say. And you’re quite right – it has been an ongoing topic for us since the Oeko-Institut was founded more than 35 years ago. Whether it’s household, industrial or radioactive waste: the possible consequences of poor waste management are only too clear. The Asse nuclear waste storage facility and other major clean-up projects at landfill sites are the latest examples of what can happen if waste is mishandled. And mistakes in planning are difficult to rectify later, as we see from these and many other exam­ples, not only in Germany. Some waste never goes away – such as radioactive or highly toxic waste stored at poorly secured sites, or waste that doesn’t ­biodegrade: the plastic garbage circulating in the world’s oceans is a case in point. These are just some of the reasons why, starting today, we should produce less waste and find environmentally compatible solutions when storage or landfill is the only option.

Rubbish or resource?

The lesson to be learned from the debate about waste and its prevention is that now more than ever, it is also a resource issue. We have relied for far too longer on our ever-increasing consumption of primary resources. But these are finite – we know that. So preventing waste is mainly about conserving resources. If material inputs are reduced, less needs to be recycled, and this in turn reduces primary resource losses. At the Oeko-Institut, we want this substance cycle – the theme of our two main “In Focus” articles – to be seen as an opportunity for efficient resource management.

A new look for eco@work

You may have noticed that our magazine has had a facelift! To make it even more readable, we have simplified the column headings, given a fresh new look to the layout and are making more use of graphics to en­hance the clarity of the texts. But when it comes to content, you’ll find some familiar features – as usual, we present a key topic and offer some insights into our work. We hope that you will continue to read and enjoy this and future issues of eco@work in its new format and look forward to your feedback, questions and ideas.

Michael Sailer
CEO, Oeko-Institut

m.sailer@oeko.de

Imprint

eco@work – April 2013
ISSN: 1863-2025

Published by:
Oeko-Institut e.V.

Edited by:
Mandy Schossig (mas), Christiane Weihe (cw)

Responsible editor:
Michael Sailer

Translated by:
Christopher Hay

Design/Layout:
Tobias Binnig, www.gestalter.de

Technical implementation:
Markus Werz
Wilhelm Innovative Medien

Address of editorial office:
P.O. Box 17 71,
79017 Freiburg, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 761/45295-0,
Fax: +49 (0) 761/45295-88
redaktion@oeko.de
www.oeko.de

Account Details for Donations:
Sparkasse Freiburg - Nördlicher Breisgau
Bank Code No.: 680 501 01
Account No.: 2 063 447
IBAN: DE 96 6805 0101 0002 0634 47
BIC: FRSPDE66

GLS Bank
Bank Code No.: 430 609 67
Account No.: 792 200 990 0
IBAN: DE50 4306 0967 7922 0099 00
BIC: GENODEM1GLS

Donations are tax-deductible for German income tax purposes.

Picture credits:
Cover © Brad Pict - Fotolia.com
P.3 top: © Thomas Renz - Fotolia.com, bottom: © Arbeitskreis Recycling e.V.
P.4 © Oeko-Institut, Ilja C. Hendel
P.7 © Oeko-Institut, Ilja C. Hendel
P.9 © Oeko-Institut, Ilja C. Hendel