Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of this mission is to create awareness of the possibilities for carbon reduction through renewable energies, the waste management sector and closely related sustainable resource management. Delegates have the opportunity to assess and explore first hand the latest technological and policy developments. Our delegation will interact with industry leaders and government officials in each city.

1. IFAT, Munich


2. Energy Town Wildpoldsried


3. ZAK, Kempten


4. MetropolitanSolutions, Berlin


5. The leadership of the German Green Party to understand their position and role in waste management, renewable energy and climate policies.


6. The Federal Ministry of the Environment and the German EPA to understand their role, which includes oversight of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Dr. Helmut Schnurer, former head of the German Federal Waste Management Authority (BMU) will accompany the delegation.


7. Officials and Institutes such as IFEU and OEKO that play a leading role in sustainable infrastructure developments, from renewable energies to resource management.


8. Solution Provider ALBA, Berlin

The travel dates are scheduled from May 28th through June 4th, 2016 and will include Munich, Wildpoldsried, Kempten and the German Capital Berlin. This trip is designed to expose the delegates to the potentials of resource management and renewable energies.

Renewable energies and how we manage our resources, including ‘waste’ are two sectors that enable us to achieve significant reductions in Greenhouse gases (GHGs). A recent OECD study identified that the US GHG reduction potential by moving away from landfilling is substantial.

Even if you work in the renewable and/or waste industry, there are many challenges in getting a good comprehensive picture of the opportunities available. We need to deal with it responsibly. We all know that it smells, pollutes and costs money to dispose off.

Germany’s approach has been to look for solutions to MSW issues that deal with the holistic picture as all areas are connected. Waste avoidance, recycling, recovery and zero landfilling are intended to protect the environment, conserve natural resources and take advantage of the energy and materials contained in what we still refer to as waste.

In order to achieve the goal of zero waste and to protect the air, soil and water, Germany has moved away from landfilling and taken advantage of technological advancements in MSW management that are unequaled worldwide.

Germany has dedicated a lot of time and money educating citizens on recycling and passing laws that, for example, require industry to focus on manufacturing without producing waste, taking back the product sand reusing them as well as turning old waste into new products or recovering valuable metals and energy.

On June 1st, 2005 Germany passed a striking law. This law took nearly 20 years to develop and has been copied in one form or another by the European Union and other countries across the world. One of the key groups that led the way for this law was “die Grünen”, the environmental party also known as Germany’s Green Party. This law (Waste Storage Ordinance) states that as of June 1, 2005 the landfilling of untreated waste in Germany has been outlawed. Landfilling, even with the best available technology, is identified and recognized as a major source of pollution, releasing toxic chemicals and heavy metals, such as mercury, into the water supply, and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The law states that waste must be treated in such a way that it cannot degrade further or release pollutants following landfilling. Recoverable substances will be retrieved and the remaining waste converted into energy where the emphasis is on combined heat and power.

According to 2014 EU regulations turning waste into energy is most preferable for the reduction of GHGs in connection with material recovery such as metals and slag and the ability to utilize the steam or combined heat and power rather than just the production of electricity.

Today, Germany landfills less than 1% of its waste and has nearly achieved its objective of Zero Waste to Landfill by 2020.

Due to the ordinances and regulations, there are many companies that have developed proven, economical solutions that not only sort waste but turn waste into secondary raw materials that are of equal or higher quality to primary resources. Some plastics for example can now be recycled indefinitely. Trade fairs IFAT and Metropolitan Solutions as well as visits to the ZAK in Kempten and ALBA, Berlin will showcase companies and implementations.

Germany and the EU no longer refer to ‘waste’ as waste but to what it really is: a resource.

Renewable Energies also play a vital role for Germany in the reductions of GHGs. In the first half of 2015 German Solar and Wind installations produced 59 Terawatt hours (TWh), which makes them the second largest source of energy production after lignite coal with 67.5 TWh. Combined renewable energy sources solar, wind, water and biomass produced 94.3 TWh or 34% of Germany’s energy.

In 1980, Germany decided to begin with the “Energiewende” the Energy Turnaround to achieve >90% from renewable energies by 2050.Delegates will gain a unique insight into the achievements and challenges in the pursuit of renewable energies.

Coordinating
Organizations:

The coordinating organizations are NEOMER and partnering companies, government and institutes.

Why Munich, Kempten,
Wildpoldsried and Berlin?

Munich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munichis home to the IFAT, the world’s largest trade fair for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management. IFAT is a bi-annual event and this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary. At IFAT visitors find strategies and solutions for using resources in intelligent cycles in a manner that ensures their long-term preservation with a great deal of success.

Wildpoldsried https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildpoldsried- about 60 Minutes outside of Munich. Wildpoldsried, internationally known as the Energy Town of Germany received its name as it turned to renewable energies and for the past 5 years has been producing more energy (renewable) than is consumed by residents and businesses. The extra energy, 500% electric a land 70% thermal has created substantial revenues while reducing the town’s Carbon Footprint significantly. On November 14th 2014, Wildpoldsried received the European Energy Award in Gold. The town is also home to the international headquarters of Sonnenbatterie, one of the world’s most advanced manufacturers and smart grid inventors for home & business renewable energy storage systems http://www.sonnenbattery.com/en/home/

Kempten https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kempten and the ZAK https://www.zak-kempten.de/wir-ueber-uns.html. Serving approximately 300,000 households the ZAK is a great example of Germany’s very sophisticated resource management system at work in a rural setting. The ZAK has established a very efficient materials management cycle to focus on the resource ‘waste’ that makes substantial contributions to efficiently managing resources while reducing the carbon footprint considerably.

Berlin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin Located in northeastern Germany. It has a population of 3.4 million in its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city and the second most populous city in the European Union. Berlin is home to Metropolitain Solutions,the world’s biggest combined smart-city conference and expo http://www.metropolitansolutions.de/home featuring best practices presented by municipal representatives. Topics: Energy, Water & Waste Management, Mobility & Logistics, Buildings & Public Spaces and overall Urban Management.

The focus will be on ‘waste’ from curbside to new raw materials and energy. We will be accompanied by the ALBA Group, one of the leading international ‘Waste’ Management solution providers http://www.alba.info/en/english-page.html that started its business in Berlin in the 1960s.

The delegation will meet and be accompanied byleading politicians from the German Government that are on key committees for CO2 reductions, renewable energy and sustainable developments such as the Green Party, a driving force in reducing Germany’s Carbon Footprint and development of a highly sophisticated resource management – circular economic infrastructure.

The delegation will interact with leading international Institutes such as the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU), and the Institute for Applied Ecology (OEKO). IFEU Instituteis an independent center of excellence for environmental research. Its expertise covers areas like environmental implications of transportation, energy supply and renewable energy sources, life cycle assessment, air pollution control, sustainable development, environmental impact assessment, and environmental management. OekoInstitute is a leading European research and consulting institute working for a sustainable future.

We will meet with experts on resource management from the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, the German EPA, and learn about the infrastructure that has made Germany a leader in resource management, carbon reduction, sustainable developments, clean technology innovations, renewable energy and much more.

The delegation will look at the collection infrastructure, follow materials to sorting facilities, see how separated materials get turned into new materials that are of equal or higher quality than primary resources and how materials that can not be recovered are turned into fuels and energy, replacing oil, gas and coal. Nothing goes to landfill.

In the US, there are many controversies in the waste management field regarding landfilling and Waste-to-Energy. Modern landfills are in compliance with EPA regulations but do not sufficiently accommodate greenhouse gas reductions or groundwater contamination. WTE facilities on the other hand reduce greenhouse gasses significantly (one ton of GHG reduction for every ton of MSW landfilled) and have zero groundwater contamination. EPA regulations for WTE are much more stringent than landfill regulations.

Before any decision is made to continue to landfill or export the waste to local or far away landfills, NEOMER recommends joining this delegation to get an in-depth look and gain valuable knowledge about technological and regulatory advancements that have been made and why.

There are many economical and environmental benefits to avoiding waste, increasing recycling and finding alternatives to landfilling. This trip will show how and why.

Trip Cost:

The cost for this nine-day trip is $5500. This price includes air & ground transportation, meals and accommodations. For those that wish to spend additional time in Europe, please let us know so that appropriate flight arrangements can be correctly booked.

Registration:

Please complete the attached Delegation Participation Form and return via Email or send it to NEOMER,613 9th AVE, Seattle 98104, or fax to 425 277-7893. A deposit check for $1000 will be due February 15, 2016 with final payment due March 15th. A deposit receipt will be sent to you. If you have any questions please contact Philipp Schmidt-Pathmann at 206 313-9774. Invoices for the balance will be emailed upon receipt of the deposit.

Key Dates for Registration:

Refund & Cancellation Policy:

There will be no refunds accepted after April 15th, 2016. NEOMER must receive in writing all cancellations.