According to UBA calculations, emissions from the waste sector fell by around 4.5 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year.

 

Emissions from the waste sector totaled a good 4.3 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents in 2022, according to a recent forecast by the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA). According to the figures, this means that the sector is once again below the annual emission level of 8.5 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents set out in the Federal Climate Protection Act. Emissions were thus reduced by almost 90 percent compared with 1990. The decline in this area was largely due to falling emissions from waste landfilling as a result of the ban on the dumping of organic waste, UBA explains. The total amount of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany also fell slightly by 1.9 percent last year, according to UBA. According to the data, a total of around 746 million metric tons of greenhouse gases were released in this country in 2022, around 15 million metric tons less than in 2021. Emissions in Germany have thus fallen by 40.4 percent since 1990, according to UBA, and the target values of the Federal Climate Protection Act (KSG) were met overall. However, the UBA recorded a significant increase in emissions in the energy sector, with 10.7 million metric tons more than in 2021 and around 256 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents. The reason for this is the increased use of hard coal and lignite for power generation, which is causing emissions to rise despite savings in natural gas. However, the increase in emissions in this area would be dampened by electricity generation from renewable energies, which would increase by nine percent compared with 2021. According to the figures, the sector narrowly met its annual emissions target for 2022 of 257 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent. According to UBA's calculations, the transport (148 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents) and buildings (112 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents) sectors once again exceeded the annual emission quantities specified in the Federal Climate Protection Act. According to the survey, emissions in the industry sector fell by a substantial 10.4 percent, dropping by 19 million metric tons to 164 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents. In particular, the metalworking and chemical industries saw a reduction in energy use due to a sharp rise in energy costs as a result of the war in Ukraine. Emissions in the buildings and agriculture sectors also decreased, the survey said.

 

Sources:

• Pressrelease UBA, euwid-recycling.de (March 15, 2023)
• Photo: © unsplash.com, Wim van Teinde