SRU: Special report on environmental law highlights shortcomings in implementation

Extract from the front page of the SRU Special Report

The special report by the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) focuses, amongst other things, on the Commercial Waste Ordinance.


In the special report ‘Environmental Law: Between Aspiration and Reality’, published on 18 June 2026, the experts examine implementation shortcomings and outline ways in which environmental law can be implemented more effectively. According to the report, despite technically sound and ambitious legislation, environmental protection in Germany too often fails due to shortcomings in practical implementation (enforcement deficit). This is the key finding, as communicated by the Council of Experts.
 
Drawing on studies, practical expert discussions and real-world examples, the report is said to demonstrate that environmental law is implemented in many areas in a selective, delayed, factually inappropriate or regionally inconsistent manner. These implementation shortcomings are said to have various causes. For instance, the laws themselves often would make implementation difficult – for example, because they are unclearly worded or contain complex exceptions. In other cases, it is said to be economically advantageous for the parties concerned not to comply with regulations, or not to comply with them in full.
 
One of the practical examples cited in the report for such shortcomings concerns the disposal and recycling of commercial waste under the Commercial Waste Ordinance (GewAbfV). According to the report, there is a massive enforcement deficit in this area, with economic disincentives and gaps in monitoring hindering recycling. For example, in some federal states, compliance with the obligations under the GewAbfV is regularly monitored, whilst in others it is scarcely monitored at all. The report cites several imprecisely worded provisions in the Ordinance, ambiguities in its interpretation, as well as uncertainties and differing interpretations amongst plant operators, authorities and certification bodies as further causes of the enforcement deficits.
 
Shortcomings would exist not only in the regular monitoring of compliance, but also in the enforcement of separate waste collection and in the documentation provided by waste producers. According to the authorities surveyed, this documentation is said to be almost always incomplete or incorrect. The obligations under the GewAbfV also include the requirement that facilities which pre-treat mixed commercial municipal waste must be ‘equipped’ with certain technical components. However, according to the expert report, some existing components are not used for cost reasons, which has a negative impact on sorting performance. In this regard, the report proposes clarifying the regulation to stipulate that “the treatment components required by law must actually be used during waste treatment”. In this way, the use of the full range of plant technology could help to improve sorting performance. According to the report, there are a number of recommendations for the further development of the GewAbfV, some of which have already been incorporated into a draft amendment to the regulation adopted by the Federal Government in 2024. However, the Bundesrat, which must approve the amendment, has not yet taken a decision, and it remains to be seen whether the amendment process will be resumed.
 
Further information: visit the Environmental Council’s website, where the report (in German) is available for download
 
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