The City of Cape Coast is among the pilot municipalities engaged in UN Habitat’s Waste Wise Cities programme. N³ accompanied the waste sampling and analysis process, from which important conclusions were drawn for the structuring of the city’s future waste management. We are pleased that Cape Coast’s twin city, Bundesstadt Bonn, commissioned us to accompany the study.
Waste management in Cape Coast (Ghana) Read More »
Plastics is not only a problem for our oceans caused by lack of suitable waste management on other continents. Even in Europe, plastic waste is entering the environment. How to avoid plastic entering soils? One important source of input is compost from polluted bio-waste mostly due to incorrect sorting by the waste producer, i.e. households. Compost is an important material that improves the structure and fertility of soils serving also as a sink for CO2. Therefore, the answer is: Bio-waste should be free of plastics! But how do we achieve this goal? Yasmin Eger, one of Henning Friege’s Master Students, investigated which measures or combinations of measures are best suitable to reduce the rate of misplaced materials in the organic waste. She performed structured interviews with responsible persons whose municipalities extensively collect separately bio-waste since years and have a low rate of unwanted materials. The respective necessary measures are presented by Henning Friege and Yasmin Eger in an article that has just been published in a scientific journal.
More information on plastic in soils is available in another blog on our website.
How to avoid plastics entering in soils? Read More »
This project, which ran from February 2017 to October 2019, was funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). How can a sustainable approach to waste management be defined and which indicators can be applied across all stages of the value chain? Using three material flows as examples, we have developed and tested sustainability ideas in order to achieve an improvement in recycling or reuse for these material flows compared to the current situation, or to clarify which legal, economic or other obstacles stand in the way of an improvement. Project partners were N³ Nachhaltigkeitsberatung Dr. Friege & Partner (Voerde) and BASIKNET Gesellschaft für Arbeitsschutz mbH (Berlin). You can download the guidelines developed in the project here for free:
Sustainability Communication in Waste Management – Basics and Best Practices Read More »
Where are the electrical and electronic equipment no longer in use? This question is being investigated in a new project. Germany will not meet the European collection targets for WEEE in the coming years. Rare metals such as cobalt, indium or silver will thus be lost. But we need these metals for new products, e.g. in the field of renewable energy production. Illegal exports of electronic waste, on the other hand, lead to environmental pollution in West Africa and Asia. Every German citizen produces about 20 kg of electronic waste annually. Less than half of this is dropped where it is supposed to go: at recycling centers, electronics retailers or directly to the manufacturers. Where is the rest? To answer this question UBA commissioned INTECUS (Dresden) and Cyclos Future (Osnabrück); N³ joins this group focusing on international issues.
Where are the WEEE? Read More »
N³ is collaborating with other experts to develop a strategy for the better protection of our soils. Our client is the German Environment Agency. Public perception often undervalues the importance of soil compared to climate or water. However, soil plays a critical role in our lives: it’s what we live on and what we live from. The soil should continue to produce enough food, serve as a water reservoir and filter for pollutants, process leaves into humus. All these functions depend on a healthy soil ecosystem. The biodiversity of our soils is remarkably diverse. Nothing works without the diversity of soil organisms!
A Better Strategy for Protecting Our Soils! Read More »
“Plastics in the environment – a problem for our soils or just a false alarm?” was the focus of a recent expert conference organized by the Commission for Soil Protection at the German Environmental Agency (UBA). We were happy to have over 300 participants – a small record for this conference. The conference was coordinated by N³ in collaboration with our colleagues from the German Federal Environment Agency and our project team as part of our ongoing soil protection project. All presentations, as well as a brief summary of the results, can be found here. Special thanks to our speakers, moderators, and all who contributed to the discussion!
Plastic in the Soil – Danger or Scaremongering? Read More »
Is the use of plastics in construction a major advance and a contribution to sustainable development? Or a problem for waste management and climate? You can’t answer that with a simple yes or no. N³ is addressing this complex issue on behalf of the International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre – ISC3. ISC3 has declared “Sustainable Building and Living with Focus on Plastics” as its technical focus for 2019. In a preliminary study, N³ developed an overview of the use of a wide variety of plastic materials in the construction sector and identified critical areas as well as innovative approaches. You can download a lecture on this topic given by Prof. Dr. Henning Friege at the
ISC3 Summer School here.
Sustainable Building and Living with Focus on Plastics… Read More »
The European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN) is, so far, an informal network of government representatives and sustainability experts. ESDN members meet once a year in the country holding the respective EU Presidency—this year, the meeting took place in Helsinki. N³ has been an associate member of the ESDN for five years. Peter Wolfmeyer, a partner at N³, was present in Helsinki and moderated several discussion forums. The main focus was on current issues surrounding the UN’s 2030 Agenda.
European Sustainable Development Network in Icy Helsinki Read More »
What metals can be extracted in what quantities in a city today and in the future? This is the prerequisite for “Urban Mining”: We need to know which resources are present in households, buildings, or infrastructure. Only then can we make these resources available to the economy again when their use comes to an end. The aim of “Urban Mining” is to replace primary raw materials, saving not just valuable resources but usually also energy. This can also help avoid greenhouse gas emissions, especially during raw material extraction.
Urban Mining: N³ Analyzes the Potential for Bonn Read More »
… is a new project focus at N³. In collaboration with partner companies, we provide guidance to the Federal Environment Agency on soil protection strategies. Soil serves numerous ecological functions, closely intertwined with economic functions and our very survival. It acts as a site for food production, a water reservoir, and a carbon store, among
Soil, the foundation of our existence… Read More »
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