November 16, 2021

For several years, we have been advising Wienerberger AG on the further development of its sustainability management. This also includes scientific consulting for sustainability reporting. Yesterday, the Wienerberger Sustainability Report has won the renowned Austrian Sustainability Reporting Award (ASRA) for the fifth time in a row in the “Large Companies and organizations” category. This year, the consistent and transparent implementation of the Sustainability Strategy 2023 was honored. Each year, the ASRA is awarded to companies that live up to the highest standards of sustainable business management and provide a transparent account of their activities in their sustainability reports.

October 2021

The International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Center – ISC3 – invited the German Umweltbundesamt (UBA) to give a preliminary report about the results of the project. This event will also be part of the ISC3’s Stakeholder Forum on Friday, 12 November from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. CET. With your registration (see below) you will receive a participation link shortly before the event.

Programme:

• Christopher Blum (Umweltbundesamt): The idea behind the project, tasks and team
• Esther Heidbüchel (CSCP) and Henning Friege (N³ Thinking Ahead): Indicators for approaches to sustainable chemistry: Assessment and Examples
• Panel Discussion: Sustainable Chemistry as a pacemaker for international management for chemicals and waste?
  • Moderator: Achim Halpaap (Independent consultant)
  • Participants: Sandra Averous-Monnery (UNEP), Vania Zuin Zeidler (University of Sao Carlos, Brazil), Xenia Trier (European Environmental Agency, tbc), Bob Diderich (OECD, tbc), Hans-Christian Stolzenberg (Umweltbundesamt)
  • Concluding Remarks: N.N.

If you intend to join this event, please send an email to co*****@is**.org until 30 October 2021.

October 01, 2021

About one year after publishing its first environmental and sustainability program, LINZ AG has published its first Environmental and Sustainability Report 2021. The company was again scientifically advised by Dipl.-Ing. Isabella Kossina and Dr. Barbara Zeschmar-Lahl.

July 16, 2021 On July 13, 2021, the new version of TRBA 213 Waste collection: protective measures, and the supplement and amendment to TRBA 214 Waste treatment and recovery facilities were published in the Joint Ministerial Gazette. Both are available for download on the BAUA website. Dr. Zeschmar-Lahl participated in the further development of the two TRBA as a member of the ABAS Subcommittee 2 and its Waste Management Working Group. New version of TRBA 213 “Waste Collection: Protective Measures” The existing TRBA 213 has been fundamentally revised and published as a new version. It applies to waste collection activities that may be associated with exposure to biological agents and describes protective measures to reduce the health hazards to employees. In addition to the scope of application, definitions, determination of information and risk assessment and protective measures, a section on occupational health services has been added. Reference: GMBl. No. 41 of July 13, 2021, p. 900-907. Additions and amendments to TRBA 214 “Facilities for the treatment and recovery of waste” The existing TRBA 214 has been supplemented in particular by Section 6 Occupational health services and Annex 3 Protective measures during the incineration of waste with the code number 18 01 03*, which arises during the care of patients with pathogens of risk group 4. Reference: GMBl. No. 41 of July 13, 2021, p. 907-911.

June 30, 2021

For several years, we have been advising Wienerberger AG on the further development of its sustainability management. This includes scientific advice on the preparation of the report on non-financial performance in accordance with the Sustainability and Diversity Improvement Act (NaDiVeG), on sustainability reporting in accordance with the GRI standard and on the preparation of the Communication on Progress for the UN Global Compact. The Wienerberger Sustainability Report 2020 has been available for download on the company’s website since June 30, 2021.

June 25, 2021

On June 25, 2021, the habilitation treatise of Dr. Harald Schönberger was uploaded to the online platform Uni Stuttgart (OPUS). Thus, one of the sources cited in our expert report on waste co-incineration in cement plants is finally publicly accessible.

• Schönberger H. (2021): State of the art of the co-incineration of waste-derived fuels and raw materials in clinker/cement plants. Habilitation Treatise, accepted by the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management.
• Zeschmar-Lahl B., Schönberger H., Waltisberg J.: Sachverständigengutachten  Abfallmitverbrennung in Zementwerken, UBA-Texte 202/2020.

April 22, 2021

The interface between chemicals and waste legislation is a major problem for the desired circular economy. In order to be able to reuse or recycle more waste, more information is needed about its composition and pollutant load. In their latest paper, Henning Friege, Barbara Zeschmar-Lahl, Beate Kummer and Jörg Wagner have investigated as examples some important products from different industries with different complexity and pollutant problems such as PVC flooring, used tires, Li batteries in electronic devices and others to learn more about real improvements for the recycling industry. The results have now been published in Sustainable Chemistry & Pharmacy.

19th February 2021

SCIP is the new European database for substances of concern. It is controversial in the recycling industry. What is the reason for this? The article by Beate Kummer, Henning Friege, Barbara Zeschmar-Lahl and Jörg Wagner has now also been published in RECYCLING magazin 02/2021.

15th February 2021 SCIP is the new European database for substances of concern. It is controversial in the recycling industry. What is the reason for this? Beate Kummer, Henning Friege, Barbara Zeschmar-Lahl and Jörg Wagner address this question in a guest commentary in 320° – Deutschlands Online-Magazin für die Recyclingwirtschaft (in German).