Your responsibilities as a waste producer / waste holder
The German Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Act (KrWG) defines various obligations for both waste producers and waste holders. In accordance with § 7 (2,3) KrWG, waste producers and waste holders are obliged to recycle their waste in a safe and sound manner. If recovery is not possible, the producer or holder of the waste must dispose of it without fear of impairing the welfare of the general public (§ 15 (1,2) KrWG).
As defined in § 22 KrWG, the producer or owner is allowed to commission a third party to fulfil his recycling and disposal obligations. It is important that the commissioned third party has the necessary reliability. In addition, the producer or owner should be aware that by commissioning a third party his responsibility for the fulfillment of his duty does not expire! There is only a transfer of duties, not a transfer of responsibility! Therefore, he is to be hold responsible until the final disposal of his waste and, thus, also bears the risk of a potentially failed disposal.
Benefit from our expertise within a service or partner audit
Conducting a service or partner audit is an efficient solution to ensure the reliability of the contractual partner. Please keep in mind: transport or collection services are also part of the disposal process and must be examined.
Another obstacle is that you have to keep an eye on the entire path of your own waste, not just the first stage. In practice, this means that the other downstream routes must also be reviewed. Let’s use an example to get into greater detail:
Once the waste is delivered to a sorting plant, the waste stream is divided into different sorting fractions – one stream becomes many. These fractions may be transferred to other treatment facilities for recovery and/or disposal. Here, too, it must be ensured that the redesigned systems are properly managed.
The frequency and depth of an audit cannot be determined across the board for each contractual partner / service provider. Rather, this must be individually adapted to decisive characteristics, such as order volume, contract duration, hazardousness or potential of the waste, etc.
Conclusion
The waste producer or holder is responsible for the entire disposal chain of his waste until it has been properly completed.
Any questions? Don’t hesitate to contact us! We have extensive experience in auditing a wide variety of service providers and are happy to support you in your process!
Your contact person:
Mrs. Denise Exner