Law to promote the circular economy and ensure environmentally friendly waste management (Circular Economy Act - KrWG).

The purpose of the present Act is to promote closed substance cycle waste management (Kreislaufwirtschaft) in order to conserve natural resources and to ensure environmentally compatible disposal of waste. The provisions of this Act apply to: 1) the avoidance, 2) recovery and 3) disposal of waste. The underlying principles is that waste: must, firstly, be avoided and this must be accomplished especially by reducing its amount and noxiousness; secondly, be subjected to substance recycling or used to obtain energy (energy recovery). The text consists of 72 articles divided into 9 Parts as follows: General provisions (I); Basic principles for, and obligations of, producers and holders of waste and parties responsible for waste management (II); Product responsibility (III); Planning responsibility (IV); Promotion of sales (V); Supervision (VI); Specialized waste management facilities (VII); Waste Management Officer and facilitated procedures for audited company sites (VIII); Final provisions (IX). Five Annexes are enclosed as: Elimination procedure (1); Recovery process (2); Criteria for determining the technical stand (3); Examples of waste prevention measures in accordance with s. 33 (4); Examples of economic tools and other incentive measures (5).