Waste
In integrated production, we minimize waste by feeding byproducts back into the production loop. WACKER endeavors to avoid waste throughout a product’s entire life cycle. Groupwide, we record the volume of waste we generate according to the criteria “to be recycled” and “to be disposed of”, as well as “hazardous” and “non-hazardous”.
With regard to waste, we prioritize prevention over recycling over disposal. We see it as one of our ongoing tasks to identify new ways of suitably recycling materials within and outside our sites. The Nünchritz site has achieved a recycling rate of over 98 percent since 2010.
It is very important to us that waste is recycled, treated and disposed of in an environmentally compatible and legally compliant manner. To this end, we monitor the disposal companies that we work with for recycling and disposal with regular audits and assess them according to four criteria:
- Quantity of disposed materials
- Company size of the service provider
- Potential of disposed materials to cause environmental damage
- Disposal costs
We complete systematic checklists for our reports when we visit disposal agents. Our German sites can exchange information about external disposal companies via our internal Environmental Information System (EIS).
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t |
2018 |
2017 |
2016 |
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Total |
182,750 |
161,820 |
152,720 |
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Disposed of |
49,690 |
41,400 |
38,640 |
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Recycled |
133,060 |
120,420 |
114,080 |
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Hazardous |
77,070 |
75,800 |
73,660 |
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Non-hazardous |
105,680 |
86,020 |
79,060 |
The groupwide 13-percent increase in waste in 2018 resulted from higher volumes of non-hazardous waste due to, for example, construction activities at Burghausen and due to the inclusion of the León site (Spain) in this report.
The 2017 groupwide increase of about 6 percent in waste volume is predominantly the result of increased production in Burghausen and of construction activity at the Burghausen and Holla sites.
We maintain a chemicals-exchange database. Burghausen site employees can use it to identify surplus substances, either in opened packaging drums, or in their original container. The database is a practical way to coordinate the recycling of surplus materials. For larger material volumes, our business divisions can avail of an online portal to advertise unused materials groupwide to avoid disposal.
Burghausen’s Waste Consulting department provides information about proper waste disposal and opportunities for recycling. This department has been offering a new online tool since 2018. Via the intranet, special disposal of up to 500 kg of waste that is not routinely generated can be registered with the site’s own waste incinerator, the waste-disposal center or Waste Consulting.