T N E T N O C 3 _ 2 POLITICS SCIENCE RECYCLING 3 4 A few words upfront A welcome message from Norbert Rethmann FOCAL POINT 8 MARKET DEVELOPMENTS IN GERMANY & EUROPE: AN INTERVIEW WITH THOMAS CONZENDORF 14 Study proves the circular economy has a positive impact on the climate DEVELOPMENT 20 26 Mechanical & chemical: how to recycle plastics 32 TSR40: how to make steel green Processing IBA: aggregate from the fire German-Franco friendship, Franco-German recycling 38 44 WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM SWEDEN – AND IT FROM US 48 52 Forever and ever: depositing waste below ground A sustainable team performance at SC Freiburg INDUSTRIAL SERVICES 58 FULL (WIND) SPEED AHEAD: MAINTAINING WIND TURBINES PUBLIC SERVICES 62 Clean cities: what councils need to run a modern city WATER 68 India: where water is a huge effort PEOPLE & RESPONSIBILITY 72 78 84 Critical Infrastructure: what we’ve always needed to survive Profile: Julia Hadrossek, branch manager in Coesfeld Driver safety – when routine becomes a threat to life THE FUTURE 90 SCIENCE FICTION – WHAT WILL THE WORLD BE LIKE IN 50 YEARS’ TIME? Flag Editor: REMONDIS SE & Co. KG // Brunnenstr. 138 // 44536 Lünen // Germany T +49 2306 106-0 // F +49 2306 106-530 // remondis.com // info@remondis.com Images: Adobe Stock: zlikovec (front cover, back cover), bartsadowski (pp. 14, 16), leberus (p. 14), Bits and Splits (pp. 26, 29, 31), vegefox.com (pp. 39, 41, 43), by-studio (pp. 45, 46), kozerog2015 (p. 45), Alexander Gramlich (p. 46), Blickfang (p. 50), Fokke (p. 58), martanfoto (pp. 62, 64, 66), Sahil Ghosh (p. 68), yewkeo (pp. 72, 74, 77), Natika (p. 73), chones (p. 73), Kuzmick (p. 73), esoxx (p. 73), Destina (p. 74), M.Rode-Foto (p. 74), Lumos sp (p. 74), Mateusz (p. 74), ipopba (pp. 84, 88), phonlamaiphoto (p. 86) Markus Mainka (p. 86), ipopba (p. 88), jim (p. 90), Noradoa (p. 91), Blue Planet Studio (p. 91), chesky (p. 92), SFIO CRACHO (p. 92), M.Dörr & M.Frommherz (p. 93), stockphoto-graf (p. 94), leberus (p. 94), 3dsculptor (p. 95), REMONDIS stock (pp. 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 39, 42, 47, 55, 60, 71, 73, 79, 81, 82, 87), Prognos: Koroll (p. 19), TSR stock (pp. 20, 22, 23, 25), AKG Images (pp. 40, 75, 76, 77), REKS stock (p. 48) Press officers: Lena Langenkämper, Michael Schneider, Anna Ephan Layout: www.a-14.de // Print: LUC, Selm

E G A S S E M E M O C L E W S W E I V : E R 5 _ 4 Dear Readers O ur company has taken the next step towards sustainable communications with this first is- sue of our new magazine RE:VIEWS. Its fresh design and interesting content, its quality accounts and first-rate interviews all show in a vivid way what is on our minds and what is driving us forward – both now and in the future. Much has happened over the last years and decades and the world has undergone some profound changes and not just when it comes to the water management and recycling sectors. This is an ongoing process. What it comes down to is making sure that we constantly play an active role in shaping these changes. I am often asked what I think the key to success is. Our success as a family-run company – which my father Josef founded as a small forwarding business 88 years ago – is essentially based on two factors: cross-generational tenacity and sticking to the prin- ciple of leaving the income earned in the company. Such growth would have been impossible if we had not followed this long-term strategy of reinvesting in the business. Let me use a nautical comparison to explain what I mean. We realised very early on that the manoeuvrability of a large, cumbersome tanker would prevent us being able to change direction at short notice if we needed to. Instead of having a huge ship with one captain who decides whether to turn to starboard or to port, we looked from the start to have a fleet of autonomous speedboats that – while sailing under the same flag – could for the most part operate independently. Each boat effectively has its own captain and can react quickly and flexibly to any market changes. At the same time, everyone ben- efits from a certain collective intelligence. And so, over the decades, a network of subsidiaries and as- sociated companies have come into being, each with their own managing directors working as independ- ent entrepreneurs. That, too, is part of our success. EU member states have realised that some of the most urgent problems of our time cannot be solved without a well-functioning circular economy. This realisation was officially set out in writing for the first time in the EU’s Green Deal when the circular economy was defined as one of the mainstays in the battle against climate change. This step truly was a milestone. Nowadays we know that recycling has an even greater benefit. Recycled raw materials are a local source of materials and strengthen supply chains. The pandemic has certainly shown us just how vulnerable supply chains can be. And, besides reducing CO2 emis- sions, recycled raw materials also enable local industry to be less dependent on imports. This secures business locations and jobs and strengthens the country’s econ- omy. The impact of the war in Ukraine has also made it clear just how important this all is.

E G A S S E M E M O C L E W S W E I V : E R 7 _ 6 The EU, therefore, would be well advised to contin- ue to pass smart and ambitious legislation and make such legislation obligatory for all member states. For these laws to actually be put into effect, however, coun- tries need to draw up national regulations that reflect the EU’s rules and take the exact requirements of their region into account. For the moment, the main prob- lem will continue to be enforcement. There are too few opportunities available to monitor activities and ensure the laws are being systematically implement- ed. What other explanation is there for the almost one million tonnes of e-waste that are still being illegal- ly exported rather than sent to our modern recycling facilities? There are not enough options to carry out checks here and perhaps a lack of assertiveness as well. Just occasionally, there are still some countries in the EU that give the impression that transitioning to a circular economy is something of a burden. Which is why I believe one of the most important tasks of the future will be to show that the circular economy is not an expensive luxury but a great opportunity for a resource-friendly, climate-neutral economy and for the future of our community. Being an international, family-run company, we always lead by example. We need to prove every day that we can run a successful business with recycling and with all its positive side-effects – all the way through to producing renewable energy, such as bio- gas from biogenic residue. Only then will those countries in the EU that have perhaps not reached this point yet be happy to set up similar systems. However, to be able to this, we also need a free European single market with open borders. If people finally recognise waste for what it is – namely a sus- tainable source of raw materials and energy – then there is no reason for closing the border to these mate- rials. We don’t close our borders to lithium from Chile or to copper ore from Australia. Raw materials – no matter what form they may take – are a global com- modity and the world’s economy can only have a se- cure supply of raw materials if borders are kept open. Especially as recycling will not, of course, be able to cover global demand for raw materials by itself in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, producer responsibility needs to be extended so that the very most can be made of the raw materials in waste. This is an important in- strument for ensuring products are designed sus- tainably over the long term. Positive incentives are needed to promote ecodesign. The ultimate goal here must be for preferably all products and packaging to be designed so that as many – if not all – of the raw materials used to make them can be recovered, re- cycled and returned to production cycles. Business- es that choose not to produce according to the prin- ciple of sustainability must be held accountable in some way or other. It is up to the policymakers how this should be done, whether it be regulated via tax disadvantages or an increased CO2 surcharge for ex- ample. Whatever happens, what we need are prod- ucts that are of a better quality and more sustainable. Looking at EU level, we believe the next import- ant step is to introduce a no-compromise landfill ban across the whole of Europe. We did this in Germany back in 2005 when the so-called TaSi [Technical Di- rective on the Recycling, Treatment and Disposal of Municipal Waste] came into force. Put simply, this directive stipulates that waste with an organic con- tent of over 5% must be processed before being sent to landfill. This effectively meant an end to house- hold waste being landfilled in Germany. Many pro- tested against this at the beginning saying that this couldn’t work because of the huge volumes of mater- ials. Then a large number of thermal treatment facil- ities were built to handle the vast amounts of waste. It soon became clear, though, that this would lead to many recyclable materials being lost to us forever and so a recycling infrastructure was gradually set up, primarily with funds from the private sector.

S C I T I L O P T N I O P L A C O F S W E I V : E R 9 _ 8 T his second decade of the 21st Century is proving to be a period of very complex chal- lenges. Firstly, there are the impacts of climate change that are causing extreme weather events, species extinction, land loss and famine. U N “ Big challenges can’t be solved by thinking small scale.” Why the German Federal Cartel Office [Bundeskartellamt] thinks on too small a scale and how Germany can learn from France. An interview with Thomas Conzendorf, a member of REMONDIS’ board of directors. And, as if this was not a big enough problem for the world to face, along came the Covid pan- demic, which more or less brought the global economy to a standstill for two years and paralysed whole communities, to say nothing of the loss of human lives. And now there is the war in the Ukraine, a conflict summoning echoes of the past that has shown us just how fragile peace – something we’d taken for grant- ed – really is. The world has reacted with outrage and with sanctions. The war in Eastern Europe has further aggravated the shortage of commodities on the global mar- kets – so much so that it is now impossible to get hold of certain goods or the prices are unaccept- ably high. Just like under a burn- ing lens, it is possible to observe how the collapse of global supply chains, brought about by the war, has had a negative impact on our own economy and increased pro- curement pressure. In this respect, the pandem- ic, climate change and the war all have something to do with the circular economy as well, be it directly or indirectly. Take climate change as an example: Back in December 2019, the EU named the circular economy in its Green Deal as being one of the key industries for achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The EU’s Cir- cular Economy Action Plan states that volumes of municipal waste in the EU must have been halved within a decade if this goal is to be reached. Over the long term, all products and packaging must be designed so they are fully recycla- ble so that all their raw materials can be recovered and reused. A lot of catching up needs to be done in this particular area, especially when it comes to plastics. And this is also one of the keys to solving the problem of the grow- ing shortage of raw materials. The energy sector, industry and manu- facturers are all highly dependent on supplies of commodities from other countries, some of which are politically unstable.

S C I T I L O P T N I O P L A C O F “ We’re always hearing people say: more investments, lower consumer prices and as much competition as possible. That simply cannot work over the long term.” Timotheus Höttges, CEO Telekom While it can’t do it by itself, the circular economy can cer- tainly play a part in solving this problem. By systematically re- covering raw materials, it can mitigate supply bottlenecks and not only reduce the economy’s dependency on imports but also improve its climate footprint. Renewable energy produced by the circular economy – such as biogas, biodiesel and electricity and heat from thermal treatment – takes the pressure off the energy sector. Recycled raw materials – such as scrap iron and steel, aluminium, copper, non-ferrous metals, plastics, wood, paper, glass, textiles and residual chemical materials – make the country and its European neighbours more independent and more climate neutral. S W E I V : E R Looking at local community level, the pandemic has shown that the services provided by councils are essential services. What had been taken for granted in the past has now caught the public’s attention: a country cannot function properly without the circular economy. Recycling begins with smart recyclable product designs and continues with the kerbside services pro- vided by the waste management sector. The challenges are very big indeed. And so it is only logical that we must think and act big if we are to overcome them. Governments in other countries have recognised this fact and rather than hampering company growth have taken steps to promote it. Here in Germany, however, a special law regula- ting monopolies is obstructing growth – even at local and regional level – and, in extreme cases, preventing it altogether. In the following interview, REMONDIS board member Thomas Conzendorf explains what’s behind Section 39a of the GWB [Act against Restraints of Competition], why the Cartel Office’s view of the market falls short and what this all means for the future. RE:VIEWS: Mr Conzendorf, in a recent pod- cast, the CEO of Telekom, Timotheus Hött- ges, criticised the restraints of competition in his industry in Germany. His words were: “We’re always hearing people say: more in- vestments, lower consumer prices and as much competition as possible. That simply cannot work over the long term.” Do you believe the same is true for the circular economy? “If we want to solve the urgent problems of our time, then we must allow those businesses looking to do this to grow both within and beyond Germany.” Thomas Conzendorf, REMONDIS Board Member 1 1 _ 0 1

S C I T I L O P T N I O P L A C O F S W E I V : E R 3 1 _ 2 1 apply to private sector firms. Obviously REMONDIS has nothing against local authorities running their own businesses. These must be taken into account, however, when the Cartel Office examines the indi- vidual markets. RE:VIEWS: And yet REMONDIS is still being accused of gradually building up a dominant market position in some regions by buying up small firms. Thomas Conzendorf: The first thing that needs to be done here is to make it very clear which market is actual- ly being referred to. Which is why we believe that the whole structure of the latest sector investigation was wrong as it not only ignores the largest market share – namely the share held by local authorities – it also divides the circular economy market into imaginary submarkets. Prognos AG recently determined that the circular economy in Germany is worth a total 85 billion euros per year. Around 10,000 municipal and private sector companies play some kind of role in this sector. REMONDIS’ share here is a mere 2.35%. RE:VIEWS: That, though, doesn’t rebut the accusation that the company has a dominant position on regional markets as a result of buying up specific companies. Thomas Conzendorf: Across the whole of the RETHMANN Group over the last four years, there have been just 12 acquisitions in the area of kerbside collections that did not have to be registered at the Cartel Office. That is a mere three takeovers a year, each of which had an average annual turnover of 4 million euros. All of the other acquisitions that were registered at the Cartel Office involved commercial waste. Twelve acquisi- tions over four years with such a low average annual turnover really cannot fall into the category of “object- ively verifiable indications that future concentrations could substantially impede effective competition in Germany”. RE:VIEWS: Have you got a concrete example of this im- balance? Thomas Conzendorf: The current developments in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt are, unfortunately, very typical. Private sector companies have been com- missioned to provide kerbside collection services by This is not the only reason why the conditions for trig- gering proceedings set out under Section 39a of the GWB are not met. Which is why specifically naming the company in a press release and declaring it to be the actual objective of its investigation – before the legal prerequisites of Section 39a GWB can be checked by the authorities – is all the more astonishing. RE:VIEWS: So what turnover thresholds are relevant to antitrust laws? Thomas Conzendorf: The Cartel Office normally takes a look at planned takeovers or mergers that involve a turnover of more than 17.5 million euros. The legis- lator assumes here that takeovers of firms with a turnover of less than 17.5 million euros will not cause an antitrust problem. All of a sudden they have taken a different view and only when it comes to REMONDIS. This is particularly odd as the Cartel Office had to admit in its own announcement that its review of the market was incomplete. RE:VIEWS: To what extent? Thomas Conzendorf: In its last sector investigation back in December 2021, the Federal Cartel Office itself point- ed out the risks of local authorities reclaiming ser- vices and bringing them back in-house. The antitrust watchdogs have, for the most part, focused on kerbside collections of waste. Depending on the region, around 50% of collections – and in some cases a much bigger share – is carried out by municipal companies that are in direct competition with the private sector. There is no explanation as to why the restrictions should only

E C N E I C S T N I O P L A C O F S W E I V : E R 5 1 _ 4 1 Science STUDY PROVES THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY HAS A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE CLIMATE A study published at the beginning of this year has examined how the waste management sector can con- tribute towards Europe becoming climate neutral. And the results are astounding: if waste is handled cor- rectly, then hundreds of millions of tonnes of CO2 can potentially be avoided every year by 2035. Dr Bärbel Birnstengel and Richard Simpson, the study’s authors, discussed the most important findings in a recent interview and explained what needs to be done to make the very most of the promising options.

Prognos: Based on the current 13 Mt CO2eq burden, the ambitious scenario sees a net avoidance of -283 Mt CO2eq by 2035 or 296 Mt CO2eq compared to 2018. When we calculated the figures for this particular model, we kept waste volumes constant at 2018 levels, extended the valid recycling rate for municipal waste set out in the EU’s current Waste Framework Directive to include industrial and commercial waste and then further increased this recycling rate. What’s more, we assumed that landfilling will be phased out. We are, though, well aware that landfills will continue to play a part in waste treatment as there will always be some kinds of waste that must be sent to landfill and so we reduced these volumes to an absolute minimum. As far as the waste types considered by us are concerned, all residual materials that could be thermally treated were assigned to thermal treatment. RE:VIEWS: A potential reduction of 296 Mt CO2eq – from a purely arithmetical point of view that is the total annual volume of CO2 emissions of Belgium and the Netherlands1 put together. Were you surprised by this result? Prognos: Not by some aspects. It is already a well-known fact that recycling waste and substituting virgin raw materials, such as ferrous metals and aluminium, can cut CO2 emissions by a huge amount. What was sur- prising though was just how high the CO2 burden caused by landfilling organic waste – such as paper or biowaste – actually was. Methane gas may be short- lived but it has a very big impact, which meant it played a particularly significant role over the 20-year period. RE:VIEWS: The somewhat less ambitious scenario assumes that the laws and targets that apply in the European Union today are simply implemented. This means a recycling rate of 65% and a maximum 10% of municipal waste being sent to landfill. What can be achieved under these conditions? Prognos: Existing EU legislation is just one part of this scenario. We went a little bit further here as we trans- ferred the recycling goals to industrial and commercial waste as well. 1 UBA [Federal Environment Agency], Treibhausgas-Emissionen in der Europäischen Union, [Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the European Union] 13.09.21 https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/daten/ klima/treibhausgas-emissionen-in-der-europaeischen-union#hauptverursacher 96 MtCO2eq 96 Mt CO2eq are already being avoided today thanks to the sus- tainable way paper, glass, plas- tics, ferrous metals, aluminium, wood, textiles, old tyres and biowaste are being handled. E C N E I C S T N I O P L A C O F S W E I V : E R 7 1 _ 6 1

E C N E I C S T N I O P L A C O F S W E I V : E R 9 1 _ 8 1 Other kinds of refuse, of course, also have the po- tential to reduce emissions including the largest ma- terial stream generated, namely mineral construction waste. Not least because it has already been shown that hazardous waste, such as solvents and old oil, can be processed and reused. RE:VIEWS: Looking at a product’s life cycle, the waste management sector is just one station, so to speak, of many. What interaction is required to achieve the highest potential reduction? Prognos: Much greater efforts will be required from all stakeholders along the whole of the chain if this poten- tial is to be realised. A coordinated approach is need- ed here and we must adopt a circular business model, starting with sustainable product designs and a low- waste or zero-waste production of long-lasting and reparable goods. We, the authors, are well aware that these potential CO2 savings cannot be realised by the activities of the waste management and recycling sec- tor alone. It would be wrong to make the waste man- agement sector solely responsible for this. RE:VIEWS: How big an impact can networking with upstream sectors have, for example on creating the best possible recyclable product designs? Prognos: That is an important point. Both product de- sign and production methods determine how recycla- ble a product is when it reaches the end of its useful life. One of the biggest challenges posed here is the composite materials used in packaging. To make recy- cling easier, the design should preferably use just one type of material rather than a mixture. The colours used are not unimportant either. Digitisation along the supply chain could also bring about considerable momentum if data can be recorded and supplied from all the different sectors. Digital twins – i.e. a virtual representation of products – can provide really useful information about the composition of a product. 150 Mt CO2eq This, in turn, would enable the operations that are used to recover the valuable raw materials to become more comprehensive, more efficient and of a higher quality. RE:VIEWS: We also have consumers between the pro- ducers and the waste management sector. How sig- nificant is their role in all of this? Prognos: They have a really important role. Consumers who accept products made of recycled raw materials and then ensure these products are sent for recycling when they are no longer needed play a key role here. The circular economy relies on the correct segregation of waste products and on the performance of the sort- ing plants to be able to produce high quality recycled materials and transform non-recyclable materials into energy. In theory, each individual person helps to in- crease the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by sep- arating their waste because only high quality recycled raw materials can be returned to production cycles. If the materials get contaminated by being thrown into the wrong bin then we have effectively also taken away a little bit of this potential. Companies building plants and machinery also make an important contribution. Modern sorting and recycling technologies are able to recover more materials from the waste streams, help- ing to reduce the volumes of sorting and processing residue. RE:VIEWS: The waste management sector, though, needs the support of relevant legislation. Should the regulations we have be made tougher or be extended to cover other areas? Prognos: Rules and regulations are certainly necessary but we’ve also seen that they can fail to achieve their objectives because they’re not systematically enforced. We may be able to achieve a lot with rules and bans but there’s no way we’ll be able to accomplish everything that’s possible with them alone. We’ll only succeed if we are able to convince every stakeholder of the bene- fits and bring about a genuine value change. This won’t be an easy path to take but it is doable. By implementing current waste legislation and extending the goals for municipal waste to include industrial and commercial waste, annual emissions can potentially be reduced by 150 Mt CO2eq by 2035.

HOW TO MAKE STEEL GREEN G ermany’s A59 motorway has an elevated stretch of road that takes the drivers right through the mid- dle of Duisburg, past many districts rich in industrial history. A glance westwards from this section of the motorway and you’ll see Europe’s largest inland harbour, or at least part of it, and it is obvious that many of the buildings there have been used for decades. And that the jobs carried out by the employ- ees at Duisburg Harbour are not easy. The drivers, however, are not only able to see the past and the present but the future as well. It is being built on a large area of land, a site that has always been an eye-catcher be- cause of the huge mountains of old metal: the so-called ‘Schrottinsel’ [scrap island]. Now- adays, this is a vast recycling centre called the “Circular Island”. G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 1 2 _ 0 2

G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 3 2 _ 2 2 At present, oxygen has to be removed from the iron ore at a high temperature in the fur- naces to manufacture raw iron and, further along the process, steel. A so-called reducing agent is required to do this and most manu- facturers use coke and pulverised coal here. For the first time, TSR’s new product should enable an almost fully recycled metal raw material to be used in the furnace. Reducing agents are not needed for this material; the virgin raw materials can be substituted and CO2 emissions cut. TSR40 can offset the annual emissions caused by 325,000 commuters. Christian Blackert was born in Werne in the Münsterland region in 1980. He is one of the many ‘home-grown’ RETHMANN employees: after leaving school with his high school leaving certificate, he joined REMONDIS to do a higher apprenticeship that also saw him stud- ying economics. Having worked in the Group for a number of years, he then moved to an automotive sup- plier in the north of the Münsterland region to take up the position of sales manager. In 2015, he ‘returned to his family’ as he puts it. Working first as a key account manager and author- ised signatory, he has been managing TSR’s Rhine- Ruhr region since 2017. Here, he is in charge of ten business locations in North Rhine Westphalia that process several hundred thousand tonnes of old metal every year. Blackert is married, has two children and lives with his family near Düsseldorf. The solution: TSR40 TSR’s facility in Duisburg is setting new recycling standards with its state-of-the- art technologies – some of which are being used for the very first time. The product has an extremely high iron content of over 98%, which means that a completely new recycled product has been made from scrap iron. Its name: TSR40. This scrap is so pure that it is no longer classified as waste but as a certified product. By using the recycled product TSR40 in their furnaces, the steel manufacturers will cut the volumes of reducing agents they need. Thanks to the product’s high purity level, much greater volumes of it will be able to be used both in the furnace and the converter than previous grades of material. All in all, less iron ore will be required to manufacture steel which automatically means less pulver- ised coal and less coke. The goal of the REDERS project has been reached, therefore, with its TSR40 prod- uct: namely to lower CO2 emissions and increase the volumes of recycled materials used to manufacture steel. CO2 will be cut by around 1.4 tonnes every time a tonne of recycled material is used in the furnace to make one tonne of steel. The amount of CO2 saved in the converter is even higher, namely 1.7 tonnes. If the amount of recycled mater- ial were increased by ten percent here, CO2 emissions could be cut by around 488,000 tonnes. Here a comparison: the average commute in North Rhine-Westphalia is 40km to and from the office which generates around 1.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalents every year. The re- cycling rate that can be expected from this project, therefore, will offset the emissions caused by 325,000 commuters. On your marks! That is the theory. Since 2020, the partners have been working on putting the hundreds of hours spent modelling, planning and cal- culating this project into practice. The num- ber of employees participating in the project has grown considerably: REDERS had good

Further volumes of TSR40 will be pro- duced from May 2022 onwards so that further tests can be carried out in the fur- naces. The target here is to generate a max- imum rate of use. Plans are to produce more than 300,000 tonnes per year. A significant amount, especially considering the fact that the first idea and initial project discussions took place just three years ago. Between then and now: a whole num- ber of meetings and agreements with the two steelworks, a seemingly never-ending amount of tests and trials carried out by en- gineers at TSR and specialist external firms, a successful grant application and countless cups of coffee. As Christian Blackert says, though, “It’s all been worth it.” …and so much more He is already thinking about the next stages: “Electric arc furnaces will play a bigger role in the production of steel in the future. Thanks to the high quality of TSR40, it can also be used in such facilities. This means that the demand for high purity recycled raw materials will grow considerably. Our TSR40 will be a real game changer because it can be used by steel producers immediately and sustainably. We will need more facilities like the one in Duisburg.” Anyone interested in taking a closer look at how this all works should take the A59 motorway to Duisburg. They should then take the ‘Ruhrort’ exit and head towards the ‘Schrottinsel’ where they can have TSR ex- plain how its team managed to prove in just three years that innovation and structural change can happen really quickly in the Ruhr region as well. G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D One year later, in April 2022, the minister took part in the ground breaking ceremony with the REDERS project members to sig- nal the start of the construction of the new processing line on the ‘Schrottinsel’. TSR is currently setting up its new recycling facility with its extensive infrastructure. By recycling 8.5 million tonnes of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, TSR produces high quality re- cycled raw materials that can be returned to pro- duction cycles. As a result, it acts as an important link within the circular economy and sustainably helps to conserve natural resources and protect the environment. How TSR Recycling protects the environment around the world (based on data from 2021): 5.23 MILLION TONNES OF CO2 Using recycled raw materials instead of producing metals from primary resources dramatically re- duces emissions. S W E I V : E R 5.7 MILLION GIGAWATT HOURS OF ENERGY The amount of energy saved by our recycling activities each year covers the requirements of 1.4 million three-person households. 6.4 MILLION TONNES OF IRON ORE The more steel and iron that is recycled, the less ore needs to be mined; this not only conserves nat- ural resources, it is also good for our environment and our climate. 3.3 MILLION TONNES OF COAL The majority of the energy needed to produce metals comes from coal; this means that systemat- ic recycling reduces the amount of coal that needs to be mined. 5 2 _ 4 2

G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 7 2 _ 6 2 THERE’S ROOM FOR MORE P l a s t i c s r e c y c l i n g i s a c l a s s i c . A n d y e t j u s t a t i n y p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e p l a s t i c w a s t e g e n e r a t e d a r o u n d t h e w o r l d i s r e c y c l e d . W h a t ’s t h e r e a s o n f o r t h i s ? W h a t c o u l d b e d o n e b e t t e r ? A n d w h a t m i g h t t h e f u t u r e l o o k l i k e f o r t h e c h e m i c a l r e c y c l i n g o f p l a s t i c .

R O U T E TA K E N B Y G L O B A L P L A S T I C W A S T E ( 2 0 1 8 ) Improper disposal 25% Other 5% Recycling 20% 20% Energy recovery 30% Managed landfill Source: Global Plastics Flow 2018, CONVERSIO Market & Strategy, 2020 As can be expected, the situation in Europe is more positive. Having said that, though, large volumes of discarded plastics are not being sent for recycling here either. In 2020, around 35% of post-consumer plastic waste was recycled for reuse in the European Union plus Nor- way, the UK and Switzerland. The remaining 65% was sent either for energy recovery or to landfill – two routes that mean that any possible reusable materials are lost to us for- ever. European – and, in particular, global – waste plastic streams show that there is still much room for improvement despite the success- es achieved in plastics recycling to date. To be able to tap into this potential and develop a circular economy, storage, collection and recycling structures need to be set up in those areas where they are lacking or partially lacking. If the recyclable materials contained in the plastics are to be systematically recovered for reuse, then land- filling must be phased out at a fast- er rate. At the same time, plastic materials being sent for energy re- covery should, wherever possible, be diverted to recycling facilities. Tried & tested: mechanical recycling There are big differences within Europe itself. In Germany, for ex- ample, more than 99% of plastic waste was processed in 2019 with around 47% of this material being R O U T E TA K E N B Y C O L L E C T E D P O S T- C O N S U M E R P L A S T I C W A S T E ( E U + U K , N O R W AY, S W I T Z E R L A N D , 2 0 2 0 ) Managed landfill 23% 42% Energy recovery 35% Recycling Source: Plastics – the Facts 2021, Plastics Europe, 2021 G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 9 2 _ 8 2

G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 1 3 _ 0 3 The ideal way to grow plastics recycling rates is to have a combination of high performance mechanical recycling and chemical recycling, a technology that is currently being developed. A complementary system: chemical recycling Besides mechanical recycling, the spotlight is also being gradually turned on chemical recycling tech- nologies. Chemical recycling trans- forms plastic waste into chemicals that can then be used as raw mater- ials in chemical processes. A var- iety of technical procedures can be deployed to bring about such a transformation, such as pyrolysis. By adjusting pressure and temper- ature, the plastics are broken down into a gas and then condensed into pyrolysis oil. Plastics manufactur- ers could replace virgin fossil raw materials with this oil and use it to produce new plastics. One of the key advantages of chemical recy- cling is that the pyrolysis plants can handle mixed fractions of plastic waste. The chemical recycling route can, therefore, be used for materials that are less suitable or indeed un- suitable for mechanical recycling. The input material sent for chemical recycling also determines the quality of the recycled prod- ucts. At the moment, focus is being put on mixed plastic waste, around three-quarters of which comprises polyolefins, i.e. polypropylene or polyethylene. The remaining 25% can be made up of other types of plastics, such as PET or polystyr- ene, and contain foreign particles, e.g. particles of metal and paper. As far as the mixtures of material are concerned, however, it should be noted here that the chemical recy- cling of plastics is still in its infan- cy. Looking ahead into the future, more complex mixtures of plastic waste will be able to be treated as technological advances are made. Strategic partnerships between the recycling sector, the chemicals industry and providers of such technology will be one of the main drivers of such progress. As chemical recycling uses mixed fractions, this system has, theoretically, great potential. If all of the post-consumer plastic waste in Europe that is currently being sent for energy recovery were to be chemically recycled, then – in purely mathematical terms – more than 12 million tonnes could be sent for higher quality recycling – assuming that these materials are not suitable for mechanical recy- cling. Additional options would be generated by further phasing out landfills and diverting these mater- ials to recycling facilities instead. No matter whether it be mechan- ical or chemical recycling: there is great interest in plastic-based re- cycled raw materials. Besides the positive impact this has on tackling climate change and conserving nat- ural resources, there is also a grow- ing need to ensure there is a secure supply of raw materials. At the end of the day, producing petrol- eum-based plastic is highly depend- ent on imports and developments on the global market. The latest de- velopments have highlighted just how uncertain this environment can be. Supply chain disruptions led to 35% of the VCI member com- panies [German Chemical Industry Association] scaling back their pro- duction activities in Germany in 2021; a further 10% were forced to temporarily shut down their pro- duction altogether. A situation that has been further aggravated by the war in Ukraine and its ramifica- tions. The European Union is also providing momentum in this area, stating in its Green Deal that 55% of all plastic waste should be sent for recycling by 2030. What’s more, it is planning to set minimum re- cycled content requirements for new plastic products. As far as the packaging sector is concerned, the amount of plastic recyclate cur- rently being used in new products could – purely from point of view of technology and with a few mod- erate limitations to the properties – already be more than doubled today and achieve the targets set. One factor holding back chem- ical recycling is that this process has not been officially recognised as a form of materials recycling. The Ministry for the Environment in Germany considers chemical re- cycling activities to be raw material recycling, which means it falls un- der the definition of recycling as set out in the German Circular Econ- omy Law [KrWG]. In contrast, the German Packaging Act [VerpackG] states that materials recycling ex- ists when the recycled material substitutes the same virgin ma- terial. Pyrolysis oil does not meet this requirement. According to the Ministry, therefore, the amount of chemically recycled materials may

G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 3 3 _ 2 3 AGGREGATE FROM THE FIRE Processed correctly, the ash from waste-to-energy plants – known as IBA or incinerator bottom ash – is high quality and valuable aggregate. The conditions for this to happen, however, are still not in place in Germany.

G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 5 3 _ 4 3 These WtE plants incinerated around 13 million tonnes of so-called mixed municipal waste (primarily household and bulky waste from local residents) in 2019. In addition to this, they also treated commercial waste. It is not possible to put an exact figure on these volumes but it must be about the same amount as the municipal waste. Many construction firms also have waste materials that cannot be recycled and must be incinerated – old wood, for example, that has been treated with chemicals. With the fire reaching temperatures of over 800°C, these pollutants are safely destroyed and can no longer harm either humans or the environ- ment. These mixtures of waste often contain mineral fractions that simply fall through the furnace grate. Around 25% to 30% of the waste (by weight) handled by a normal WtE plant is mineral material. Some are calling it a scan- dal to simply dispose of these minerals, es- pecially as the country has put the circular economy and resource conservation at the top of its agenda. According to the latest fig- ures published by Destatis [Federal Statistical Office of Germany], over six million tonnes of this material were generated in Germany in 2019. One-fifth was sent straight to landfill – a total of 1.3 million tonnes. In reality, this figure was much bigger but the material was first processed in so-called IBA-processing facilities – almost 4.7 million tonnes in all. IBA processors’ primary focus is on the metals The majority of processing plants are only really interested in the ferrous and non- ferrous metals in the IBA. These can be sold on to industrial businesses and are a good source of income. It is not because there is a lack of deposits. “The way Germany was formed means that there is an almost infinite amount of sand in the ground,” Harald Els- ner from the BGR [Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources] noted a few years back in a short study about aggregate raw material supplies. Too many areas of Germany have been built on, too many areas have been planned for and it is too densely populated to be able to get at all this sand. According to the BGR, for example, 85% of the surface area of the German state of Baden-Württemberg has already been planned for other uses. Protected waterways, na- ture reserves, areas of outstanding natural beauty and developed land all prevent the sand and gravel from being extracted. A resource-friendly alternative would be to use the ash from waste-to-energy plants – simply referred to as IBA by those working in the industry. It has, though, been very difficult to market IBA as a substitute aggre- gate in Germany for many years now. Over six million tonnes of minerals cleaned by the fire Not all wastes can be recycled for reuse. Residual household waste, for example, is thermally treated by the almost 70 waste-to-energy (WtE) plants in Ger- many and used to generate, for the most part, heat and electricity.

G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 7 3 _ 6 3 A D VA N C E S M A D E I N I B A P R O C E S S I N G I N T H E N E T H E R L A N D S ; 2 0 2 0 TA R G E T ( 1 0 0 % ) 1.760 1.783 100% 50% 0% 6% 43% (46%) 27% (28%) 18% (20%) 6% (6%) Dec. 2014 11% 14% (15%) 17% (19%) +34% 51% (58%) 7% (8%) Feb. 2017 Residue Processing to IBC quality Treatment in acc. with Green Deal criteria proven in trials; no final investment decisions made yet Treatment in acc. with Green Deal criteria proven in large trials and investment decisions made Treatment carried out in acc. with Green Deal criteria Source: Jan Peter Born, HVC 2017 The Netherlands are showing how things could be different This waste of resources in Germany has the same structural causes as can be found in the resource-rich developing countries that extract their mineral re- sources unchecked. The Netherlands have been show- ing for years now that things can be done differently. Our neighbours do not have as many deposits of virgin aggregate as we do. They rely on imports. Op- erators of gravel pits and stone quarries in Germany alone exported almost 20 million tonnes of aggregate to the Netherlands between 2010 and 2017. Importing aggregate, however, makes a country de- pendent on others. Those that want to be independent must come up with innovative recycling solutions. The Dutch government has known this for a long while and negotiated a so-called Green Deal with its waste management sector around ten years ago. Put simply, they agreed that the material could be used in more projects if the IBA processing systems were improved. The goal was to be able to freely use IBA from WtE plants as aggregate without any further “isolatie-, be- heers- en controlemaatregelen” (IBC), i.e. insulation, management and control measures. And so the Dutch waste management businesses invested in IBA pro- cessing facilities, for example to further reduce the heavy metal content. Thanks to the introduction of the Green Deal, these new systems have improved the quality of the processed IBA in the Netherlands to such an extent that it has been able to be used as normal aggregate in road construction projects with absolutely no restric- tions since the beginning of 2022. IBA may no longer be used in IBC measures; it has been forbidden for a while now to send it to landfill or export it. The Umbrella Ordinance: a controversial solution for Germany The so-called ‘Mantelverordnung’ [Umbrella Ordin- ance on Substitute Building Materials/Soil Protection] aims to improve the use of substitute aggregate in civil engineering projects in Germany. When Florian Pro- nold, the former undersecretary at the Ministry for the Environment, spoke about the Umbrella Ordinance in the Bundesrat (Germany’s upper house) last summer just before the members voted, he compared it to Mi- chael Ende’s novel “The Neverending Story”. Central government, the German states, the con- struction sector, waste management firms, local au- thorities and anyone else in Germany who had any- thing to do with aggregate had argued about the ordinance for 16 years. As a result, this set of rules is now complicated and contains many compromises that, the circular economy believes, are inadequate in many cases. Having said that, this solution is probably better than having nothing at all.

G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 9 3 _ 8 3 GERMAN- FRANCO FRIENDSHIP FRANCO- GERMAN RECYCLING Philippe Girard is managing director of the Group’s French subsidiary REMONDIS S.A.S. RE:VIEWS spoke to him about the current situation and the future of the French circular economy after the French presidential election.

G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 1 4 _ 0 4 Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle signed the Elysee Treaty on 22 January 1963. This made Germany and France the most important partners in Europe with this Franco-German friendship developing into a key engine for economic growth. RE:VIEWS: Could you give a quick summary of REMONDIS’ activities in France – where it is located, what fields it operates in? Philippe Girard: REMONDIS has 232 em- ployees in France and had a turnover of 40 million euros last year. For 20 years now, REMONDIS has been operating in France via its business, REMONDIS France SAS. The company collects and treats 25,000 tonnes of hazardous waste per year and also has contracts with public sector customers such as CAB, the Communauté d’Aggloméra- tion de Beauvais. Every day, the 51 members of staff deliver customer-oriented services from their five business locations, which, of course, have all the necessary environmental permits. The most important step made by the company within France’s public sector was the acquisition in 2020 of a 5.5% share in Se- mardel, a firm based near Paris. Semardel is a Société d’Economie Mixte – known sim- ply as an SEM. That is equivalent to a pub- lic private partnership. Semardel operates in the fields of waste collection, the recycling of organic waste and energy recovery. It has a workforce of 570 employees and had a turn- over of 120 million euros in 2021. Thanks to Semardel’s shareholder struc- ture, we not only have direct access to large regional players, such as Syctom, but can also strengthen our existing partnership with the French public institution CDC, the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.

G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 3 4 _ 2 4 Philippe Girard: The French are just starting to collect municipal organic waste separately from other waste streams. Germany has been doing this since 2015 and already collects 4.5 million tonnes per year. REMONDIS and SARIA are currently working on this topic in France and can draw on the years of experi- ence they have gathered in Germany. Germany still has a federal structure which means that the regulations and frame- work conditions can differ from German state to German state. In this point, France is organised in a more central and clearer way which makes it easier to develop large-scale projects such as plastics or battery recycling schemes. They both have their advantages and disadvantages which is why the key to success also lies in being able to adapt to the different conditions and to have a deep un- derstanding of the cultural idiosyncrasies. This is where the long-standing Franco-Ger- man friendship really pays off. It is the EU’s engine and together we will succeed in mak- ing Europe more sustainable. RE:VIEWS: Is there one particular area of the waste management sector that you believe will make some big advances over the next 10 years? Philippe Girard: It’s France’s goal to halve the amount of waste it sends to landfill between 2010 and 2025. The reductions reached so far have been minimal which means that a lot more must be achieved over the coming months, especially by developing plants that can burn RDF. Many targets and projects have been an- nounced over the last few weeks regarding plastics recycling and a reduction in plastic use. This includes, for example, recycling all plastic waste by 2025 and banning single-use plastics by 2040. A number of chemical recy- cling plants should be set up to achieve this. Whether they actually materialise will pri- marily depend on the political framework conditions and the price of oil over the com- ing months.

FOSSILFRITT SVERIGE WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM SWEDEN – AND IT FROM US! The climate committee, the Miljömålsberedningen, of the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) has actually managed to nego- tiate its 860-page “Sweden’s Global Climate Footprint” plan with all eight political parties in the parliament so that all of them agreed to it – from the right-wing Sweden Democrats to the Left Party. Emma Nohrén, chair of the climate com- mittee, handed over this substantial paper to the Swedish Minister for the Environment and Climate, Annika Strandhäll, during a press conference on 07 April 2022. It is now up to the Government to legislate the path towards this new and more ambitious target and to underpin it with robust accompanying measures. No other country in the world would then be able to match Sweden’s sustainability requirements. So what is in Sweden’s new Climate Change Plan? To begin with, the Climate Plan contains the previ- ously set goal of reducing domestic emissions to net zero by 2045. The committee recommends adding two further goals here. The first covers the so-called ‘grey emissions’ that are generated by the Swedish popula- tion consuming foreign goods. According to the pro- posals put forward, these emissions should be reduced to net zero by 2045 as well. The second additional goal focuses on the so-called ‘climate benefits of ex- ports’, i.e. the benefits that Swedish exports have over comparable products from other countries because they have a better climate footprint (such as more cli- mate-friendly steel, forest products and electricity). Sweden targets recycled raw materials As a result, Sweden will also be setting totally new standards in its circular economy. Information about the materials used, product cycles, regional structures, transport routes and environmental technologies are all important for the country to free itself of the “grey” imported products and their high emissions. Which is why it is targeting the delivery and pro- curement of raw materials. Besides introducing sus- tainability labels and product passports, its plans will mean the country will have to focus more and more on supplying itself with recycled raw materials. At the end of the day, Sweden is a big importer of goods. Around 60% of its greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the so-called “grey emissions” that were generated abroad. WHAT ARE GREY EMISSIONS? Greenhouse gas emissions are normally attributed to the country in which they are generated. This so-called territorial principle, therefore, also applies to the emissions of products that are to be exported to other countries. Countries with a high trade sur- plus, such as China, understandably feel disadvantaged by this. It makes sense, therefore, to consider the emission footprint of the imported products according to where they are consumed. It certainly makes a huge difference if greenhouse gas emissions are calculated according to the territorial principle or according to where they are consumed. G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 5 4 _ 4 4

G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 7 4 _ 6 4 Better collections & more technology According to the plan, households should have two further bins from 2024 onwards so that more waste can be sorted. Besides the separate bins that they already have for re- sidual waste, paper, plastic & glass packaging, old paper, and e-waste, households should also be provided with bins for their old tex- tiles and hazardous waste. The country already has 580 collection centres (Atervinningscentral / AVC) for large volumes of waste and 5,800 unmanned col- lection points (Atervinningsstation / AVS) for old paper and packaging. Measures will be undertaken to extend the AVS network so that, by 2025, the system can be found in more residential areas and closer to local res- idents. The costs for doing this should not be covered by the councils but by the manufacturers by expanding ‘producer responsibility’. At the same time, Sweden is specifically supporting start-ups in the circular economy. The ‘Cirkulära Affärsmodeller’ pro- gramme initiated by Tillväxtverket, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, not only offers seminars and workshops but also grants amounting to 58,000 euros to facil- itate the purchase of technical systems for innovative circular business models. A perfect match While people in Germany are green with envy at the political course Sweden’s government is taking to support the recycling sector, they, in turn, can provide help with their mature and well-engineered recycling infrastructure. State-of-the-art re- cycling technologies, closed material cycles and systems to recover raw materials from waste – leading recycling com- panies in Germany know all about the variety of collection, logistics and recycling options that are available for practically all kinds of material streams. And so it stands to reason that REMONDIS primarily sees the Swedish market as an op- portunity to set new standards within the circular economy. Its recent takeover of approx. 21 busi- ness locations in the south west and north east of the country happened just at the right time – en- abling it to accompany and actively support the country on its path towards becoming net zero. REMONDIS IN SWEDEN The business locations that REMONDIS recently acquired in Sweden and that had been run by its competitor Veolia for four years originally belonged to the Hans Andersson company – a Swedish family-run recycling business steeped in tradition. The firm was founded by the brothers Herbert and Norbert Andersson in 1948 and primarily specialises in handling industrial waste. Veolia acquired the whole of the Hans Andersson Recycling Group AB on 01 September 2017. In 2022, REMONDIS then took over 21 business locations from the Group’s recycling division and 13 business locations from its industrial services division which were integrated into XERVON. REMONDIS now has a strong and experienced base in Sweden with its 400 new colleagues and fleet of over 530 vehicles. Being itself a family-run business, REMONDIS will be doing everything in its power to unite the Swedish and German cultures in the best possible way and to transfer the country’s progressive sustain- ability strategy into the circular economy.

4 8 _ 4 9 R E : V I E W S D E V E L O P M E N T R E C Y C L I N G E V E R A N D E V E R F O R

1 Arrival at our facility 2 Inspection of incoming material 5 Organisation and documentation 3 Transport to storage area 4 Disposal of the waste Out of sight, out of mind? Absolutely not! In line with the company’s stringent safety standards, all waste (1) that is delivered to our storage facilities – be it liquid, solid or dusty – is first checked. Besides ensuring that all papers and documentation are com- plete and correct, we also examine the pack- aging very carefully. A control sample is taken and stored before the waste is placed below ground. (2) The residual materials are then transported several hundred metres be- low the ground via a hoisting shaft. Special vehicles located under the ground then take the materials to their storage place which is often several kilometres from the shaft. Different types of materials are stored in dif- ferent areas for safety reasons. (3) Once it has reached its destination, the waste is stacked in storage chambers. A multi-barrier system is used to deposit the waste: when a storage chamber has been filled, it is sealed off with walls or salt barriers. (4) The volume and the nature of the waste, the area and the time it was deposited in are all documented. Fur- thermore, a control sample is stored in the sample archive below ground. It is, therefore, possible to see what substances are stored where at all times. (5) G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 1 5 _ 0 5

5 2 _ 5 3 S o u r c e : S C F r e i b u r g R E : V I E W S D E V E L O P M E N T R E C Y C L I N G A P E R F O R

Source: SC Freiburg T H E E U R O PA - PA R K S TA D I U M C A N H O L D 3 4 , 7 0 0 FA N S And the twelfth man is also all the external partners who deliver their services to make sure the match is able to be held in the first place. Setting new standards: the Dreisam Stadium When the Europa-Park Stadium was used for a Bundesliga match for the first time in October 2021 (it ended in a 1:1 draw against Leipzig), it also meant an era was coming to an end: the era of the Dreisam Stadium. Since then, the Dreisam Stadium has been used to host the home matches of SC Frei- burg’s 2nd eleven men’s team and its women’s team. Built in 1953, this stadium has been setting ex- ceptional standards in one area in particular: Freiburg’s ‘old’ home ground has always had sustainabil- ity high up on its list of priorities. It is hardly surprising, for ex- ample, that solar energy plays such an important role in a town that has so many hours of sunshine a year. Which is why, when the new south stand was built at the Drei- sam Stadium back in 1995, solar panels were also installed on the roof – the first ever on the roof of a Bundesliga club. When Germany held the World Cup in 2006 and football fever gripped the country, the Dreisam Stadium was the first fully solar powered stadium in Ger- many. A place where many people come together is also a place where people can get things moving. And so, with the club launching a whole number of activities to ensure re- sources are handled responsibly, it was not just the football fans who liked the stadium but climate cam- paigners as well. Just two examples here are the waterless urinals and the water-saving taps that were installed in 1996. The solar panels have also been continuously ex- tended and are now on the roofs of the other stands as well. Other sustainable measures on the list in- clude building a combined heat and power station and a deep well so the club can access its own supply of water for watering its grounds. The Dreisam Stadium is, there- fore, a tough act to follow. “Han- dling resources responsibly and using them sparingly are funda- mental principles that are at the very core of SC Freiburg’s iden- tity. And this is what we wanted to see reflected in a variety of ar- eas in our new Europa-Park Sta- dium,” explained Marcel Boyé, head of SC Freiburg’s organisation G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 5 5 _ 4 5

“Handling resources responsibly and using them sparingly are fun- damental principles that are at the very core of SC Freiburg’s iden- tity. And this is what we wanted to see reflected in a variety of areas in our new Europa-Park Stadium.” Marcel Boyé, Head of SC Freiburg’s Organisation and Stadium Department Badenova, for example, has been the club’s energy and environmental partner for over 20 years now. Based in Freiburg, it is the biggest energy provider in the Südbaden region and has set up a number of sustain- able projects with SC Freiburg over the years. Badenova is also there helping the club to set up solar, digital and e-mobility systems at the new stadium. Let us take a look at e-mobility, such an important sub- ject for the future: Badenova and its network subsidiary bnNETZE is currently equipping the Europa-Park Stadium with the necessary infrastructure to cover the growing demand for e-mobility. Ten 22kW charging points are to be installed on the visitors car park to begin with. Further charging points can be added at any time should demand for this service grow. A tree for every goal scored A further example of the productive collab- oration with Badenova is their tree-planting campaign: since the 2013/14 season, the en- ergy provider has planted a tree in the region every time the club scores a goal. A plaque is also placed next to the tree informing G N I L C Y C E R T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 7 5 _ 6 5 passers-by about the campaign and the name of the goal scorer. Goals for more sustain- ability, so to speak, and proof that football and climate action can be a successful duo. initiated with Another project was Badenova at the beginning of the 2021/22 season: seven “talking bins” – made from recycled material – were set up around the Europa-Park Stadium. The distinctive voice of Claus Köhn, the stadium announcer, can be heard whenever waste is thrown into one of these blue bins. Well-known German say- ings similar to “Well done! You hit the back of the net!” can be heard – a bit of light hu- mour to encourage fans to use the bins rather than drop litter onto the ground. The elec- tricity needed to do this is provided by the solar modules integrated into the bins. They will continue to be used during the coming 2022/23 season to make visitors more aware of environmental issues and keep the access routes free of litter. While the talking bins can certainly help promote sustainability, it would be bet- ter for the environment if the volumes of The new Europa-Park Stadium will have one of the world’s largest solar roofs ever to be built on a football stadium.

S E C I V R E S L A I R T S U D N I T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 9 5 _ 8 5 FULL (WIND)SPEED AHEAD Onshore and offshore wind turbines already make a big contribution towards the produc- tion of electricity in Germany. The Green Deal and the efforts required to become climate neutral, however, have created some major challenges for the wind energy sector as well. More than ever before, wind farm operators are being called on to deliver as secure a supply as possible – at cost-effective conditions. Now bear in mind that Germany currently has around 31,100 wind turbines. More than 30,000 turbines that, as a general rule, are designed to run for a period of 20 years. A long time, during which technical progress continues to be made. At the same time, wind turbines gradually become less productive as they age – a consequence of wear and tear and an increased need for repairs. The magic words here are servicing and maintenance. Wind farm operators that ensure their turbines are maintained regularly and equipped with the latest technology will be rewarded with a more efficient and more sustainable business.

S E C I V R E S L A I R T S U D N I T N E M P O L E V E D RE:VIEWS: XERVON Wind has been around for just six months. Is it really possible to talk about successes after such a short period of time? Maik Schlapmann: For sure. It’s been full speed ahead for us right from the start. We had the company up and running in no time at all and our staff were out and about over the following months. Our first projects came in just a few days after we officially opened our doors – projects that included working at offshore wind farms in the North Sea as well as servicing onshore wind turbines. At the same time, we had our sights on the coming year and began preparing for 2022 – some- thing that has further strengthened our cur- rent position. RE:VIEWS: And what exactly were these preparations? S W E I V : E R Tobias Wilming: For example, building up a qualified team of experienced service engin- eers. XERVON Wind began with a small number of skilled operatives and we were able to steadily grow our workforce through- out the second half of last year. Our compa- ny had 70 employees by the end of 2021. We could have taken on more staff but we just didn’t have the space. We’ve now found a new There are over 31,100 wind turbines currently oper- ating in Germany; unlike fossil fuels, such as crude oil and coal, there is an endless supply of wind. business premises in Lingen. We moved there at the beginning of this year and now have the capacities to further grow our business. RE:VIEWS: Was there one project in 2021 that you would describe as being a key milestone? Maik Schlapmann: XERVON Wind succeed- ed in being accredited by two of the largest wind turbine manufacturers within just five months. That was a great achievement on our part – especially the tight time frame. Such accreditations normally last much longer as the manufacturers are very exacting. Tobias Wilming: The certification process in- volves stringent requirements and a heavy workload. You need to provide proof of your employees’ various qualifications, a quality management system has to be put in place and much, much more. It is extraordin- ary that we managed to do all the work so quickly. It was a team effort and something we can be very proud of. RE:VIEWS: You have to compete with others and are still building up your business. And you must prove yourselves at the same time. What’s the best way to do this? M A I K S C H L A P M A N N , M A N A G I N G D I R E C T O R T O B I A S W I L M I N G , M A N A G I N G D I R E C T O R 1 6 _ 0 6

6 2 _ 6 3 R E : V I E W S D E V E L O P M E N T P U B L I C S E R V I C E S Digitisation has now made it possible to plan cleaning measures and the deployment of resources and personnel effectively.

Things are different nowadays: digitisa- tion has made it possible to plan cleaning measures and the deployment of resources and personnel effectively. Over the last few years, this has been used in the field in many different ways. Other approaches are still in their infancy. One activity that is of key im- portance here is gathering data. Clean street apps Smartphone apps such as “Düsseldorf blei- bt sauber” [Keeping Düsseldorf clean] and “Stadtreinigung Hamburg” [Hamburg street cleaning] make it possible for local residents to report waste issues. Looking at the re- views on Google Play Store and Apple, it is clear what the locals use this app for. Be it a shopping trolley in the Düssel River, bulky waste left on the street or construction waste dumped next to a bottle bank. Whenever local residents get frustrated about street clean- ing issues, they can pass on their complaint – with a photo of the problem and the GPS coordinates of the offending spot – without having to wait in line. S E C I V R E S C I L B U P T N E M P O L E V E D Digitisation & waste management While sectors such as commerce and logis- tics used digitisation a few years back to effectively reinvent themselves, the waste management sector has been using network- ing and big data to integrate established pro- cesses and then to improve them with data management. It is not new supply chains that are changing the industry, therefore, but new concepts for delivering the services that should win over public and private sector cli- ents and promote competition. Thanks to the progress made in data standardisation, fields that belong together can finally be united. This is particularly true for transport logistics and route planning: integrated data management simplifies pro- cesses, makes it easier to plan staff schedules and grows efficiency. Smartphone apps such as “Düsseldorf bleibt sauber” and “Stadtreinigung Hamburg” make it possible for local residents to report waste issues. S W E I V : E R Other areas of waste management, though, also benefit from digitisation, such as keeping cities clean. Bernd Bienzeisler from the Fraunhofer Research and Innova- tion Center for Cognitive Service Systems describes prediction-based services as a key innovation. The advantage of such systems over previ- ous processes is obvious: reactive city clean- ing services have always meant going out after the employees or local residents have noticed that an area is particularly dirty. As far as everyone is concerned, this point is always too late. A proactive approach – i.e. cleaning everywhere very often so that no- where can get really dirty – was simply not an option for many city authorities because of the high costs involved. 5 6 _ 4 6

such solutions: Thiele pointed out the other bene- fits of “Needsbased route planning makes sense if it can grow efficiency and positively impact on a city’s climate footprint. Kerbside col- lections of household waste in towns, for example, will continue to use fixed routes simply because of the costs involved. It makes little sense to install a fill level sensor in a household’s 120-litre wheelie bin.” The main argument here is that, with the build- ings being so close to one another, there is a large number of bins next to each other and it would, for the most part, cost more to send the trucks out to collect individual bins than empty bins that are half full. Collections rather than collection points Cities often use central collection points for recyclables – such as local recycling points or recycling banks – and these play an import- ant role. Digitisation is setting the course for their future use as well. . t n i r p t o o f e t a m i l c s ’ y t i c a n o t c a p m i y l e v i t i s o p d n a y c n e i c i f f e w o r g n a c t i f i e s n e s s e k a m g n i n n a l p e t u o r d e s a b - s d e e N Dr Felix Thiele, Managing Director of REMONDIS Digital Services According to Bernd Bienzeisler, examples from other European countries show that much more is possible when it comes to re- cording data about public spaces – such as using mobile phone data from passers-by or measuring how often bins are used. Ger- many’s data protection laws are very strict here, however, and these must be taken into account when developing applications. Fill level sensors & effective route planning Overflowing bins are certainly one of the big- gest problems when it comes to keeping cit- ies clean. Experience has shown that people are more likely to drop litter or discard their rubbish if an area is already dirty. “It already looks so bad, so my rubbish won’t make any difference,” some people would appear to think as they add their old television to the discarded bottles next to the bottle bank. There are other software solutions besides Cortexia and Datafleet that can help detect such problems and ensure bins are emp- tied. Just one example: fill level sensors. The information passed on by the sensors – via applications such as REMONDIS’ Binity – are used by the scheduling departments to plan the bin collection routes. Instead of travelling the same schedule every week, the routes are planned according to need: on the one hand, this prevents unnecessary journeys and, on the other, allows the vehicles to get to the hotspots at short no- tice. S E C I V R E S C I L B U P T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 7 6 _ 6 6

WHERE WATER IS A HUGE EFFORT Hopes are being pinned on processes that systematic- ally recover wastewater as a means to counteract the shortage of water in India R E T A W T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 9 6 _ 8 6

R E T A W T N E M P O L E V E D Wastewater treatment is rare The situation is no better with the wastewater: 62 bil- lion litres of wastewater are generated in the coun- try’s towns and cities every day and just one-third of this is treated. Across the whole of India, there are 615 operational sewage treatment plants with a capacity to treat 24 billion litres. For the most part, the plants only have mechanical treatment systems. The quality of the drinking water also suffers because wastewater is discharged into the ground, rivers and lakes. Mum- bai is the only city that fulfils all the statutory require- ments. According to an investigation carried out by the Bureau of Indian Standards, other large cities, such as Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, were not able to meet up to ten of the eleven criteria. Recycling is growing in importance With their supplies of drinking water dwindling, Indian councils are turning more and more to waste- water recycling. The country’s capital city, New Delhi, has 36 plants that generate 1.6 million cubic metres of process water every day. Mumbai intends to have built processing facilities with a daily capacity of 1.8 mil- lion cubic metres by 2025. And one particular system is becoming increasingly important for industry: zero liquid discharge, which, as the name suggests, creates a wastewater-free production cycle. S W E I V : E R Many German companies have, therefore, made their way to India with their technologies and product solu- tions to support the country in its efforts to improve its water supply and wastewater treatment systems. For many years now, Dr Keno Strömer, managing di- rector of REMONDIS Aqua India, has been looking into India’s vanishing water supplies – also from a scientific point of view. He is convinced that “modern wastewater management, including ZLD, will play a decisive role in overcoming the water crisis that so many regions around the world are facing.” “ Modern wastewater management, including ZLD, will play a decisive role in overcoming the water crisis that so many regions around the world are facing.” Dr Keno Strömer, Managing Director of REMONDIS Aqua India consumption in the industrial sector 5% consumption in private households 6% 634 bn m³ overall consumption W AT E R D E M A N D 89% consumption in the agricultural sector 1 7 _ 0 7

Y T I L I B I S N O P S E R & E L P O E P T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 3 7 _ 2 7 Waste management – a part of the Critical Infrastructure

The kerbside collection of household waste was not added to the list of Critical Infrastructure sectors until 2021 when it was listed in the IT Security Act 2.0. While the central and state governments have always con- sidered water supply and wastewater treatment to be a part of the Critical Infrastructure, the ‘kerbside collection of household waste’ was not added to the list of Critical Infrastructure sectors until 2021 when it was listed in the IT Security Act 2.0. Indeed, this addition was so new that industry representatives had to re- mind the Federal Government’s Covid Committee of the fact at the end of 2021 after it omitted the sector in its recommenda- tions. Over the last two years, the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to, for example, our healthcare systems and global supply chains have made it very clear how the lives of local residents are not hanging by one thread but by a whole host of threads that are not as strong as we had assumed back when life was ‘normal’. A look in the rear view mirror In reality, though, the Critical Infrastructure has been around for much longer than the actual term. Over the centuries, tech- nical progress, the ever-developing division of labour, urbanisa- tion and population growth have all made us dependent on our fellow human beings. It is virtually impossible for someone to survive on their own – especially with the quality of life we have become accustomed to. But how reliable are our neighbours? For years now, the doubt in people’s minds has led to some com- mon practices such as stockpiling goods. External factors can also put us at risk. This can be seen simply by looking back at the past. At the same time, it explains why waste management and waste- water treatment are central components of the Critical Infrastructure. Recycling rather than disposal It is not possible to determine exactly when humans began to systematically collect and, for the most part, landfill waste mater- ials. There is a simple reason for this: it was standard for communities that had a short- age of materials to repair and reuse prac- tically everything they had – be it wood, bone, glass, metal or animal skins. In the past, tinkers and cobblers mended utensils that were worn out and could no longer be used. Ragmen, who were also organised into a guild like other tradespeople, paid a fee so that they could systematically look through household waste to find valuable materials. Animal bone was boiled to make glue. Urine was collected and used to process leather. Even faeces were collected in the Middle Ages and sold as a fertiliser or fuel. “Turn- ing s**t into gold” really was possible back in the Middle Ages. Y T I L I B I S N O P S E R & E L P O E P T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 5 7 _ 4 7

Y T I L I B I S N O P S E R & E L P O E P T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 7 7 _ 6 7 Hygiene as a principle People gradually began to realise that waste was not harmless but could contaminate the air, water and soil and create a major health risk for the city dwellers. This was first ex- pressed in the so-called miasma theory of the 17th and 18th centuries, which suspected that there was a connection between the two. As people had no proof of this, however, they primarily focused on outer appearances. It was simply assumed that if something smelt bad or looked dirty then it was not good for humans. The invisible elements, i.e. bacteria and viruses, and their effect on humans did not come to the fore until the field of bacteri- ology emerged. The whole idea and the im- portance of hygiene grew quickly after the beginning of the 19th Century. And now it is clear that waste is dangerous and must be handled with care. The development that this triggered, though, was highly problematic to begin with. The previous recycling infrastructure and its representatives, the relevant profes- sions, had completely disappeared by the end of the 19th Century. The volumes of waste being generated in the 20th Century were growing at a very rapid rate and the new structures being set up were unable to keep up with this development. By the end of the 19th Century, it had become a standard task for local authorities to remove waste from their towns. But what should they do with it then? The first signs of a circular economy could be seen in Germany after the Second World War when the country enjoyed rapid economic growth, the so-called ‘Wirtschaftswunder’, and there was a surge in the volumes of waste. Heated arguments were exchanged about this problem during the first three decades of the 20th Century. Those who supported the reuse of the materials considered land- filling and incineration to be an ‘environ- mental outrage’. Individual efforts – such as Munich’s attempt at the turn of the century to sort household waste after it had been col- lected so materials could be reused or Kiel’s bid to process human waste into fertiliser – failed in the end for financial reasons and hy- giene concerns. Hygiene is the main reason why the people on the other side of the argument were in favour of incineration as this process enables the materials to be completely destroyed. However, the incineration systems used at the time – or at least those used in Germany – did not function very well as there was not enough combustible material in the waste, particularly during the war years. In the end, the decision was made for landfilling, some- thing neither side really wanted. With there being no system organising the way the ma- terials were landfilled, this development had a huge impact on the local environments. The first signs of a circular economy could be seen in Germany after the Second World War when the country enjoyed rapid eco- nomic growth, the so-called ‘Wirtschafts- wunder’, and there was a surge in the vol- umes of waste. Not until the 1960s, when the emergency could no longer be hidden and landfills were filling up faster than new space could be found, were the first steps taken to systematically collect and process waste – the recycling sector had begun. Looking back over the centuries, neither waste man- agement nor wastewater treatment began simply as a matter of course. They were a re- sponse to the essential necessities of human beings living on a highly developed, densely populated planet characterised by division of labour. They fulfil tasks, without which life – and in particular urban life – would sim- ply not be possible. And they require many different players and processes that must be able to interact with each other sensibly and smoothly so that they can function properly.

I S N O P S E R , I E L P O E P & H M ’ I Julia Hadrossek has been managing REMONDIS’ branch in Coesfeld since 2016. She is also co- managing director of a local joint venture and, since 2020, of REMONDIS Münsterland. We took a closer look at Julia’s career and leadership style, which is based on transparency, respect and trust – and is proving to be very successful. Fortunately, they couldn’t. And the then 29-year-old obviously hit the right tone. Clear, firm, likeable and, as always, with a smile. She came across really well. Y T I L I B T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R A I L U J Even if she becomes thought- ful for a moment: “Looking back, I must say that after having got my Master’s, I would have liked to take two or three months … – but I did get a week’s skiing in. And then everything got under way,” the now 35-year-old said laughing. She’s obviously very happy with the way her career has gone to date. She began at REMONDIS West in Bochum as a trainee. ‘Born and bred’ in Dortmund, her first job was just a short commute: “I was pretty lucky when I joined REMONDIS. My boss back then, Jürgen Mau- the, who also hired me, took me to every branch manager meeting right from the start. That meant that, even as a trainee, I was able to really get to know the business and meet the decision-makers in the company during my first year.” Just as she had done three years previously. In December 2012, having just handed in her Mas- ter’s dissertation to the University of Hamburg, Julia was celebrating Christmas with her family in Dort- mund – and wanted to take a break having spent the last five years studying economics in Düsseldorf and Hamburg and done two long internships at Kühne und Nagel and RWE Power. Things turned out differently though. Julia Zierow, as she was called back then, had not antici- pated her future employer reacting quite so quickly: “I sent an unsoli- cited application to REMONDIS at the beginning of February 2013, had an interview on the 19th and started my job on 1st March.” She still remembers the exact dates. Well-structured processes with positive results are simply her thing. R ight from the very first day she began her job as branch manager, she has been on first-name terms with her team. “Hi, I’m Julia” was the way she introduced her- self at the first works council staff meeting. Much to the irritation of some of the other long-serving managers. And who knows: had they known she was going to be so informal, maybe they would have taken the young lady to one side and advised her to keep a greater distance between herself and her staff. ➔ 9 7 _ 8 7

Qualifications At the moment, she is one of a small group of women with such a position within the REMONDIS Group. “But things are changing,” she pointed out. She likes being one of the first. Julia Hadrossek really en- joys leading the way and wishes to improve whatever situation she finds in front of her. sickness absence rate of below 5% is very low for the industry and remained so even during the Covid pan- demic. “I have a super team behind me and they all pull to- gether,” Julia Hadrossek said beaming. And her word- ing sums up the situation perfectly: “It goes without saying that I like to be there right out in front trying out new things, checking out new segments we’ve not worked in before and introducing innovations into the business.” ➔ Her staff see her as being “ambitious” as one of them said. People trying to keep up with her certainly need to have plenty of stamina. Julia Hadrossek not only works quickly, she is also quick-witted – both in meetings and on the tennis court. And she is always heedful of those she is facing in both environments: “I’m always open to begin with and try to commu- nicate with everyone on an equal footing. I hold them all in high esteem, of course – whether they drive a digger or lead the district authority.” And this was the attitude she had when she first stood in front of her team of staff and had to introduce herself. She knew instinctively: “Respect has nothing to do whether you address someone formally or call them by their first name.” Leadership In 2016, Julia Hadrossek – just 30 years old – joined a small group of staff who had been selected to take part in the company’s so-called ‘management tour’. Regional managing directors and other top manag- ers within the Group put forward the names of the second-tier managers they would like to see partici- pating. This ‘tour’ involves them taking part in further training courses and seminars that focus on the role of managers, on developing soft skills and on working with politicians and local authorities. And, of course, it’s all about networking among each other. Still a young manager, Julia knows: “No one is a perfect manager. Which is why further training courses are so important. I play tennis and I would even say that I play well. I still take part in training sessions though.” Y T I L I B I S N O P S E R & E L P O E P T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 1 8 _ 0 8 Asked whether the cliché that the recycling sector is a man’s world is still true, she answered immediate- ly: “Absolutely!” She seems to see this as a challenge though and is always asking herself: “What does our company look like to others, our public image? How do women see us?” She finds it a shame that more women don’t apply for the vacancies across the Group. Having said that, though, her attitude is always the same when it comes to hiring new staff: “I’m still a fan of selecting people according to their qualifications. We shouldn’t take on staff to meet a specific quota.” She is banking on the situation changing bit by bit and is very optimistic: “I had a really young team when I started six years ago. They accepted me really quickly as their boss even though I was the same age. What I have learned from my time back then is that hetero- geneous teams with different cultures and sexes work best.” Why? “Perhaps it is simply because women ap- proach some things a little differently: their prob- lem-solving skills and their analytical way of thinking and sometimes they have a little bit more empathy.” Respect She was somewhat apprehensive about her first meeting with the works council in Coesfeld in 2016. But she approached it as she has done many other situ- ations – consulting with others and then building up trust with dialogue and transparency. Over the years, she regularly joined the Coesfeld drivers and their team on the lorries to get to know them better as well as to be able to study the processes in more detail. Her understanding of the work, attitude, safety awareness and the atmosphere among the staff have all proven her right – and the numbers speak for her as well. Apart from one small outlier, the branch’s

This is helped along by projects that Julia and her team carry out alongside their day-to-day work – projects that demand a great deal of them. At the end of 2020, for example, when REMONDIS was once again awarded the contract to collect light sales packaging via re- cycling bins and recycling sacks in the neighbouring district of Stein- furt. This work, however, should no longer by carried out by sub- contractors but by the firm itself. Within just a few months, 20 new employees had to be found and shown how to do the work and a completely new business location had to be set up in Ibbenbüren. There were also lots of laws and regulations involved when the joint venture Kreye was fully integrated into Theißen Entsorgung, where Julia Hadrossek is a co-managing director. The skip hire business Kreye joined the Group as a share deal via the Theißen joint venture in which REMONDIS West Region owns a 74.5% share. Julia is in charge of strategic matters here and travels to Rhede once a week to visit the company. Numbers over because, she stresses: “We are a Group that is certainly shaped by numbers, data and facts.” As the business figures are accounted for every single day at REMONDIS, the branch manager examines the previous day’s statistics on a daily basis and looks at the input and output materials. “This is more just to keep an eye on things nowadays. I have hand- ed over tasks and responsibilities to my deputy as I have so many new projects now. This allows me to focus more on strategic matters: collaborating with the local and district authorities, tackling the challenges of energy supply and al- ternative fuels.” Motivation It is such projects that Julia par- ticularly enjoys doing. Thinking outside the box, making the most of internal and external networks, driving forward innovations. “At the end of the day, being successful Y T I L I B I S N O P S E R & E L P O E P T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 3 8 _ 2 8 Normally, though, she leaves her home in Dortmund at 7am to trav- el the 85 kilometres to Coesfeld so that she is at work by 8am. Then it’s a question of reading through her emails, checking in with the scheduling department to find out if there are any staff absences and then spending a bit of time at her computer before walking round the site. “I think my work is a healthy mixture of operational and stra- tegic tasks.” Every second or third day, she takes a look at the turn- Working together with the then assistant to the managing direct- or and now authorised signatory at REMONDIS Münsterland, she managed the project from the top. She did everything, including get- ting the necessary waste manage- ment permits which – as experts working in regulatory affairs know – are not easy to get from the city and district authorities. “Everything went smoothly,” she commented modestly. ➔ Corresponding with the author- ities is a hobby horse of Julia which made the task easier, although she admits that this work used to be “really uncertain terrain” for her in the past. “I really loved getting stuck into the Federal Emissions Law and all the other ordinances. Who knows perhaps I would study law today,” she says with a smile on her face. “At the end of the day, being successful is also really mo- tivating. If we reach our goals or even exceed them, then that gives us that vital momentum.”

8 4 _ 8 5 R E : V I E W S R E : V I E W S D E V E L O P M E N T P E O P L E & R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y B E C O M E S A T H R E A T T O L I F E W H E N R O U T I N E

One of the first questions that learner drivers are asked in Germany is: “Why must you stop before turning right?” The answer is simple: because there may be a pedestrian or cyclist in their blind spot. This is a small but so important area at the side of a vehi- cle that is difficult for a driver to see des- pite their mirrors and cameras. According to the BMDV [Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport], there were around 9,906 right turn accidents in 2019 that left people injured. The main reason for these: the blind spot. Blind spots are a permanent risk – es- pecially for HGV drivers who, sitting high up in their cabs, are unable to see everything happening around them. Technical solutions need to be brought in to reduce the risk of right turn accidents. Regulation (EU) 2019/2144, for example, stipulates that all new EU type approvals for buses and lorries must be equipped with a blind spot assist system from 06 July 2022 onwards; the same will apply to all newly registered vehicles in the EU after 07 July 2024. As far as the technology is concerned, this means that a driver will hear an aud- ible warning if a person is next to their vehicle in their blind spot. The driver can brake and prevent a collision. The UDV [German Insurers Accident Research] has calculated that the use of blind spot assist systems could reduce right turn accidents by 60%. That is certainly a good start. Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 stipulates that all new EU type approvals for buses and lorries must be equipped with a blind spot assist system from 06 July 2022 onwards; the same will apply to all newly registered vehicles in the EU after 07 July 2024. Routine is a driver’s enemy No matter how much the technical devices have been improved over the years, how- ever, it is still people sitting behind the wheel. People who drive their lorries from A to B every single day. And, in the best case scen- ario, do this safely. It is not enough for them to rely on their technical aids and on them working properly. There is something else: the right-hand-turn blind spot is just one of many risks. Other common causes of lorry accidents include driving too fast, not leav- ing enough space to the vehicle in front and, the number one reason, the driver being dis- tracted. Every HGV driver learns about the necessary tools of their trade when they do their apprenticeship: How do you drive a lor- ry and what are the everyday tasks? Over the years, though, driving their vehicle becomes routine: I’ll just grab my mobile to swap songs. I’ll just take a bite of my sandwich to stop my stomach grumbling. “I’ll just” can quickly be their undoing. These seemingly routine actions can distract them from what is important – namely keeping their eyes on the road and on the other road users. 60% of right turn accidents could be avoided by using blind spot assist systems Y T I L I B I S N O P S E R & E L P O E P T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 7 8 _ 6 8

RECADEMY Drive goes live A first step has already been taken in this direction: drivers can now learn more about specific subjects by taking part in online courses, so-called e-learning. This e-learning offering is gradually being set up and uploaded onto the company’s RECADEMY platform. The individual courses are interactive, examine real driving situations and use questions and images to get the participants actively involved. This is, therefore, a very vivid way to teach, refresh and consolidate knowledge. Online courses proved to be a particularly useful addition to in-person courses during the Covid-19 pandemic. The first online driver safety awareness course went live in February 2022. This takes a detailed look at the dangers of driving too close to the vehicle in front, of driving too fast and of being distracted behind the wheel. Paul Fikus and Alexander Bartz use real stories in these courses and deliberately make them emotional: “No family should be torn apart because of a driver glancing at their mobile.” What is clear at the end of the course is that drivers who drive attentively and considerately also drive more safely. This, though, is just the beginning: further e-learn- ing courses are already being planned. The second course will present the fundamentals of the digital tachograph. An important subject – at the end of the day, adhering to the driving times and breaks avoids fines and prevents accidents being caused by over- speeding or tiredness. Drivers can now learn more about specific subjects by taking part in online courses, so-called e-learning. It is also possible that courses will be developed in the future to teach the drivers, step by step, about how their lorries are designed, especially when new generations of vehicles are launched onto the mar- ket: How are they different to the previous gener- ations? How has the cockpit been designed? What is the best way to secure the goods I’m transporting? Eco-driving, first responder skills, fire protection – there really is no end to the list of possible course subjects. And these online courses can also be used to gradually train new employees and make them aware of possible risks. Finding new drivers is certainly a big subject in the industry. “Generally, you can say that there is a serious shortage of HGV drivers in Germany across all fields of logistics,” said Paul Fikus describing the current situation. “What’s more, demographic change will lead to a large number of drivers leav- ing us over the next few years. This means vacancies that will have to be filled and new drivers that will need additional training.” This is where the online courses will come into play as they can be accessed anywhere and at any time, are concise and pass on facts in an entertaining way. Y T I L I B I S N O P S E R & E L P O E P T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 9 8 _ 8 8

IT’LL ALL BE BETTER! To d a y s c i e n c e f i c t i o n – t o m o r r o w a r e a l i t y ? J u s t f o r a c h a n g e , a n o p t i m i s t i c l o o k a t t h e f u t u r e o f s u s t a i n a b i l i t y. E R U T U F E H T T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 1 9 _ 0 9

2052 2056 2052 The world’s last ever vehicle with an internal combustion engine – a still function- al Mercedes T model built in 1984 and used by Taxi Zielowski in the north of the Ruhr region – is ceremoniously withdrawn from service as there are no more petrol stations left where it can fill up its tank. Thanks to further developments made to the glass bat- tery invented by Nobel Prize winner John Goodenough, the batteries installed in all sizes of cars and commercial vehicles can now be recharged within a few seconds. Their range exceeded the 1,000km mark back in the 2030s. In the world’s more re- mote regions, where a comprehensive supply of renewable electricity is not yet available, buses, trains and other forms of transport are run on hydrogen. For the most part, this fuel is being supplied by the former OPEC states, which moved into this business after the world completely gave up using oil. The people working in Buchen’s control centre for automated industrial cleaning ser- vices are celebrating the launch of their new generation of jet washers. With the help of Robbie Clean, an android with exception- al cognitive abilities (but with a humour that takes getting used to), the employees can now steer the free flying jet cleaners to clean the furthest corners of industrial plants no matter how hard they are to reach. It goes without saying that the opera- tives have not needed to climb into the tanks wearing full PPE and hazmat suits for a long while now. Buchen began deploying its auto- mated BTS jet washer and their robot colleague as an android for the rough work all the way back in 2022. In the meantime, XERVON’s colleagues are taking it easy with a cup of fair trade coffee. For a long while now, their condition monitoring system – first successfully estab- lished in the 2020s – has made it possible to permanently monitor a system’s condition using fully automated sensor systems. The time-consuming task of having to dismantle machines and check their condition by hand is a thing of the past. The highlight here are the digital twins that are available for every facility. It is simply a statement of fact that work can be carried out more efficiently and more cleanly in cyberspace. 2056 Back in the 2020s, Transdev began retro- fitting its public transport and regional ve- hicles on a grand scale so that it could deliver a zero emission service. Its pioneering po- sition back then is now paying off with the company now transporting humans around the world without a single gram of CO2 being emitted. E R U T U F E H T T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 3 9 _ 2 9 REMONDIS and Rhenus have been de- ploying clean fuels across the whole of their logistics business to transport recycled raw materials and other goods for three decades now. Drones are even being used in large cities in 2052 to collect recyclables – a fully automatic, fully electric and, for the most part, completely quiet service.

2074 The last material life cycle has been closed. From now on, everything that humans pro- duce is made exclusively of recycled raw ma- terials or is fully recyclable. It was a long trek from the first calls for a comprehensive Ecodesign Directive – that also took raw material efficiency into account – to the very first “No Waste Day”. REMONDIS had begun calling for the in- troduction of a recycling label that lets con- sumers see how sustainably products were made and how well they could be recycled all the way back in 2018. As soon as this label was launched around the world, an ever greater number of prod- ucts that were bad for the environment disap- peared from the market. Climate neutrality and resource conservation became the most important sales criteria across the globe. In the olden days, we had what was called “rubbish”, something that used to be “dis- posed of” – a word that has now disappeared from our vocabulary. We then had “waste” which was processed using complex sorting and separating systems so that the raw ma- terials could be recovered and recycled. And now finally we have pure recyclable materials that are collected by REMONDIS and imme- diately passed on to their industrial custom- ers as high purity materials. A perfect loop. 2074 At the same time that waste becomes a thing of the past, humans are making pro- gress cleaning the planet’s seas and oceans. Fully automated systems, developed and con- trolled by artificial intelligence, are cleaning up our oceans freeing them of the waste in- herited from the world’s industrial past. Once again, we can enjoy lying on clean beaches and jumping into clean water – whether it be in Bangladesh or Borkum. The last material life cycle has been closed. From now on, everything that humans produce is made exclusively of recycled raw materials or is fully recyclable. E R U T U F E H T T N E M P O L E V E D S W E I V : E R 5 9 _ 4 9

RE:VIEWS A MAGAZINE OF THE REMONDIS GROUP