Upcoming Trade Shows Frankfurt am Main, Germany for Environment & Waste

Frankfurt has set an example for other European cities in the environment and waste management industry for its innovations in sustainable waste management and recycling. The city’s waste strategy, which emphasizes reducing waste volumes and maximizing recycling, has yielded impressive results over the past two decades. The total volume of residual waste requiring disposal has nearly halved, thanks to the introduction of light packaging and biowaste bins and substantial investments in modern waste processing technologies. A cornerstone of Frankfurt's waste management success is its waste-to-energy power plant, which began operations in 1965. After a thorough upgrade between 2003 and 2009, costing around €300 million, the plant’s capacity increased to four waste lines. This facility now incinerates up to 525,000 tonnes of waste annually, generating significant amounts of electricity and heat. This upgrade has been pivotal in helping Frankfurt achieve its goal of a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020. Frankfurt has also been a pioneer in biowaste management, introducing city-wide biowaste bins as early as 1998. Currently, around 55,000 biowaste bins are in use, with the collected organic material processed at a biowaste treatment plant that started operations in 1999. The facility employs a combined fermentation and tunnel composting cycle to treat approximately 30,000 tonnes of organic waste annually, producing high-quality compost and generating over 2 million cubic meters of biogas. This biogas is then converted into approximately 3.4 million kWh of electricity and heat, contributing to the city's district heating network since 2012. But perhaps the most impressive addition to Frankfurt’s environment and waste management industry is its biomass power station in Fechenheim, which has been operational since 2004. This facility generates 12 MW of electrical output by burning waste wood, including contaminated wood, thanks to highly efficient flue gas purification processes.