Lobau composting plant
The Lobau composting plant in Vienna - Donaustadt is the largest composting facility for separately collected biogenic waste in Austria and - at least in 1993 - the largest such facility in Europe. Together with the Rinterzelt (waste treatment plant) and the Rautenweg landfill , it is one of three waste treatment plants in the Danube city.
Legal basis
On January 1, 1995, an ordinance issued by the Federal Minister for the Environment, Youth and Family came into force, according to which biogenic substances that are not recycled by the polluter must be made available for a separate collection or brought to a designated collection point. (BGBl. No. 68/1992 as amended by BGBl. No. 456/1994)
The Vienna Waste Management Act (Wr. AWG) (LGBl. No. 13/1994 as amended) provides for the material recovery of unavoidable waste,
- as far as this is ecologically advantageous and technically possible,
- the resulting additional costs compared to other waste treatment methods are not out of proportion and
- a market for the extracted substances exists or can be created.
Biogenic waste can be recycled materially or energetically, depending on its nature.
The provision and emptying of collection bins for separate collection, management of waste treatment facilities as well as the planning and construction of facilities for the recycling of recyclable materials, including composting, are tasks of MA 48 - waste management, street cleaning and vehicle fleet - according to the business division of the City of Vienna.
Since September 1, 2001, the Compost Ordinance (Federal Law Gazette II No. 292/2001) regulates the quality requirements for compost from waste, the type and origin of the raw materials, the labeling and the placing on the market as well as the end of the waste status of compost from waste. Three quality classes were defined, which were divided on the basis of requirements for raw materials and heavy metal content.
| Quality requirements for the end product in accordance with the Compost Ordinance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy metals | A + | A. | B. | |
| mg / kg DM | limit | limit | limit | Guideline |
| cadmium | 0.7 | 1 | 3 | |
| chrome | 70 | 70 | 250 | |
| mercury | 0.4 | 0.7 | 3 | |
| nickel | 25th | 60 | 100 | |
| lead | 45 | 120 | 200 | |
| copper | 70 | 150 | 500 | 400 |
| zinc | 200 | 500 | 1800 | 1200 |
The compost manufacturer has to have a quality control carried out by an external and authorized specialist or specialist institute at regular intervals. There is also an obligation to maintain a complete recording and documentation system.
history
As early as 1986, the City of Vienna began - starting from allotment gardens and settlement areas - to collect compostable waste separately from household waste by setting up so-called "bio bins" and to send it to separate recycling. This collection was continuously expanded over the entire city area. With the initially small amounts of biogenic waste, the first composting attempts were made in the Rinterzelt or on the Rautenweg landfill.
Increasing collection volumes made it necessary to set up a separate composting facility. The land required for this, with over 77,000 square meters, was leased from a private owner in accordance with the decision of the Vienna City Council on June 19, 1991 near the Lobau oil storage facility in the 22nd district in Vienna's Lobgrundstrasse.
Since May 16, 2002, the Lobau composting plant has been entitled to use the compost quality seal. This is awarded by the Austrian Compost Quality Association and is recognized by the Austrian Standardization Institute.
In 1993, the Schafflerhof composting plant was built on urban land in Schafflerhofstrasse. Today the Schafflerhof composting plant is used to store finished compost and to prepare raw materials for the production of garden and potting soil.
Furnishing
The Lobau composting plant has two paved heap areas, each around 26,000 square meters in size, underground collecting tanks for rain and seepage water (capacity around 1,300 cubic meters) and an open water basin. The water stored in these storage tanks is drained into the public sewer system. The water required for operation is obtained from its own utility water well.
There is also an operating building with a laboratory, a garage with its own workshop and a gas station on the grounds of the Lobau composting plant. A weighing device is available for checking the quantities delivered or transported away.
Recovery
Biogenic waste that is delivered by private individuals to the Viennese manure pit or brought into organic bins, from MA 42 - Vienna City Gardens and MA 49 - Forest Office and Agricultural Company of the City of Vienna or from other sources is used for recycling. Foliage that is swept in large quantities in autumn is separated according to its origin. If it comes from gardens or parks, it can be composted in small quantities. The remaining leaves are used for energy. The disused Christmas trees at the turn of the year represent another type of seasonal organic waste. Around 375 Christmas tree collection points are set up in the city for this collection.
The collected organic waste is cleaned of impurities in the so-called Rinterzelt (waste treatment plant) in the organic waste processing plant, mixed and mixed with water. From the waste treatment plant in Percostraße 2, this compost raw material is brought by truck to the Lobau composting plant for composting.
The main buyers of the compost produced here are mainly the departments of the City of Vienna. And here it is above all MA 49 that uses most of the compost in its farms. An administrative agreement between MA 48 and MA 49 ensures the purchase and application of 20,000 tons to 30,000 tons of compost on areas that are cultivated by the City of Vienna's agricultural enterprise.
Compost is given away free of charge in "household quantities" (maximum 2 cubic meters) at the manure sites ("recycling yards") of the City of Vienna. Compost is also sold to private buyers.
The Viennese compost has been used to produce peat-free garden and potting soil since 2009 and is sold as a product under the name “Guter Grund”.
Footnotes
- ↑ http://www.wien.gv.at/vtx/vtx-rk-xlink?SEITE=%2F1993%2F1008%2F014.html
- ↑ http://www.wien.gv.at/vtx/vtx-rk-xlink?SEITE=%2F1999%2F0107%2F006.html
- ↑ http://www.wien.gv.at/umwelt/ma48/beratung/muelltrammlung/biogener-abfall/kompost.html
Web links
- Lobau composting plant - description
- Control office report (PDF file; 79 kB)
- Wienkompost.at of MA 48
Coordinates: 48 ° 10 ′ 50 " N , 16 ° 30 ′ 14.6" E