According to the law, the Verband Region Stuttgart is the public waste disposal authority for two waste streams in its area: Firstly, for mineral waste, for example slag, foundry sand or core sand. This mineral waste has a higher organic content than waste that may be deposited in a landfill of landfill class I (DK I). The requirements for DK II landfills or landfill sections are therefore higher than those for DK I, e.g. with regard to leachate collection or basic sealing to the subsoil.

On the other hand, the association is the public waste disposal authority for contaminated excavated soil. Contaminated excavated soil is material whose degree of contamination is above the so-called background contamination. Background pollution is defined as the natural addition of pollutants (e.g. copper). This also includes excavated soil from residential areas. In addition to uncontaminated excavated soil, there are often fillings with foreign soil components, such as construction or war debris and slag.

At over 200 million tons per year, mineral waste is the largest waste stream in Germany and is a significant economic factor. Currently, over 90 percent of construction and demolition waste is recycled. Over 56 percent is used in recultivation measures and backfilling of pits, quarries and opencast mines (backfilling/other recycling). Around 35 percent is reused as recycled building materials in technical structures. Only 8.3 percent must be disposed of in landfills.

According to experts, recycled building materials are the future of construction. Some companies, including in Baden-Württemberg, have recognized this environmentally friendly alternative to finite primary building materials and have specialized in the recycling of mineral demolition and construction materials. These are converted into high-quality secondary building materials. The recycled building materials such as gravel, sand, chippings or concrete are used in various areas. These secondary building materials are returned to the cycle by being used in road, path and traffic area construction as well as in earthworks, structural and civil engineering and in gardening and landscaping.

The Verband Region Stuttgart does not have its own waste treatment facilities for the disposal of mineral waste (landfill class II) and contaminated excavated soil. It has therefore made use of the statutory option to transfer its waste disposal tasks to a company under private law. This transfer of tasks to Abfallverwertungsgesellschaft des Landkreises Ludwigsburg mbH (AVL) first came into force on June 1, 2000. This transfer was extended several times, most recently until 31.12.2024 to AVL. A further extension is possible under the law.

In consultation with the waste management companies of the urban and rural districts in the region and with the involvement of the Stuttgart Regional Council and the Baden-Württemberg Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector, the association is committed to its task as a public waste management company and has invited tenders for a waste volume balance and forecast, also for the planning justification of a possible new landfill site.

The Verband Region Stuttgart has completed the award procedure for a waste volume and demand forecast and commissioned the company wat Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH. The subject of the contract is the preparation of a waste volume forecast for the waste for which the Verband Region Stuttgart, as the public waste management authority, is responsible for disposal. This is mineral waste that is assigned to class II landfills and excavated soil that is assigned to class I landfills. The need for one or more landfills is to be derived from the forecast of waste volumes. The study is intended to map the status quo of prevention, reuse or recycling and disposal of these waste streams and, on this basis, provide an estimate of the volume of these two waste streams that can be expected within the Stuttgart region in the short, medium and long term (until at least 2040).

Following the preliminary political consultation at the beginning of 2024, the Verband Region Stuttgart publicly announced the search for a landfill site and launched the public participation process at the same time. The first two stages of the process include, on the one hand, the invitation to tender for a study on waste generation and a waste volume forecast for the waste streams within the association's disposal obligation and, on the other hand, the multi-stage process of dialogical public participation. This will be implemented with the Baden-Württemberg service center, which will also provide the platform, the so-called participation portal.

In the first stage of public participation, the "scoping meeting", a wide range of interest groups and associations identified important topics, criteria and conflicting objectives in the search for a landfill site. This collection was recorded in a topic map and forms the basis for the second stage of the process, online public participation. Stakeholders, nature conservation and environmental associations, the Baden-Württemberg Association of Cities, the Baden-Württemberg Association of Districts, the state capital Stuttgart and the districts in the region, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector, the Stuttgart Regional Council, citizens' initiatives and affected industry associations (e.g. construction and energy industry) were invited to the scoping meeting.

During the online public participation process, all citizens were able to formulate their own proposals for location criteria, submit comments and suggest personalities or institutions(list of possible initiators), who provided further input in the third stage of the process, the public forum. A total of 34 comments and 306 assessments were received. The focus here is on transport issues. The Citizen Participation Service Center has supplemented the topic map accordingly.

In the third stage of the process, the citizens' forum, around 50 randomly selected citizens from 21 municipalities in the Stuttgart region evaluated the thematic map and conflicting objectives. Experts on relevant and important topics were heard in the forum. In addition, the random citizens were able to request further input and withdraw into confidential consultations. The results and proposals for a list of criteria for the site search will be handed over to the committees responsible on November 26 and will therefore be incorporated into the political decision-making process.

• Further information can be found on the participation portal.
• Presentations from the first citizens' forums: modern landfills, siting criteria, waste volume forecast, multi-barrier principle and landfill classes

The Verband Region Stuttgart is planning to commission an expert opinion to find suitable locations for a landfill site. Information on the next steps in the process will be provided here.