Worker processes waste at PreZero Lamesch recycling facility;
Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu
On Tuesday 18 March 2025, members of the press were invited to a tour of the recycling facilities of PreZero Lamesch in Bettembourg.
Established in Luxembourg for more than 60 years, PreZero Lamesch undertakes the sorting and treatment of recyclable waste of Luxembourg’s municipalities. The invitation to visit its site coincided with the commencement of the seventh national analysis of Luxembourg’s residential residual waste, a process which takes place every three years.
The analysis is undertaken to determine the composition and evolution of residual “non-recyclable” waste, what materials can be sorted and recovered, how processes can be improved to make sorting and recovery more efficient and to better understand the consequences of both changes to the process of waste management and the volume of residual waste generated. Residual waste is collected from fifteen municipalities across the Grand Duchy, based on the density of inhabitants per m2 and the presence of single-family homes and residences.
Research Officer at the Luxembourg Environment Agency, Stéphanie Goergen, and Service Manager of Luxembourg-based engineering firm Eneco, Rüdiger Philipps, conducted the tour of the facility, detailing the processes undertaken as part of the analysis. Eneco specialises in providing consulting services in the areas of the handling of pollutants from construction, contaminated sites, waste disposal, recycling, as well as advising on landfill planning and environmental protections.
The tour visited the main processing area for residual waste, where items are first separated before being placed on a conveyor belt for further processing. After this, any items discovered during the secondary processing, such as plastics, composites, garden waste, paper or metal are placed into designated bins depending on its composition.
Mr Phillips described how, that day, they were analysing waste from three waste bins from the municipality of Remich. He described how they found a mix of food waste, plastic and paper in each of the bins which had to be separated and sorted during processing, giving an example of how often waste which can be recycled is often not separated and placed into its designated bin.
Stéphanie Goergen revealed that: “Based on the residual waste analysis conducted in 2021/2022, approximately 50% of the waste recovered from residual waste bins was eligible for recycling but had not been separated.” She added: “Each inhabitant produces an average of 16kg of residual waste per year, approximately 30kg less than in 2018.”
When questioned about what improvements can be made to assist in the separation and recycling process, Ms Goergen replied: "The most important thing is to raise awareness. We are trying to take measures to ensure residents do not mix recyclable waste with residual waste.” She explained: “The number of collection points must be increased, especially for batteries and electronic waste.” Ms Goergen then went on to emphasis the benefit of financial incentives in reducing residual waste and increasing recycling, commenting: “In municipalities where a garbage tax is put in place, residents reduce their amount of residual waste and recycle more.”
A second set of analysis will be undertaken in June 2025 with waste from an additional five municipalities being analysed. Results are expected to be published in November 2025.
SM
