Circular Economy
Shaping the Future: From Waste Management to a Circular Economy
Over the course of 2024, Fichtner’s dedicated circular economy and waste management team provided a wide range of engineering and consulting services, from feasibility studies and due diligence assessments to the design and tendering of integrated facilities. In the process, our experts met with our clients in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, visiting sites and gaining valuable insights and a comprehensive understanding regarding the various countries’ situation and background, as well as the underlying local conditions. Our team provided engineering and consulting services in several projects, a selection of which we would like to highlight in this blog post.
The Current Situation
An estimated 11.2 billion tons of solid waste (1) is collected worldwide each year, with decomposition of the organic fraction in solid waste accounting for approximately 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Municipal solid waste (MSW) alone is projected to increase from 2.1 billion tons in 2023 to 3.8 billion tons in 2050 (2), highlighting the problem that the amount of waste generated is increasing significantly rather than decreasing.
While poor waste management, from a lack of collection systems to ineffective disposal, causes significant problems such as air pollution and contamination of soil and water, proper waste management in line with the waste hierarchy can not only help to mitigate the pollution and contamination problems, but also provide valuable material streams for further use.
This contribution to a more circular economy is an essential step in tackling the waste problem. The European Commission has adopted the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) (3) to promote the EU’s transition to a circular economy, which will create sustainable growth and jobs while reducing pressure on natural resources and the environment. Achieving a circular economy is also a prerequisite for achieving the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality target and halting biodiversity loss.
Looking at the bigger picture, it is clear that a circular economy cannot be achieved through waste management alone, but instead requires changes in the product world where product design can provide the basis for further circularity of goods or materials. During the transition, waste management has a key role to play in segregating and providing products and materials for reuse, repurposing or recycling, while work is done on changing product design.
“Our circular economy and waste management experts work with our clients to deliver world-class waste management solutions and play a key role in the transition to a circular economy.”
In this article, we will provide an insight into the following selected projects and tasks:
- Master planning for an integrated waste management system, including source-separated collection, transport and logistics, along with site selection and technology reviews to identify the optimal mix of suitable waste treatment and recycling technologies
- Design and tendering of integrated waste management facilities, including material sorting facility (MSF), composting, handling of special waste streams and thermal treatment of unavoidable residual fractions
- Technical advisory services to optimize existing material sorting facilities, targeting the separation of high fossil-based carbon fractions, thereby directly contributing to decarbonization of the process
- Consulting services on circular economy criteria to assess taxonomy compliance
Master planning for an integrated waste management system
For a major project, we were contracted to prepare the master plan for the general infrastructure development, including renewable power generation and distribution, water supply, distribution and wastewater treatment as well as waste management. As a multidisciplinary consulting firm, we were able to provide the necessary teams directly from within the Fichtner Group.
More specifically, we analyzed waste generation data for various regions and facilities, considering collection systems for source-separated collection of valuable streams, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the expected waste volumes per stream and location. Based on this waste generation and waste flow modeling, we discussed different collection and logistics solutions in close collaboration with our client’s teams, taking into account given project-specific interfaces.
The next step was to select and confirm the locations for transfer stations and treatment facilities, before carrying out a thorough technology selection process for the waste management facilities. The selected technologies not only had to comply with international best practice, but also had to meet the client’s project-specific sustainability targets, reflecting the expected waste characteristics.
Municipal solid waste
Separated metals at a Materials Recovery Facility
Separated glass and mineral fraction
Organic waste collection
Paper and cardboard for recycling
Following the logic of the selected four-bin system, the proposed facility will consist of:
- a state-of-the-art material sorting facility for dry recyclables, separating PE (LDPE, HDPE), PET, metals, paper and cardboard,
- composting for source-separated organic materials,
- preparation for recycling glass, and
- treatment of unavoidable residual waste fractions.
Design and tendering of an integrated waste management facility
For a developer of a large infrastructure portfolio in the Middle East region, we designed and developed an integrated waste management center covering an area of about seven hectares. The facility design for this highly dynamic project had to be integrated into the ongoing planning process of adjacent projects.
Based on source-separated collection, the facility included dedicated treatment and handling facilities for each of the waste streams, including material sorting facility (MSF), composting, handling of special waste streams and thermal treatment of unavoidable residual fractions. The designs and technologies not only had to ensure environmental and regulatory compliance, while targeting international standards for the products such as high-quality compost, but also had to meet the developer’s aesthetic requirements.
Our integrated multidisciplinary teams worked closely together to design and specify the required waste management systems and supporting infrastructure, meeting electrical, water and wastewater, logistical and architectural needs.
Architectural concepts and design studies for an advanced integrated waste management facility
Technical advisory services to optimize material sorting and decarbonize the process
In another landmark project in 2024, we were contracted to analyze the feasibility of various options for decarbonizing a municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment process in Germany.
Taking into account the given material sorting facility and the existing process and space conditions, our teams investigated the technical possibilities for removing fossil-based carbon components from the residual waste stream using advanced sorting technologies.
The facilities had a capacity of several hundred thousand tons, and the proposed solutions were found to have the potential to contribute significantly to improving material separation, providing a decarbonized refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and thus supporting the reduction of CO2 emissions while increasing the circularity potential of the recovered material streams.
Our project teams respond with great flexibility to the challenging circumstances to ensure maximum transparency and optimal alignment with the client’s objectives.
Consulting services on circular economy criteria to assess taxonomy compliance
The EU taxonomy is a classification system that aims to define sustainable economic activities and guide investors towards environmentally friendly investments. It seeks to identify the extent to which an economic activity contributes to environmental objectives, including the transition to a circular economy. By providing a clear assessment of economic activities, the taxonomy benefits investors and companies by facilitating the identification of sustainable investment opportunities and promoting market transparency and credibility.
Specifically, the six areas of an EU taxonomy assessment are as follows:
- climate change mitigation
- climate change adaptation
- sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources
- transition to a circular economy
- pollution prevention and control, and
- protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems
Our interdisciplinary teams can advise and support you in navigating the complexities of the EU taxonomy regulation and help to assess and classify economic activities according to the EU taxonomy criteria, thus ensuring compliance with sustainability requirements.
What qualifies us as a global partner for innovative waste management solutions
Fichtner has a vast network of highly qualified engineers and consultants with extensive knowledge and international project experience across the entire waste value chain. Our teams have provided waste management services for more than 300 projects in over 70 countries and have developed waste management concepts and master plans for 155 million inhabitants. Our experts are familiar with the full range of measures and technologies for waste minimization, treatment and disposal, including waste collection and transfer, sorting, composting, anaerobic digestion, mechanical-biological treatment, energy-from-waste (EfW) production including refuse-derived fuel (RDF) or solid recovered fuel (SRF) production, and landfilling.
We cover the full range of consultancy services required for project development and implementation, from master planning and pre-feasibility studies, through planning and design of waste management facilities, complete tendering process management, construction and commissioning supervision, to monitoring of projects during operation. In addition, our waste management services include all related aspects such as cost recovery, private sector participation, institutional and legal setup, site analysis, and environmental and social assessment. We provide developers, investors and lenders with technology assessments, risk analyses, financial modeling and due diligence services.
April 2025
Markus Bleier
Head of Circular Economy
in the Renewable Energies, Smart Energies & Environment business division
