To accelerate its net-zero transition and advance the circular economy, Chiayi City Mayor Huang Min-hui led a municipal delegation to Germany on June 26 to visit the Lippewerk Circular Economy Park operated by REMONDIS, one of the world's leading waste management and resource recovery companies. Accompanied by REMONDIS Group Chairman Silvio Loederbusch, the delegation explored the park’s integrated resource recovery system, including material sorting, recycling technologies, energy utilization, and the production of recycled materials, as Chiayi City continues planning its Green Energy Sustainable Circular Park.
Mayor Huang said the visit demonstrated how modern waste management can evolve into a comprehensive resource regeneration system. Rather than focusing solely on waste disposal, the Lippewerk park processes a wide range of waste streams—including waste oils, organic waste, electronic waste, plastics, and chemical waste—and converts them into valuable products such as biodiesel, certified compost, recovered metals, recycled plastic pellets, and industrial raw materials. The approach closely aligns with Chiayi City's vision of promoting bottom ash recycling, advanced resource sorting, and food waste reutilization to maximize resource efficiency while reducing waste generation.
Mayor Huang noted that Lippewerk has successfully established a complete circular industrial ecosystem that transforms waste into reusable resources and renewable energy. Its experience offers an important reference for Chiayi City as it continues to strengthen environmental governance, promote resource circulation, and integrate circular economy principles into long-term urban development.
According to REMONDIS Group Chairman Silvio Loederbusch, the approximately 230-hectare Lippewerk site was formerly an aluminum smelter before being transformed into one of Europe's leading circular economy hubs. Its waste-to-energy facility, once powered by coal, now generates sufficient electricity to meet the entire industrial park's energy demand while supplying surplus renewable electricity to the public grid. By converting incoming waste into steam and electricity, the park demonstrates how waste can become a stable and sustainable source of energy.
Environmental Protection Bureau Director Sun Yi-tun said Chiayi City will draw on Lippewerk's planning concepts and smart management model in developing its Green Energy Sustainable Circular Park. Guided by the three goals of self-sufficient waste treatment, resource circulation, and energy utilization, the project aims to become a next-generation circular economy hub that supports sustainable urban development while aligning with international environmental trends.
Sources: Chiayi City Government
