ERCOSPLAN

Hazardous waste has been stored in part of the Wintershall potash mine in the Werra region of eastern Hesse/Germany since 1972. The Herfa-Neurode underground waste disposal site, which today belongs to the K+S Werra Verbundwerk, is the longest-serving and largest of its kind in the world, setting standards in safe storage to this day (Figure 1). Now, the 50th anniversary of the landfill was celebrated with a festive colloquium, which brought together representatives of the German waste management industry.

About 100 guests met in the Friedewald festival hall to exchange views on developments in the landfilling and reutilisation of waste. To the sounds of the K+S miners’ band Wintershall, Friedewald’s mayor Julian Kempka welcomed the visitors as host. His colleague from Heringen, Daniel Iliev, on whose municipal territory the underground storage site is located, emphasised the good, transparent cooperation between the city and the company. He said this was indispensable, especially in the sensitive but also important dumping of hazardous waste: “I am glad that we are working together here to ensure that the remains of our affluent society are safely stored,” said Iliev.

The head of the K+S Werra plant, Martin Ebeling, also declared: “We are putting a lot of effort and expertise into ensuring that safety prevails and quality requirements are met. This is a prerequisite for the 50-year success story of the Herfa-Neurode underground waste disposal site and the acceptance in our region that is necessary for it.” In this way, K+S and the REKS joint venture, which is managed together with REMEX, can make an important contribution to waste disposal safety in Germany as a sales partner, REKS managing director Martin Brown also emphasised: “Hazardous waste is produced in society and industry. These substances are in the world and must be stored in a safe place.” This is exactly what is possible in Herfa-Neurode due to the special geological conditions, he said.

All speakers at the colloquium emphasised the safety aspect in their contributions: With a total of four Class 4 underground landfills, in which hazardous waste is stored for which there is no other use, Germany has a special disposal option that is the envy of many countries. In the underground disposal sites in the salt rock, the waste is kept away from the environment for a long time and without aftercare – and this has been happening for decades without incident.

Arnd Schneider, head of the Herfa-Neurode underground waste disposal site, explained that in addition to the geological conditions with a water- and gas-tight salt deposit, this also requires a complex safety system with several artificial barriers and intensive control of the waste. Every four years, he said, the long-term safety record is reviewed, for which up to 100,000 years into the future are looked at. Since the first tonne of waste salts from an oil refinery was deposited in Herfa-Neurode on 4th September 1972, more than 3.5 Mt of hazardous waste have been safely disposed of so far. And the landfill still offers enough space to continue storage for several decades.

Other well-wishers included Sandra Giern (Federal Association of the German Waste Management, Water and Recycling Industry), Thomas Kießling (ERCOSPLAN Ingenieurgesellschaft Geotechnik und Bergbau), Carsten Spohn (Interessen­gemeinschaft der Thermischen Abfallbehandlungsanlagen in Deutschland), Andreas Ellerkmann (Indaver Deutsch­land), Torsten Zuber (REKS) and Dirk Röth (BAUREKA Baustoff-Recycling). In their speeches, they addressed various aspects of waste disposal, recycling management and landfilling. And they unanimously wished the birthday child, the Herfa-Neurode underground landfill, 50 more years of successful and safe operation in the disposal of hazardous waste. (K+S/Si.)

To mark the double jubilee celebrations – 65 years of potash project planning made in Erfurt and 25 years of ERCOSPLAN – the Erfurt/Germany-based group, ERCOSPLAN, organised an international symposium on the subject of “The potash industry in the 21st century – raw materials exploration, extraction and processing, as well as disposal of the waste this produces” from 8th to 10th June 2017 in the Thuringian state capital. Premier Bodo Ramelow was the patron of the event. More than 430 participants from 21 countries and six continents took part in the event.

The symposium addressed the major challenges of the potash industry with retrospectives, current project descriptions and innovative approaches. The topics ranged from exploration and development of deposits, raw materials extraction and processing through to eliminating waste. In his welcoming speech, Ramelow pointed out that potash and rock salt mining would have to be developed in harmony with the economy and ecology in future as well, and highlighted the importance of the ERCOSPLAN Group and its global consulting and planning activities. Dr. Henry Rauche, CEO of the ERCOSPLAN Group, then gave Ramelow a small token of his thanks for Ramelow’s tireless commitment on behalf of the potash miners and potash regions in Thuringia (Figure 1).

The official ceremony (Figure 2) was followed by 35 expert lectures given by potash producers, equipment suppliers, shaft construction companies, mining and environmental authorities, junior mining companies and many other experts, both in the plenary session and in four parallel sessions. Topics covered exploration, mining and hot leaching extraction, as well as processing potash-based raw materials, recovery of secondary components, elimination of solid and liquid waste and environmental protection in the potash industry.

This was the second edition of the potash symposium, which only takes place every five years, and yet it has already established itself as a fixed event in the calendar. (MS)