The German Environment Agency (UBA) and the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (Central Agency Packaging Register – ZSVR) have revealed that German dual systems saw increased recycling in 2023, with the share of mechanically recycled plastic packaging increasing from 42.1% to 68.9% between 2018-2023.
Apparently, the German waste management sector collected, sorted and recycled more than 5.5 million tonnes of packaging waste from private households in 2023, with the aim of recovering raw materials to be put back into circulation.
The agencies state that statutory recycling quotas have increased since 2018, with dual systems meeting five out of the eight target rates. For plastics, there are two separate quotas: one for mechanical recycling and another that includes both recycling and energy recovery.
However, there are concerns when it comes to composite packaging. This is said to be due to it being hard to recycle, resulting in it falling ‘significantly short’ of its quota; said to be an additional 7.9% points further behind the target compared to the previous year.
The UBA and ZSVR say that producer responsibility has not been sufficiently adopted for composite packaging, and stakeholders are failing to invest the necessary effort to secure adequate recovery capacities. They identified the biggest challenges for recycling as stemming from insufficient sorting and waste separation by consumers. In addition, a decline in collection quality was reported due to sorting errors, with large volumes ending up in the wrong bins.
The agencies point out that in Germany, recycling packaging from private households saves ‘around 2 million tonnes of CO2 annually’, which could increase to 2.55 million tonnes by 2030, according to a 2022 study by the Öko-Institut. Despite this, the UBA says that its research has found that yellow bins and bags unfortunately often contain 20%-40% residual waste, significantly hindering recycling efforts.
The UBA and ZSVR have emphasized that strict household waste separation is essential for achieving higher recycling rates, especially as starting in 2030, all packaging must be recyclable and new EU regulations will require companies to include a minimum share of secondary raw materials (recyclates) in their packaging. Consumers can find information on waste separation in Germany on the Mülltrennung wirkt website.
In related news, BASF teamed up with Endress+Hauser, TechnoCompound and the Universities of Bayreuth and Jena at the end of 2024 to study how to improve the mechanical recycling of plastics. The project will combine measuring techniques with artificial intelligence (AI), using spectroscopic methods which interpret how the material interacts with light to gain information about the chemical structure of the recycled plastics.
This month, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste outlined its approach to converting mixed plastic waste into products of value in its new Solution Model playbook, focusing on keeping investment and technology requirements minimal to ensure its accessibility for countries with less developed recycling systems. The playbook prioritizes collection, processing and converting as key components of the value chain, ensuring that recycling feedstock is supplied consistently.
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