The increasing spread of plastic waste and microplastics in rivers and oceans has become a global challenge and requires immediate action from the industrialised world. The VDI is therefore actively campaigning for technology transfer in the field of plastic waste utilisation to emerging countries.
Together with the Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), VDI experts worked with representatives of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) at a workshop at the BMZ in Bonn on strategies to accelerate such technology transfer.
As a first step, the experts recommend a German technology transfer for plastic waste utilisation to Brazil. The Brazilian Amazon ranks sixth among the ten rivers that are the main source of plastics entering the world's oceans.
With a market volume of approx. 6.6 million tonnes of plastics In addition, Brazil has a volume that is absolutely controlled plastic waste recycling required.
Initial measures
Technology transfer includes both the Introduction of logistical collection systems for used plastic packaging and products (such as the yellow bin in Germany) as well as the Development of sorting and recycling capacities in Brazil. To this end, the BMZ will be examining the political framework conditions in the coming months.
In addition to the worldwide worrying environmental pollution the VDI also draws attention to the economic and social problems of raw material waste in the environment: Millions of tonnes of valuable secondary raw materials are withdrawn from the manufacturing economy.
Only one different use of primary and secondary raw materials in a circular economy can stop this. To achieve this, the technological achievements of a modern plastic waste and circular economy urgently need to be transferred to other countries.
Source: VDI Society Materials Engineering
