Packaging waste from online retail is a raw material and can make an important contribution to conserving resources, as the dual systems point out in times of increased online orders.
26 May 2020
(Image: Dual Systems/Christian Kruppa)
Packaging waste from online retail is a raw material and can make an important contribution to resource conservation and CO2 savings, as the dual systems point out in times of increased online orders.
More and more households are currently using online ordering as an alternative to shopping in shops or going to restaurants. Accordingly, they are increasingly Different types of packaging materials as waste. What many people don't realise: Properly separated, packaging waste is an important Raw material for the existing cycles of plastic, composite materials, tinplate, aluminium, paper and glass.
Around 60 per cent of packaging plastics are recycled and processed into flower pots, buckets or car interior trim, for example. The corresponding recycling rate for aluminium and tinplate is even over 80 percent.
Axel Subklew, spokesperson for the „Waste separation works“ campaign (Image: Duale Systeme/Christian Kruppa)
„By disposing of packaging from online orders correctly, everyone can make an important contribution to protecting resources and the environment with little effort. This enables the dual systems to Material flows in closed loops and to supply the manufacturing industry with the appropriate recycled raw materials,“ explains Axel Subklew, spokesman for the „Waste separation works“ campaign, which was initiated by the dual systems.
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New products from shipping packaging
Used plastic packaging that has been disposed of by consumers via the Yellow Bag or Yellow Bin is sorted and sent to modern recycling plants. There they are Recyclate, a high-quality granulate. This Recycled plastic is then used, for example, to produce buckets, new films, drainpipes or cleaning agent bottles.
Recycled plastic is also used in the automotive industry for the production of interior panelling. This is how new products from correctly disposed of used packaging. This benefits the environment: every tonne of recycled plastic that is used instead of newly produced plastic avoids between 1.5 and 3.2 tonnes of climate-relevant greenhouse gases.
Paper and cardboard packaging such as Shipping cartons or cardboard packaging from the paper bin serve as a source of raw materials. They are used to make new paper products such as recycled office paper, envelopes, folding boxes, transport cartons and tissue paper. This benefits the environment: the production of recycled paper consumes only a third of the energy and around a fifth of the water required for the production of virgin fibre paper.
Aluminium and tinplate packaging from online orders for food or groceries is melted down after sorting and, for example processed into new steel products. The use of recycled aluminium saves large amounts of energy: it only requires five percent of the energy needed to produce primary aluminium. Over 15 megawatt hours of electricity are needed to produce one tonne of primary aluminium - the same amount that a two-person household consumes in around five years.
Correct waste separation is effective
With the right waste separation, households can thus minimise important contribution to climate protection contribute. The renowned Öko-Institut in Freiburg has calculated that recycling packaging from the Yellow Bag and Yellow Bin, glass as well as paper, cardboard and paperboard saves around 3.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents in Germany every year. This corresponds to the emissions of a city the size of Bonn in the same period. Further information on the Waste separation works„ campaign“ you will find here.
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The dual systems in Germany organise the collection, sorting and recycling of used sales packaging so that the recycling rates prescribed by law are achieved. There are currently ten privately organised systems that fulfil this task with their service providers from the waste disposal and recycling industry. The basis for the work of the dual systems is the Packaging Act[/infotext].
