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The documentary "The Recycling Lie", which was broadcast on ARD on 20 June, has sparked a discussion online. The film extensively criticises the plastics industry and questions the efficiency of plastics recycling. Industry associations are now criticising the film.
Tom Costello and Benedict Wertmer cover in the documentation Poor handling of plastic waste such as the illegal sale of large quantities of used plastic abroad. The renowned initiative Terracyclewhich collects non-recyclable plastics worldwide with the help of volunteers and is behind the reusable plastics system, among other things. Loop is confronted with allegations of fraud.
"The plastic crisis has worsened in recent years. Images of dead animals and polluted oceans are going around the world. The packaging industry thinks it has a solution to the problem: Recycling. More and more bottles, boxes and bags are labelled '100 % recyclable'. But if recycling really is the solution, why is more new plastic being produced today than ever before? Could recycling really be nothing more than 'greenwashing'?" This is how the documentary is described in the ARD press material.
The images of mountains of rubbish in Indonesia or plastic floating metres wide on the Ganges are also impressive. The documentation also states that just seven per cent of the plastic collected is collected in Germany and that some of the remaining waste is sent abroad. Waste separation and recycling are reassuring fairy tales that people tell themselves, it concludes.
Criticism from associations
A number of German associations are now criticising this presentation. Peter Kurth, President of the BDE Federal Association of the German Waste Management, Water and Recycling Industrythe documentary film as a Disservice to the environment and climate protection.
"It is true that there is still work to be done in the area of plastics recycling. This applies in particular to the design of products and to expanding the use of recyclates in new products. The connection made in the TV documentary between plastic waste in the oceans and insufficient plastic recycling in Germany borders on deception, to put it kindly."
Peter Kurth
President of the BDE Federal Association of the German Waste Management, Water and Recycling Industry
According to Kurth, such a depiction denies the actual causes, because they are known, that 90 per cent of the plastic waste dumped in the world's oceans comes from ten riversof which eight are in Asia and two in Africa. Plastic consumption there is similar to that in Europe, but there is no possibility of efficient recycling and thus a circular economy.
The IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V. (Industrial Association for Plastic Packaging) expresses its disappointment in a press release in view of the "unsettling message": "We know our weak points and we are working to eliminate them. However, we also know that we need convinced consumers to create material flows. However, they have been unsettled by the report. As a reaction to the film, they will probably not use less packaging, but will put it with full conviction into the residual waste and thus into the incinerator. Das Erste is thus doing a disservice to the circular economy."
System change circular economy
On LinkedIn reacts Ingemar Buehler, Managing Director of Plastics Europein a more in-depth analysis of the film's points of criticism. In particular, he sees the statements "Recycling is not a solution" and "Avoiding plastic is necessary" as problematic. "The problems highlighted in the film are massive and we need to tackle them much more consistently than we have so far. Waste management systems need to be established worldwide and as developed industrialised countries we need to provide more support in this area[...]. To believe that doing without or using alternative materials would be sufficient to solve the problems mentioned here is a fallacy. Rather, it is our responsibility to counter rising global production with a substantial solution, a system change - a climate-neutral circular economy."
ARD is currently showing the documentary "The Recycling Lie". The main message: #Recycling does not work, which is why we have to rely on it, #Plastic waste to be avoided in principle. The fact is: we need both more urgently than ever!
- VCI (@chemieverband) June 21, 2022
Our assessment in one 🧵: (1/12) https://t.co/m0KwSpaAHe
The German Chemical Industry Association also criticised this in a Twitter thread. "We will have to change our consumption patterns, especially when it comes to packaging waste. Keyword: convenience. However, without better and more efficient recycling, we will not be able to get to grips with the increasing volumes of waste worldwide. We need new solutions for this. [...] They also have important functions in packaging, which is often and harshly criticised, e.g. because food has a longer shelf life. The crucial question is therefore not how we avoid waste or plastics. But rather: How can we produce in a truly sustainable way?"
Sources: BDE, IK, Plastics Europe, VCI
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