What is the difference between reuse and recycling? How should the German term Mehrweg be used and how does it differ from Einweg? For which assessment are reuse rates more meaningful than recycling rates? Answers to these questions, raised not least by the PPWR (Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation of the EU), and brief explanations of terms relating to the recycling of packaging are provided in the new „Mehrweg-Glossar/Glossary on Reuse“, published in German and English.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT and the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML produced this on behalf of the Stiftung Initiative Mehrweg in order to Clarity in the often indistinct terminology around reuse and the circular economy.
The approximately 40-page bilingual booklet Glossary aims to sharpen descriptions and comparisons in the field of reusable and recyclable packaging systems.
The work should serve as a working aid, to facilitate communication between science, politics, companies and consumers. Terms such as recycling, reutilisation, disposable, reusable or recycling quotas are omnipresent, but not always clearly defined. For example, reuse and recycling are sometimes seen as competing processes, sometimes recycling acts as a generic term, sometimes reuse.
„In this glossary, we consider reuse as non-destructive recycling, i.e. the object and its shape are preserved, while recycling describes a destructive reprocessing process that is primarily concerned with material preservation.“
Jürgen Bertling from Fraunhofer UMSICHT and co-author of the glossary
The glossary is divided into four chapters: Firstly, the team of authors explains relevant aspects for the comparison of packaging systems, the next chapter contains overview diagrams of packaging types depending on their recyclability and a schematic representation of linked cycles. The definitions of all relevant terms, such as reuse and reutilisation, as well as a Differentiation and categorisation of the terms disposable and reusable used in German can be found in the third chapter. The glossary concludes with a chapter on formulae and formula symbols for calculations, which are intended to contribute to a generally understandable notation in scientific and technical analyses.
Source: Fraunhofer UMSICHT
