Germany is the largest exporter of plastic waste in the EU. However, the amount of plastic waste exported is decreasing overall: in 2020, eight per cent less was exported compared to the previous year and 33 per cent less than ten years ago.
Many goods in this country are packaged in plastic, the resulting waste is recycled, dumped, incinerated - or it leaves Germany as a commodity. As the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), according to preliminary figures, in 2020 a total of over one million tonnes of plastic waste to other countries exported.
In the medium term, however, the amount of plastic waste exported is decreasing: last year, eight per cent less plastic waste was exported compared to the previous year and 33 per cent less than ten years ago. In 2010, almost 1.5 million tonnes of plastic waste were exported.
Most of the plastic waste was to Malaysia in 2020 170,700 tonnes, or 17 percent, were exported there last year. The Netherlands followed in second place with 147,500 tonnes of plastic waste. 15 per cent of all exports went to the neighbouring country, which has an important transhipment point for sea freight in the port of Rotterdam.
In turn, most of the plastic waste imported to Germany in 2020 came from the Netherlands. Of the total of 481,300 tonnes of plastic waste imported, 19 percent came from the Netherlands.
Malaysia largest buyer of plastic waste from Germany
Compared to 2019, the amount of plastic waste exported to Malaysia last year fell by 11,800 tonnes or 6.5%. Since 2018, the largest export volume of plastic waste has been exported to Malaysia. In previous years, the largest quantities were exported to China. Exports of plastic waste abroad reached their highest level in 2012 with an export volume of over 1.5 million tonnes; 53 per cent of this went to the People's Republic of China and 13 per cent to Hong Kong. Since January 2018 24 different recycled materials can no longer be exported to the People's Republic of China - including unsorted plastic waste.
Germany is the EU's largest exporter of plastic waste
Against the backdrop of plastic swirls in the world's oceans and tiny pieces of microplastics in nature, animals and humans, the international community is increasingly concerned about the handling of plastic waste. In an EU comparison, Germany exported the following in 2019 (results for 2020 are not yet available for all EU countries) By far the largest amount of plastic waste1,091,300 tonnes.
Belgium followed with an export volume of 476,100 tonnes of plastic waste, the Netherlands with 389,900 tonnes, France with 385,600 tonnes and Italy with 206,100 tonnes of plastic waste.
Recyclables collected from private households
By recycling plastic waste and other waste, we can Conserving resources are collected. 12.1 million tonnes of recyclable materials - including plastic waste, mixed packaging, paper and glass - were collected from private households in Germany in 2019. This corresponds to a per capita volume of 146 kilograms. The amount of recyclables collected per capita was highest in Rhineland-Palatinate (168 kilograms), Lower Saxony (165 kilograms) and Baden-Württemberg (164 kilograms) and lowest in Berlin (107 kilograms) and Hamburg and Bremen (117 kilograms each).
The amount of waste destined for recycling or thermal utilisation accounts for less than a third of all waste collected. In 2019, a total of 38 million tonnes of waste was collected from private households - that is, On average, each person generated 457 kilograms of household waste in this country.
In the medium term, the amount of waste has remained constant in recent years. Since the statistics on waste collected from private households were first collected in this form in 2004, the amount per capita has always been around 450 kilograms. Ten years ago (2009), 56 per cent of all waste was collected separately; in 2019, the proportion was 59 per cent. The most recent ratio was More organic waste, the same amount of packaging and glass, but less waste paper collected.
Source: Federal Statistical Office
