The trend is positive. Overall, more packaging was recycled by the dual systems in 2023 compared to the previous year. This has now been announced by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the Central Agency Packaging Register (ZSVR).
The German waste management industry collects, sorts and recycles large quantities of packaging waste from private households. The overall recycling rate in relation to the packaging volumes involved in dual systems was at around 82 per cent in 2018 (more than 4.7 million tonnes of packaging waste recycled across all material fractions). The quota is increased to a good 90 per cent by 2023 (around 5.5 million tonnes of packaging waste recycled across all material fractions).
According to the two authorities, strict waste separation is the key prerequisite for further expanding recycling. The targets for statutory recycling rates have increased significantly since 2018. The dual systems have achieved five out of eight recycling quotas, in some cases even exceeded. These include ferrous metals, aluminium as well as paper, cardboard, carton (PPK) and plastics.
There are two quotas for plasticsOne that shows purely mechanical recycling and a second for which both recycling and energy generation are taken into account. In the case of materially recycled plastic packaging The proportion of recycling increased from 42.1 per cent in 2018 to 68.9 per cent in 2023.
„This development is particularly pleasing. It is a major endeavour by the German waste management industry and shows that it is working on the necessary further developments in a future-oriented and efficient manner.“
Gunda Rachut, Board of the ZSVR
The quota for glass packaging was missed by 6.9 percentage points, Too much used glass ends up in residual waste and not in the glass container. The recycling rate for beverage carton packaging was 8.7 percentage points below the required rate. Nevertheless, glass and beverage cartons have higher rates than in 2022. „Almost 100 per cent of the glass collected is recycled into container glass. This makes it all the more tragic that too much glass still ends up in residual waste. We appeal to everyone involved - systems, local authorities, retailers and consumers - to minimise the Glass packaging a chance to enter the economic cycle to give,“ demands Gunda Rachut.
Composite packaging misses the quota
The ZSVR continues to be concerned about other composite packaging. This type of packaging, which is difficult to recycle, once again fell well short of the quota. The shortfall was even 7.9 percentage points higher than in the previous year. The Producer responsibility is not yet sufficiently implemented here, The parties involved are not making enough effort to ensure the necessary recycling capacities. The biggest challenges in recycling are incorrect pre-sorting and waste separation by consumers.
In addition, according to the systems the quality of the collection mixture deteriorates, in some cases significantly, as a result of incorrect throws. A lot of waste ends up in the wrong collection containers. This leads to increased sorting and recycling efforts, rising costs and also results in lower sorting volumes by material type, which are ultimately available for high-quality recycling.
Better separation, better recycling
„Packaging recycling needs all of us, because without consistent waste separation by consumers, it won't work,“ says Dr Bettina Rechenberg, Head of the Circular Economy Division at the UBA. „Only if waste is disposed of in the right bin at home can the materials it contains be recovered properly. This conserves resources and also protects the climate.“ Basically, Germany is in a good position: already now the recycling of packaging from private households saves around two million tonnes of CO2 per year, by 2030, it could even be 2.55 million tonnes by 2022, according to a study by the Öko-Institut.
Unfortunately, however, according to the UBA's findings Often 20 to 40 per cent of residual waste is still in the yellow bin or yellow bag. This makes recycling considerably more difficult. At the same time, consumers dispose of a lot of easily recyclable packaging in residual waste. This means that it is lost for recycling. In other EU countries, the collection quality is now better, waste management companies reported to the UBA.
„For a long time, the Germans were considered the world champions of waste separation. We should reclaim this title. There is still room for improvement, especially when it comes to the separate collection of used glass. This can only be achieved as a team effort. If everyone helps, I'm optimistic that we can do even better.“
Dr Bettina Rechenberg, Head of the Circular Economy Division at UBA
Better waste separation The German economy also benefits, which relies on recycled raw materials. From 2030, all packaging must be recyclable and companies must use certain minimum proportions of recovered secondary raw materials (recyclates) in their packaging due to new EU regulations. This should make packaging more environmentally friendly.
Source: ZSVR
