{"id":108541,"date":"2025-10-30T10:34:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T09:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/?p=108541"},"modified":"2026-01-25T09:42:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T08:42:58","slug":"recycling-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/recycling-in-europa\/","title":{"rendered":"More efficient recycling - how Europe's packaging systems could work better"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new analysis by the think tank adelphi shows that four key design principles can measurably improve packaging recycling in Europe - and make it more cost-efficient. Why now is the right time to set the course.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Around 80 million tonnes of packaging waste are generated in the European Union every year - and much of it could be recycled much more efficiently. This is the key finding of a new study by the Berlin-based think tank adelphi<\/b><\/span>, which analysed the design and management of national packaging systems in eight EU member states.<\/p>\n

The core message: It is not just technical requirements or collection rates that determine success<\/b><\/span>, but above all the Governance<\/i> - i.e. how responsibilities and tasks are distributed between producers, authorities and organisations. Countries in which producer organisations (so-called PROs - Producer Responsibility Organisations) complete operational and material control<\/b><\/span> about the system and bear all costs<\/b><\/span>, perform significantly better.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n

Four principles for efficient packaging recycling<\/b><\/h2>\n

The adelphi study identifies four design features<\/b><\/span>, which, in combination, lead to measurably better recycling rates and lower system costs:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Operational responsibility<\/b><\/span>The PROs control the entire process - from collection to sorting and recycling.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Material responsibility<\/b><\/span>They control the material flow, i.e. which packaging is handled and how.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Full cost coverage by the manufacturer<\/b><\/span>: To create incentives to increase efficiency.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Independent supervision<\/b><\/span>Transparent monitoring by independent authorities.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    According to the study, systems with these properties deliver not only better ecological results<\/i>, but are also more cost-stable and innovation-friendly<\/i>.<\/p>\n

    Germany in the top third of performers - but with room for improvement<\/b><\/h2>\n

    The country analysis shows that Germany already achieves relatively high recycling rates. The weighted rate for household plastics is 76.1 %<\/b><\/span>, if seized PET is taken into account. Belgium follows with 60.8 %. For glass, Belgium is ahead with 97.8 % and Germany with 88.5 %.<\/p>\n

    Another key result: Nationally organised competition between PROs<\/b><\/span> can further increase performance - as long as there is clear manufacturer responsibility and transparent structures.<\/p>\n

    A \u201enow or never\u201c moment for setting the political course<\/b><\/h2>\n

    The background to the publication is the ongoing implementation process of the new EU packaging regulation (PPWR)<\/b><\/span> and the national reforms within the Circular Economy Act (CEA)<\/b><\/span>. Decisions in the years 2025 and 2026 regarding Supervisory structures, allocation of roles, tenders or data management<\/b><\/span>will characterise packaging recycling for a decade.<\/p>\n

    \u201eAccountability is the foundation, competition acts as an accelerator. When PROs take over operational control and management of material flows, countries can achieve higher recycling rates per euro invested.\u201c (Co-author Paolo Facco)<\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    The Berlin-based think tank adelphi<\/b><\/span> describes itself as one of Europe's leading think-and-do tanks for the environment, climate and sustainable development. With a team of over 300 employees, adelphi advises politics, business and society - both nationally and internationally - with the aim of developing transformative solutions for a sustainable world. The current study was developed in the context of the organisation's many years of work on ecological governance systems and sustainable resource policy.<\/p>\n

    Study and webinar<\/b><\/h2>\n

    The complete study can be can be downloaded here<\/a>. In mid-November, the authors will also present the results in a free webinar. Registration is possible on the adelphi website.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new analysis by the think tank adelphi shows that four key design principles can measurably improve packaging recycling in Europe - and make it more cost-efficient. Why now is the right time to set the course.","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":108542,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","rank_math_description":"adelphi-Studie zeigt: Recyclingquoten steigen, wenn Herstellerverantwortung klar geregelt ist. Vier Faktoren machen Verpackungssysteme effizienter.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"Recycling","rank_math_title":"","csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[65,61047,60974,60115,32,60586,60682],"class_list":{"0":"post-108541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-audio","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-maerkte","8":"tag-abfalltechnik-und-recycling","9":"tag-adelphi","10":"tag-audio","11":"tag-eu-verpackungsverordnung","12":"tag-packmittel-und-packstoffe","13":"tag-pj_home","14":"tag-recycling","15":"post_format-post-format-audio","16":"cs-entry","17":"cs-video-wrap"},"acf":[],"vimeo_video":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}