{"id":87795,"date":"2023-11-10T11:44:42","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T10:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/?p=87795"},"modified":"2026-02-03T17:42:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T16:42:03","slug":"gvm-study-on-less-plastic-packaging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/gvm-studie-zu-weniger-kunststoffverpackungen\/","title":{"rendered":"GVM: More greenhouse gases through less plastic packaging"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new GVM study concludes that replacing plastic packaging would have a negative impact on packaging waste and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the study, replacing 10 per cent of plastic packaging with alternative packaging materials would cause 10 to 14 per cent more greenhouse gas emissions.
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A new study by the Society for Packaging Market Research (GVM<\/a>) on behalf of the IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen comes to the conclusion that plastic packaging is particularly resource-efficient compared to other packaging materials. On average, one kilogramme of product is securely packaged with just 24 grams of packaging plastic.<\/strong> Excluding plastic, the average material efficiency of packaging is 116 grams per kilogramme of packaged product - that is almost five times more material.<\/p>

Accordingly, the packaging market experts at GVM expect this to be the case, that the replacement of plastic packaging would lead to a significant increase in packaging waste.<\/strong> Replacing just one tenth of plastic packaging with other packaging materials would increase the amount of packaging waste in households by 10 to 20 per cent.<\/p>

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More material, more CO2 emissions<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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However, the study not only provides findings on the aspect of waste volumes, but also on the topic of climate protection: The greenhouse gas emissions associated with packaging consumption would increase by between 10 and 14 per cent if 10 per cent of plastic packaging were replaced by other packaging materials. Because More material also means more energy consumption<\/strong> for the production, transport and recycling of packaging. Extrapolated to the packaging consumption of private households in Germany, this corresponds to between 1 and 1.5 million tonnes of additional greenhouse gas emissions<\/strong>.<\/p>

To determine the climate effect, it was first determined how many greenhouse gas emissions were caused by the packaging consumption of private households in Germany. almost 11 million tonnes of CO2<\/sub>-equivalents in 2021.<\/strong> Based on this, the impact on the carbon footprint of replacing 10 per cent of all plastic packaging with other materials was calculated. To answer this question, the packaging market experts at GVM three scenarios designed<\/strong>, which differed in terms of the proportion of substitute materials paper\/cardboard, glass, ferrous metals and aluminium. All scenarios led to increased material consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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(Graphic: GVM)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Substitution of plastic packaging leads to conflicting objectives<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The new study results thus identify a conflict of objectives for the EU: it wants to reduce the amount of plastic packaging in the planned packaging regulation, which, however, contradicts the plan in the Green Deal<\/strong>, to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. By 2050, the EU should be the first climate-neutral continent.<\/p>

\u201eThere is a great temptation to pursue symbolic politics with plastic avoidance. But politicians need to be honest. Whether it's less packaging waste or greenhouse gases - the study shows that the key environmental challenges in the packaging market can only be achieved through material-neutral and scientifically based regulations.\u201c.<\/p>

Dr Isabell Schmidt<\/strong>IK Managing Director<\/p><\/blockquote>

Source: IK Industrial Association for Plastic Packaging<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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IK - More news<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tPPWR guidelines bring clarity and criticism\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tAssociations see progress, but call for additional clarifications before the regulation comes into force in August 2026.\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead more \"\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Energy-intensive<\/div><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWsK survey: Germany as a business location needs a reform push\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tCompanies in the plastics value chain see the German location at risk in an international comparison, but are nevertheless prepared to invest.\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead more \"\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tRecycling rates in Europe: Germany continues to lead the way\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tEurostat reports rising plastic recycling rates in the EU - Germany remains above average at 52 per cent. However, some member states are in danger of falling well short of the EU target for 2025.\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead more \"\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tWhat is the mood in the industry?\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tThe European packaging world is meeting again in Nuremberg for Fachpack. How do the industry associations assess the current economic situation, what worries their member companies and are there any rays of hope?\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead more \"\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tPackaging industry looks ahead to possible UN plastics agreement\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tFrom 5 to 14 August, more than 170 countries are negotiating a legally binding global agreement to combat plastic pollution in Geneva. The agreement could also have far-reaching consequences for manufacturers and processors of plastic packaging in Germany. Industry associations such as IK, GKV and Plastics Europe are calling for international standards, but warn against overly rigid production restrictions.\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead more \"\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tCautiously optimistic: slight recovery for plastic packaging\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tManufacturers of plastic packaging and films in Germany expect their situation to stabilise cautiously in the third quarter of 2025. This is shown by the latest economic survey by the IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen. After a weak start to the year, industry sentiment is improving - but the challenges remain great.\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tRead more \"\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recent GVM study reveals a conflict of objectives in the EU packaging regulation: reducing plastic packaging would increase greenhouse gas emissions.","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":65994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","rank_math_description":"GVM-Studie offenbart einen Zielkonflikt bei EU-Verpackungsverordnung: Die Reduzierung von Kunststoffverpackungen w\u00fcrde die Emission von Treibhausgasen erh\u00f6hen.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"GVM","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":[22],"tags":[59877,57582,54,61143,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-87795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-packmittel-und-packstoffe","8":"tag-gvm","9":"tag-ik-industrievereinigung-kunststoffverpackungen","10":"tag-kunststoff-und-verbunde","11":"tag-layoutarchiv","12":"tag-packmittel-und-packstoffe","13":"cs-entry","14":"cs-video-wrap"},"acf":[],"vimeo_video":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87795","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\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packaging-journal.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}