Today, the German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA) published the results of its study entitled "Emergence and recycling of packaging waste in Germany 2016". It shows that packaging waste slightly increased in 2016 compared to the previous year and packaging waste per capita was well above EU average.
These are the key points:
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In total, around 18.16 million tonnes of packaging waste were produced in 2016.
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Depending on the packaging, the current recycling rates vary: Glass has a comparatively high recycling rate of 85.5 percent, followed by paper/cardboard (88.7 percent), aluminum (87.9 percent) and steel (92.1 percent). The rates for plastics (49.7 percent) and wood (26 percent) are lower.
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According to the new Packaging Act, which comes into force in 2019, the plastic recycling rate particularly will be increased to 58.5 percent and from 2022 to 63 percent. This applies to all packaging where manufacturers have to participate in dual systems and which are disposed of via collections of recyclables (glass, paper collection, yellow sack, yellow bin, recycling bin and recycling depots).
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The packaging consumption of private consumers accounts for 47 per cent of the total and amounted to 103.5 kg per capita.
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In 2016, 0.9 percent more plastic packaging was recycled than the year before. However, the consumption of plastic packaging of private end consumers declined only minimally from 25 kg to 24.9 kg per capita.
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Reasons for this continuously high level of packaging consumption are manifold ranging from additional packaging functions such as dosage assistance or elaborate closures to smaller portions instead of large packagings, mail-order sales instead of purchases on location and out-of-home consumption.
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In 2016, 0.9 percent more plastic packaging was recycled than the year before. However, the consumption of plastic packaging of private end consumers declined only minimally from 25 kg to 24.9 kg per capita.
Maria Krautzberger, President of the German Federal Environmental Agency, commented: "We produce far too much packaging waste – a sad top spot within Europe. This is bad for the environment and for the consumption of raw materials. First of all, we must further strengthen recycling and the use of recycled materials in order to save resources. And above all, we have to avoid waste, even during the production phase by avoiding unnecessary and unnecessarily material-intensive packaging. In addition, reusable systems that have clear environmental benefits over single-use packaging should be strengthened."
Source: German Federal Environmental Agency (UBA)
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