Today, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) published new data on packaging waste generation in German households for the first year of the Corona pandemic. Preliminary results indicate that German consumers generated an average of 78 kilograms of packaging waste per person in 2020 – that is six kilograms more than in 2019.
The volume of packaging waste collected in yellow garbage cans, glass or paper containers and comparable systems increased by nearly 0.6 million tons to a total of 6.5 million tons in the same period of time.
These are further details:
- With an average of 78 kilograms per capita in 2020, private packaging waste increased by an average of four kilograms compared to the previous year, and by as much as ten kilograms compared to 2018.
- The total volume of packaging waste also increased by 9.3 percent to 6.5 million tons, at 0.6 million tons.
- Lightweight packaging made of plastic, light metals and composite materials continued to represent the largest share of private packaging waste at 32 kilograms per person and a total of 2.7 million tons.
- Compared to 2019, the amount of glass packaging increased by two to 25 kilograms per person (2.1 million tons) and paper, cardboard and paperboard packaging by three to 20 kilograms per capita (1.7 million tons).
- In 2020, a total of 6.4 million tons of the collected packaging waste was transferred to waste treatment plants or recycling plants after sorting. 79 percent (5.1 million tons) of this packaging was recycled – five percent more than it was in 2019.
- 12 percent of packaging waste (0.8 million metric tons) was recovered for energy, such as in combustion plants.
Source: Destatis
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