On behalf of "Mülltrennung wirkt", an initiative of the dual systems, the Öko-Institut examined their contributions to environmental and climate protection. According to the results, which Günter Dehoust presented to the public at the IFAT trade fair, the dual system as a whole relieves the atmosphere of 1.95 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents a year by collecting, recording and recycling used packaging. The value is based on the assumption that the waste would otherwise go to waste incineration. If the indirectly avoided emissions are also taken into account, even 2.88 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents were avoided in 2020.
In the coming years, the savings could be even higher, according to the Öko-Institut. Based on today's waste composition, the Öko-Institut developed various scenarios, all of which lead to higher climate protection contributions. If collection is optimised through more consistent separation of packaging waste in private households, the climate relief would rise to 2.55 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents. The introduction of a recycling bin would lead to a saving of 2.44 million tonnes. If both potentials were used, the climate protection contribution in 2030 could be about 2.77 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents.
More Information: Studie „Ökobilanz zu den Leistungen der dualen Systeme im Bereich des Verpackungsrecyclings" (Download)
Sources:
- KI (20.5.2022)
- plasticker.de (23.5.2022)
- k-zeitung (24.5.2022)
- Foto: © Fotolia