According to the German Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK) the recyclability of plastic packaging rose to 82 percent in 2023.
 

In 2018, IK members set themselves the sustainability target of making at least 90 percent of plastic packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025, according to the association. According to new figures that the IK has now published from its monitoring, 82 percent of all household plastic packaging, including beverage bottles with deposits, meet these criteria in 2023. The amount of non-recyclable packaging has reportedly fallen from 521,000 tons in 2016 to 355,000 tons in 2023. This is said to has been achieved, among other things, by the increased use of innovative barrier technologies and the switch to monomaterial composites. Since 2020, recyclability has been assessed based on the German minimum standard for determining the recyclability of packaging of Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR).
 
According to the IK findings, the biggest challenge for recyclability to reach 90 percent is the lack of recycling paths, particularly for PET trays and for the monomaterial EPS, which is basically recyclable. Non-recyclable material combinations were to be found in 24 percent of the packaging, and for 12 percent, there was still a lack of sorting and separability. Non-recyclable foreign material components such as printing inks add up to ten percent and, according to IK, will hardly be reducible to zero despite design for recycling. Likewise, imported goods, which already come from abroad filled to the German market and account for around 36 percent of the market volume, could not be influenced.
 
From 2030, the minimum requirements for recyclability of the EU Packaging Regulation are to apply at the European level. Even though the assessment criteria would not yet been defined, according to Dr. Isabell Schmidt, IK managing director for circular economy, the study shows in an initial assessment “that more than 80 percent of household plastic packaging already meets the minimum design-for-recycling requirements of the EU Packaging Regulation PPWR”.
 
Sources:

• Press release IK (11.12.2024)
• Graphic: © IK 2024