The 26th International Conference on Recycling of Plastics of bvse – German Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung – took place in Dresden from June 11 - 12, 2024. It was once again very well attended with around 340 participants. Sustainability through plastics recycling as a contribution to climate protection was the main theme of the event this year, see: https://altkunststofftag.bvse.de/en. In addition to representatives from Germany, participants came from Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK.
 

Eric Rehbock, Managing Director of bvse, opened the conference with a clear statement: "Plastics recycling is in a transition phase."
 
In order to further develop and expand plastics recycling on the market, the BKV workshop held two sessions dealing with the topics of both quantity with regard to the supply of recyclates from waste streams and quality with regard to high-quality recycling and performance requirements to recyclates. Dr. Ingo Sartorius, Managing Director of BKV GmbH,co welcomed the participants and moderated the workshop with the two sessions.

Dr. Frank Buckel, Covestro	Christian Hündgen, Hündgen Entsorgungs GmbH & Co.KG	Svenja Dorn, Umweltbundesamt	Dr.-Ing. Joachim Christiani, Institut cyclos-http GmbH

In the first session entitled "Is there enough waste for the supply of recyclates?", Dr. Frank Buckel, Covestro Deutschland AG and chair of BKV’s Technical Committee, presented the demand for plastic recyclates in the context of a multi-stage process chain from waste collection, sorting and treatment to material recovery and finally refinement to quality-assured recyclates. In this way, it becomes clear that the legally required high targets for recycled content, whether in the area of the EU PPWR or the EU ELVR, must be regarded as challenging. Therefore, far more efforts must be made than simply relying on technological progress.
 
Christian Hündgen, Hündgen Entsorgungs GmbH & Co. KG, focused on the practice of sorting technology in his presentation. Modern treatment technology can significantly improve both sorting quantities and material qualities. Nevertheless, it is important to optimize waste collection, expand the recycling infrastructure and ensure effective cooperation between stakeholders in the value chain.
 
In the subsequent panel discussion, Dr. Isabell Schmidt, IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V., and Lukas Scheeben, Pöppelmann GmbH & Co. KG, added their experiences in the field of packaging waste management, in particular with regard to the high requirements in accordance with the new EU PPW regulation as well as the new developments in material production from recyclates in various product areas and applications outside of the packaging segment.
 
In the second session, entitled "Which waste fractions can still contribute to high-quality recycling?", Svenja Dorn from the Federal Environment Agency first presented the research work to determine the practice of sorting and recycling of packaging waste. Among other things, the results of this research form the basis for assessing the recyclability of the German minimum standard as part of the work of the Central Agency Packaging Register.
 
In his keynote speech, Dr.-Ing. Joachim Christiani, Institut cyclos-HTP GmbH, placed high-quality recycling in the structures of collection and recovery in order to further optimize recycling processes and the resulting recyclate qualities, taking a number of parameters into account.
 
In the subsequent panel discussion, both the research work of the Federal Environment Agency and the recommendations of the cyclos-HTP Institute for the expansion of cooperation and further development of legal rules have been addressed. Martin Lüdecke, LyondellBasell und member of BKV’s Technical Committee, has joined the panel. He has supplemented to the discussion with his experience of entrepreneurial practice.
 
The keynote speeches from the BKV workshop are available in German language for download on the bvse website: https://altkunststofftag.bvse.de/component/content/article/workshop-b.html?catid=23&Itemid=624
 
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• Photos: © BKV GmbH