The experts also discussed this at the 18th AGVU Orientation Day on June 21 in Berlin: How can the use of recyclates in plastic packaging be increased? The AGVU (Working Group on Packaging and the Environment) and the IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (Industrial Association of Plastic Packaging) have presented a discussion paper on this subject, with which they are already calling on the new federal government in the run-up to the German parliamentary elections to put the issue high on its to-do list and to strive for a holistic solution. To this end, the two associations are proposing a three-pronged strategy consisting of increasing the quantity and quality of recyclates, dismantling legal obstacles and introducing a subsidy model. They also call for the entire value chain to ensure greater recyclability with flanking measures in product design and to improve the separate collection of plastic waste in the household and commercial sectors. There would be a lot of collection in both sectors, but hardly any of the mixed waste would be sorted out for recycling. In the case of commercial waste, there is still considerable potential to increase recycling, they said.

Sources:

• recyclingmagazin.de (22.6.2021)
• euwid-recycling.de (23.6.2021)
• Photo: © AGVU