Have you ever been to a bulk store? A shop where you can fill long-life products such as rice, pasta, nuts or flour from large containers on the wall into your own containers? And which one consequently enters with lots of empty glass and plastic boxes and comes out a little later with very heavy bags and a very good feeling?
I recently went to a shop like this again. The daughter (10) of a good friend heard about the concept in elementary school, and since there are holidays in Bavaria and you suddenly have a lot of time during the day, she wanted to cycle to downtown Munich and go shopping. The excursion was a complete success: instead of the pasta, lentils and oat flakes, she brought home the family’s supplies of crunchy muesli, chocolate drops and freeze-dried raspberries. And a lot of questions.
Afterwards she wanted to know why not all people in Munich shop in stores like this over a bowl of crunchy muesli with chocolate drops and freeze-dried raspberries. Why you prefer to go to the supermarket, where everything is double and triple packed. And anyway: when did people actually start packing everything in plastic? And then just toss the packaging in the trash?
If she were already at an age at which one could inspire her to read that did not say “Cornelia Funke” in capital letters, I would have her this week the new study by the WWF sent. It deals in detail with the question of how the transition to a circular economy can succeed in Germany. It is particularly noteworthy because many Germans are still of the opinion that we have had one for a long time and are even pioneers when it comes to waste separation and the reuse of various materials.
Reusable concepts can reduce German plastic waste by a quarter by 2040
In order to show that this is only half the story, the authors of the study only need one number: 89. That percentage of all plastic packaging is still made of new material. It is true that recycling rates are increasing in this country and you can see more and more packaging in the supermarket on which a “recycled content” is shown. We are still a long way from turning old cheese packaging into a new one: Around half of all packaging waste is still “used energetically”, i.e. incinerated. And when it is recycled, two thirds of the recyclates end up in the automotive industry or in construction because their quality is not sufficient to make new packaging out of them.
So much for taking stock. But the study also shows how things can be done differently. By changing the system towards a real circular economy, it is possible to reduce the demand for new plastic by 64 percent and the incineration rate by as much as 73 percent, according to the authors. By 2040, this could save more than 68 million tons of CO₂ emissions and 20 million tons of new plastic. That corresponds to more than six years of total plastic packaging consumption.
How is that supposed to work? The basis is the concept of waste avoidance, reuse and recycling, which is already part of the primary school curricula, as I know from my friend’s daughter. The study makes good suggestions on how industry and politics could change the system to make it easier for consumers to make more sustainable decisions in everyday life. Another measure aims at the design of packaging, which could become even more recyclable. And of course it’s about reusable concepts, a central point of the circular economy: You alone can reduce German plastic waste by a good quarter by 2040 – if you do it right.
The greatest potential is therefore to be found in the expansion of the reusable system with standard bottles made of glass and PET in order to reduce the still high use of one-way beverage bottles. The authors also see great opportunities in the measure to replace single-use plastic in online mail order with reusable systems. The third point: The supermarkets should develop reusable and refill concepts in order to offer an alternative to packaged products directly in the branch. Small unpackaged departments in the supermarket – my friend’s daughter would like it.
Do you think these measures can work? What ideas do you have for establishing a real circular economy in Germany? And what do you think of bulk stores? Please write to us at [email protected]. I’ll eat a few more chocolate drops and freeze-dried raspberries for a long time.
(This text is from the weekly Newsletter Environmental Friday you here free of charge can order.)