European comparison: Germany leads the way when it comes to packaging waste

227.55 kilograms per capita – that is how much packaging waste every citizen in Germany caused in 2019. That is 50 kilograms more than the European average. Without a law there is no improvement, my environmental protection agency.

A quick cappuccino for on the go, the sushi for the evening and, oh yes, the package arrived – a lot of garbage comes together with one-way to-go. Statistically speaking, every German caused a record value of 227.55 kilograms of packaging waste in 2019. Germany is 50 kilograms above the European average for per capita consumption of 177.38 kilograms, explained the German Environmental Aid (DUH), citing figures from the Federal Environment Agency.

The total amount of packaging waste of 18.91 million tons in 2019 represents a top position in Europe. Compared to the previous year, according to Umwelthilfe, the amount increased by another 47,000 tons or 0.2 percent waste – compared to 2010 it was even 18.1 percent .

The trend towards more and more packaging is being fueled by one-way-to-go products, growing online trade and ever smaller packaging sizes, explained the environmental aid agency.

Appeal to traffic light parties

She urged the traffic light parties to take countermeasures as soon as possible. For this, the introduction of a waste prevention target, the implementation of the reusable quota for beverage packaging of 70 percent and the apportionment of the plastic tax to the responsible companies are necessary.

“There is no longer any way around a legally stipulated avoidance target,” demanded the DUH. “If companies are not obliged to avoid waste, then they will not do it either,” said the deputy DUH federal manager Barbara Metz. Germany must cut packaging waste in half by 2025. The organization believes that retailers and supermarkets in particular have a duty, because this is the only way that customers can behave in an environmentally friendly manner.

Demand for significantly more reusable offers

The Federal Environment Agency UBA also appealed to companies to “check their packaging and systematically optimize it ecologically”. That also includes their recyclability. In addition, significantly more reusable offers would have to be introduced, in addition to beverage packaging in areas such as mail order and consumption to go.

According to the UBA, the reusable share for beverage packaging was 41.8 percent in 2019, well below the statutory target of 70 percent. “This goal obviously cannot be achieved without the introduction of additional measures,” is the conclusion of this authority.

Recycle more packaging waste in 2020

However, the UBA also announced that in 2020 – and thus one year after the statistics described here – the packaging waste from private consumers would be recycled to a large extent. “50.5 percent of the waste collected in yellow bins and sacks … was recycled last year,” said the office. The packaging law requires 50 percent.

The statutory quotas for 2020 were also observed for other packaging materials. For example, 93 percent of the ferrous metal packaging involved in the dual systems was recycled. Around 60 percent of the material used in plastic packaging was recycled. “I can clearly contradict the fairy tale that everything that ends up in a yellow bin or a yellow sack will be burned anyway,” said Lilian Busse, President of the Federal Environment Agency.