Germany’s waste disposal industry is estimated to have exported less plastic waste this year than it has since 2005. About 727,000 tons of plastic waste were brought abroad and eleven percent less than in the previous year, said the waste disposal industry association BDE on request. In 2005 the value was lower at 689,000, in 2012 it was particularly high at 1.51 million. The association justified the development this year by saying that domestic demand for plastic had increased. “The efforts to ensure good recycling of plastic waste in Germany are showing success,” said BDE President Peter Kurth. The average price paid for a ton was reportedly higher than before, at EUR 527 for exports and EUR 550 for imports.
In the shops, the waste is treated as a raw material from which new products are to be made – whether plastic bottles, flower pots, street bollards, packaging or polyester clothes.