Sustainably packaged?
Not all packaging is as green as it seems
Created: 09/10/2022, 20:01
By: Stella Henrich
Packaging actually makes sense.
They protect products from breakage and damage during transport.
Online retailers in particular are happy to refer consumers to the use of sustainable materials.
But are they really?
Munich - Not only ex-Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze has already urged saving packaging waste.
Whether coffee-to-go in paper cups or the break salad in the disposable box.
The current Federal Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, and his ministerial colleague from the Environment Agency, Steffi Lemke, are also continuing to fight against the garbage.
Solutions that help against the "pollution crisis" and climate change are now much more in demand than before the pandemic and especially than before Russia's war against Ukraine, the ministers said in May this year at the Munich environmental trade fair IFAT.
With her policy, Environment Minister Lemke wants to strengthen the circular economy in all phases of the product and material cycle.
For example, the concept of circular economy must be taken into account during product design so that products are easier to repair and recycle.
The Federal Republic will fully support corresponding plans of the EU Commission, EUWID, the European economic service, quotes the minister.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke at the Munich trade fair IFAT in May of this year.
© Messe Munich GmbH
From Minister Lemke's point of view, "too many fossil raw materials are still used" in packaging.
But this is not a law of nature.
Changes can be achieved here through statutory targets.
In addition, disposable packaging would have to be made less attractive and reusable products would have to become the new standard.
At least that's what politics demands.
Criticism of packaging: ecological added value questionable
But the practice is currently different.
It is true that consumers are now attaching more and more importance to sustainability - especially to sustainable packaging.
Which the provider also reacts to - but not always sustainably.
“In the course of plastic bashing, more and more fiber-based packaging is being produced.
For pasta, coffee and sausage, for example,” the central office for packaging registers now announces in a press release.
Although these suggested ecological added value to consumers, in reality they were often more difficult to recycle than single-variety plastic packaging.
Obstacles also arise with packaging such as waste glass.
With proper disposal and sorting, used glass can be easily recycled.
However, if there are certain material combinations, the assessment according to the Central Packaging Register Office looks different again.
This applies to bottles that are covered with a fine metal mesh or demijohns.
In addition, product residues from nail polish that remain in the bottle, or bitumen that sticks in the bucket, as well as wax or various chemical and building materials also had a negative effect on the recyclability of the packaging.
A total of 18.9 million tonnes of packaging waste
was generated in Germany in 2018
.
This corresponds to an average of 227.5 kilograms of packaging waste per capita.
Packaging consumption has increased continuously by 17.9 percent since 2010.
This is shown by the latest figures from the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) on the volume and recycling of packaging in Germany.
Private households cause 47 percent of the total amount, i.e. over 8.9 million tons or 107.7 kilograms per capita.
That is 20.6 percent more than in 2010.
Source: Federal Environment Ministry
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Packaging trends: Paper cups coated on both sides are not sustainable
Aside from composite packaging, there are obviously other packaging trends that are not beneficial from a recycling point of view.
Here, the Central Office mentions the increasing number of PET films and trays as well as paper cups coated on both sides.
The same applies to the increasing proportion of packaging made of materials such as wood, bamboo or textiles, which have proven to be unsustainable.
In the sorting of the waste, these would not even be sorted out.
The recyclability according to the minimum standard is therefore equal to zero.
In practice, they would not be recycled but incinerated, according to the Central Agency.
Sense and purpose of the Packaging Act:
The minimum standard for measuring the recyclability of packaging
according to the Packaging Act provides answers as to
when packaging is recyclable and when not .
It is published year after year by the Central Office for Packaging Register and offers
support for the ecological improvement of packaging.
The minimum standard 2022 has now been presented.
The aims of the
Packaging Act
are
environmental protection and fair competition
.
It should help to conserve natural resources.
The basic requirement for this is to avoid waste and to recycle it in the best possible way and to keep raw materials in the cycle.
The law obliges manufacturers to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of their packaging.
For example, the one-way deposit for beverage packaging is regulated in the Packaging Act.
Source:
Umweltbundesamt.de
The plastics strategy of the European Commission envisages that ten million tonnes of recycled plastics will be used in the EU every year from 2025.
Even better.
The consumer organization Foodwatch has repeatedly called for plastic packaging for fruit and vegetables to be banned, similar to the one in France.
Then there would be nothing left to recycle.
Yuck, mold!
You can still eat these foods
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