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Plastics recycling in Europe: opportunities and challenges

Organizer of the K 2013 plastics and rubber show in Europe shares insights on the state of plastics recycling in Europe, including hurdles and new technologies.

Pw 53201 Recycling Europe

From the 1960s through the 1980s, the plastics industry in Europe gave little thought to sensible ways of disposing of or recovering waste plastics. By 1991, the issue shifted into the spotlight when the German Packaging Ordinance came into effect. Taking the lead at the time, Germany was the first country to set up rules for the recovery of plastic waste and to establish them on the market. Since then, many countries in Europe have developed highly successful strategies for collection and recovery.

According to surveys by PlasticsEurope, about 47 million tonnes (approximately 52 million U.S. tons) of plastic were consumed in the 27 countries of the EU plus Switzerland and Norway in 2011—40% for nondurable and 60% for durable applications. In the same year, some 25 million tonnes (27.5 million tons) of waste plastic were collected—40% going to landfill, and 60% being recovered.
The waste from collection systems for used packages accounted for more than 60% of this, followed by products from the construction, automotive, and electronics sectors.

Exemplary collection systems are in place in nine European countries (listed in descending order): Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg, with collection rates ranging from 99% to 92%. At the same time, six of these countries have the highest recycling rates in Europe: Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria, with rates of 35% to 26%. The remaining collected waste is recovered to generate energy by incineration.

PET bottles are also amenable to single-grade sorted-waste collection and processing. The spectrum of products made from them range from fibers and films to new bottles. A large variety of suppliers, including Austrian companies Starlinger & Co. GmbH in Vienna, NGR GmbH in Feldkirchen, and Erema GmbH in Ansfelden, have developed special recycling lines for PET. Gneuss Kunststofftechnik GmbH in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, is successful in the marketplace with its MRS extruder, for which FDA approval has even been obtained.

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