German packaging waste (on)

In order to solve the world's three major crises of population, environment and resources, the world has set off a tide of environmental protection, resource conservation and sustainable development. Germany is at the forefront of this world trend and has taken the lead in establishing the Dual System Deutscheland (DSD), also known as the Green Point Company, a German two-way system marked by the "Green Dot", and has carried out fruitful work on the waste recycling. Have achieved satisfactory results. This article introduces the organization, operation and resource utilization of DSD.
Establishment and spread On June 12, 1990, the German government promulgated the first packaging waste disposal regulations - "Packaging - Packaging Waste Disposal Act", which aims to reduce the production of packaging waste. For unavoidable disposable packaging waste, regulations must be reused or recycled. The regulations also oblige manufacturers to be responsible not only for products, but also responsible for the recovery of their packaging, and to instruct the companies engaged in transportation, agency, sales, packaging companies, and wholesalers to recycle the packaging after their use. It chose to delegate the responsibility for recycling to a recycling company that specializes in recycling. The DSD system is a company that specializes in waste recycling established in accordance with this Act.
The scope of DSD recycling is limited to sales of packaging waste. In the packaging waste composition used in Germany each year, sales packaging accounts for 48.4% (lifepacking and commercial waste packaging), transportation packaging accounts for 26.8%, and multipurpose packaging accounts for 14. 7%, 8.7% for commercial and industrial packaging, 0.8% for household packaging, and 0.4% for hazardous packaging. DSD is responsible for recycling the largest part of the waste packaging. Other packaging is recycled by other recycling organizations. For example, the transportation packaging is recycled by the material recycling company PESY. The industrial and corporate plastic packaging is recycled by RIGK Co., Ltd. Tinplate packaging is recycled by KBS, and building materials packaging and polyurethane foam plastics are recycled by POR. Co-existing with DSD Cologne's raw material recycling association Vfw also recycles its sales and packaging. It is Green Dot's main competitor.
According to statistics of DSD, the total amount of solid waste (garbage) produced in Germany in a year is about 400 million tons (including industry, construction, mines, and household garbage), and 40 million tons of domestic garbage is produced in residential areas. About 11.6 million tons are reused. German regulations stipulate that the recycling efficiency index for various types of packaging wastes ranges from 60% to 75%. Due to the excellent operation of DSD, in 2001, various types of packaging waste recycling indicators exceeded the requirements of regulations, as shown in Table 1.
Those who exceed the figures in the table are those packages that have been recycled with no green dot mark. For paper packaging, participating in the Green Point company is 891,723 tons that should be recycled, and 1,847,941 tons actually recycled.
Under the influence of legislation on mandatory recycling of packaging waste, the European Union also passed the “EU Packaging Guidelines” on December 20, 1994. The Guidelines, like the German regulations, place priority on recycling. The order of packaging waste disposal is: reduction, recycling, material recycling (degradable materials that cannot be reused), incineration and energy reuse, landfill and composting; packaging guidelines require all member states All measures must be taken to establish a recycling system for waste packaging that uses recycling marks. Packaging manufacturers must use recycled packaging, and third-party recycling must pay for the use of environmentally friendly recycling marks. The Guidelines require member states to The waste recycling and utilization index is lower than the German regulations. In 2001, the recycling rate reached 50%. The recycling rate of each packaging material waste must be at least 15%. Countries that have adopted the “Green Point” recycling mark have since been spreading in the European Union and other countries and have reached 16 so far. They are: Austria (1993), Belgium (1994), Czech Republic (2000), France (1993), Hungary (2001), Greece (2002), Ireland (1998), Latvia (2000), Luxembourg (1995), Norway ( 2000), Poland (2002), Portugal (1997), Spain (1996), Sweden (2001), Canada (2001), United States (2001).
The use of the “Green Point” mark by the EU countries to complete the recycling situation is worse than that of Germany. The main reason is that the recycling rate of plastic packaging is low, and only four countries have reached the EU's packaging guidelines. (To be continued)