Germany Plastic Waste Management Market Overview, 2028
Despite exporting less plastic waste last year, Germany is still the biggest plastic waste exporter in Europe, according to recent data. This indicates that in 2020, a million tonnes of plastic garbage were transferred to other nations. That was a third less than ten years ago and eight percent less than the previous year. A little less than 1.5 million tonnes of plastic trash were exported in 2010. In Germany, significant effort has been put towards recycling plastics from the early 1990s. This is a part of the German Federal Government's long-term strategy to apply the idea of sustainable development to a range of economic sectors. As a result, Spain is currently the second-largest market in Europe for recovered plastics behind Germany. Where there is minimal room for additional optimization, much progress has been made in recycling pre-consumer plastic trash. However, approximately 20 to 25 percent of post-consumer plastic garbage is thought to be recycled. In addition, depending on the information sources and the year of analysis, the amount of post-consumer plastics waste is greater than the amount of pre-consumer waste by a factor of 3.5 to 5, and this ratio will rise significantly in the future due to waste from long-term applications, whose share will increase in the coming years.
According to the research report “Germany Plastic Waste Management Market Overview, 2028,"" published by Bonafide Research, the market is expected to add USD 173.66 Million in the upcoming period, 2023–2028. Recycling dominates the market for plastic waste in Germany based on service type, which comprises collection and transportation, recycling, incineration, and landfills. Germany is considered a leader in recycling and waste management and its success story comes down to two factors: strong government policies and high public awareness in recycling. The world's highest recycling rate, at 70%, is achieved in Germany. The nation attained this through its waste management regulations, which hold businesses accountable for whether or not their packaging is recyclable and place the onus of disposal on customers once they purchase things. Several states in North America and South Australia, as well as several countries in Europe, have already introduced a deposit refund system (DRS). The programme labels bottles that can be recycled appropriately. Consumers purchase them and pay a deposit, which in Germany runs from €0.08 to €0.25. When the empty bottle is brought back to a retail location, the amount is refunded. The cost of ""one-way"" plastic bottles is higher, although the deposit for reusable glass and plastic bottles typically does not surpass €0.15. A clever tactic to get people to return these environmentally harmful plastics is to charge them differently. In fact, since there is a higher deposit required for non-reusable bottles, customers are more encouraged to return them after use. Additionally, raising the cost of plastic bottles is another strategy to decrease their allure as a product. It also requires extremely hazardous waste to be disposed of below ground in deep salt mines. Compared to about 2,000 in the 1980s, today only about 160 landfill sites for municipal waste exist in Germany.
A staggering 99% of the plastic waste in Germany generated through the consumption of plastic products and not through the manufacturing of another product is being reutilised. However, more than half (61%) of this waste ends up in power plants for thermal utilisation or energy generation. One of the most significant sources is abrasion of car tyres. In Germany, tyre abrasion is responsible for about 100,000 tonnes of microplastics per year – a third of the country's total microplastics input to the environment.
Germany has formally joined the recently established High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution by 2040. An agreement had previously been made in Nairobi in March to begin talks on a legally binding document to stop the pollution of plastics. In order to accelerate the implementation of Resolution 5/14, ""End Plastic Pollution: Towards an International Legally Binding Instrument,"" a collection of like-minded nations have recently established the High Ambition Coalition. As stated at UNEA5.2, Rwanda and Norway will share leadership of the coalition.
Germany was the largest exporter of plastic waste in the European Union in 2021, shipping more than 720,000 tons. Netherlands exported the second largest quantity of plastic waste that year, at roughly 630,000 tons. Turkey has emerged as the main export destination for EU plastic waste in recent years. Some of the plastic waste management companies in Germany are Pekutherm Kunststoffe GmbH, Reiling Plastic Recycling GmbH & Co. KG, SeCo Thale GmbH, RDB plastics GmbH, Re Plano GmbH, Reiling Plastic Recycling, SeCo Thale GmbH, RDB plastics GmbH, Re Plano GmbH, recyclair, Wtert Germany GmbH and many more.
Considered in this report
• Geography: Germany
• Historic year: 2017
• Base year: 2022
• Estimated year: 2023
• Forecast year: 2028
By Service Type
• Collection & transportation
• Recycling
• Incineration
• Landfills
By Source Type
• Residential
• Commercial & institutional
• Industrial
• Others
By Polymer Type
• Polypropylene (PP)
• Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)
• High-density polyethylene (HDPE)
• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
• Polyurethane (PUR)
• Polystyrene (PS)
• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
• Others
The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and listing out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, annual report of companies, analysing the government generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducted trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this we have started doing primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we have started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.
Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to plastic waste management market, government bodies and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.
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