It appears that the plastics regrinders are fighting a losing battle these days in Germany. At least that is the conclusion reached by Herbert Snell, vice president of the German Federation for Secondary Raw Materials and Waste Removal (bvse, Bonn; www.bvse.de). Describing the current situation in the country's plastics recycling sector in early June in Bad Neuenahr at the association's 16th International Plastics Day, Snell found few positive trends to highlight. Indeed, he provided an overview of the picture being painted and it is anything but rosy for the medium-sized companies who dominate this industry segment.

Extended periods of cold and rainy weather, which have dominated the first six months of 2013, have been a major factor, putting the brakes on demand from the classic application areas of construction, landscaping and agriculture as well as the increasingly important beverages segment (rPET), almost bringing the recycling industry to its knees, making the most of forecasts based on strong calculations essentially irrelevant. In addition, a growing number of additional burdens stemming from the rather callous and bureaucratic measures established by Germany's EEG tariffs affecting regrinding operations – who are by definition namely excluded from the charges assessed to extruders. A typical PET recycler of flakes, with roughly an annual throughput of 30,000 t, according to Snell, would thus have additional costs of roughly EUR 300,000 to contend with.

As if these aspects were not enough, the bvse also confirmed the lack of support on the part of the executive. Instead of regrind recycling options being considered, incineration plants are preferred and selected – which are often in the hands of the local communities, which also often play a decisive role in matters involving recycling and waste management. "Waste from plastics is a valuable resource – burning it in incineration plants is an absolute travesty and loss of valuable material and energy potential," argued Snell. The industry representative declared the most important regulatory measures currently (in place) are the "clear precedence of recycling in the new commercial waste ordinance", a strict ban on all pre-treatment of waste and a significant increase in the plastics recycling quotas for all product groups impacted.

Yet, despite all – or perhaps because of – the hurdles to be cleared and difficulties being faced at the moment, the annual international event, organised by the bvse and held 11-12 June, set a new record with 410 participants in attendance, of which 13% represented other nationalities. The standard individual work group sessions such as "Mixed Plastics", "PET Recycling" and "Engineering Plastics" were joined by a new focus area, "Export & Import of Plastics" this year. There were also three workshops spotlighting the United Kingdom, with the "Plastics Recycling and Community" and "Export and Import" of special interest.