An "ecological balance sheet" for plastic packaging waste recycling, drawn up by three scientific bodies for the German packaging waste collection company Duales System Deutschland GmbH (DSD, Frankfurter Str. 720-726, D-51145 Köln), the German plastics producers association Verband Kunststofferzeugende Industrie (VKE, Karlstr. 21, D-60329 Frankfurt) and the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe (APME, Avenue E. van Nieuwenhuyse 4, B-1160 Brussels), has upheld positions taken earlier by DSD and plastics producers, that material recycling is not always the most environmentally friendly method. Except in cases in which recyclate replaces virgin polymer at a ratio of 1:1, saving resources and reducing pollution, the paper concluded that petrochemical recycling or incineration for energy generation are preferable.

On the whole, "the eco balance" compiled by the Fraunhofer-Institut in Munich, the Technical University (TU) of Berlin and the University of Kaiserslautern, in conjunction with the technical monitoring organisation TÜV Rheinland, said material, petrochemical and energetic valorisation of plastics all have their place and should be used "in sensible combination." Among petrochemical routes, BASF's thermolysis process got high ratings, along with the hydrolysis process used by the Veba Oel-backed KAB plant at Bottrop. The synthesis gas method was seen as less desirable from an ecological standpoint. The study also gave good marks to the use of plastics as a reduction agent in steel production, as is being done by Stahlwerke Bremen. Burning plastics – as a single fuel – to generate energy also was seen as a viable method. The energy route is blocked by the German packaging ordinance, and consequently the technology is not currently being tested. The researchers rejected the idea of incinerating of plastics with household wastes.

Reaction to the eco balance was mixed, as could be expected. While DSD and VKE expressed satisfaction with the results and urged the German government to take them into consideration when revising the federal packaging ordinance, companies engaged in secondary raw materials valorisation or material recycling, along with environmentalists, claimed the study drew false conclusions as it made false comparisons. At the presentation in Bonn, a senior environment ministry official said the eco balance could provide a signal for all involved in plastics recycling. However, he gave no hints as to how - or in which guise – the German packaging legislation might be amended.

READER SERVICE: Eco balance on plastics packaging waste recycling, "Ökobilanzen zur Verwertung von Kunststoffabfällen aus Verkaufspackungen" (abridged version, German): PIE-No. 38300 – 12-page information sheet from APME, DSD, VKE and VCI (German): PIE-No. 38301.