A Review of Recent Trends to Increase the Share of Post-Consumer Packaging Waste to Recycling in Europe

Abstract

Through the Circular Economy Package, the EU aims to reduce material imports and environmental impacts of waste management. Ambitious recycling targets should help to achieve these objectives. As a response, the waste industry developed technical and organizational solutions that can intervene at different stages of a waste management system in order to increase the recovery of recycling materials, starting with improved separate collection over the use of modern material recovery facilities up to the enhanced treatment of waste incineration ashes. The large question is how each of these options can contribute to increase recycling rates to achieve a circular economy. By reviewing case studies as presented in the most recent literature published since the year 2010 from European countries on the recycling of post-consumer packaging waste of glass, metals, paper, and plastics, this study contributes to answer this question. In the first stage, the review found 644 articles matching with the search terms and published since the year 2010. Of these, 46 remained for an in-depth analysis, since 319 did not present case studies as defined in the scope of this article. The articles reviewed provide a good overview on the state of knowledge on increasing recycling of post-consumer packaging waste by improved separate collection, material recovery facilities, and waste incineration bottom ash treatment. Additional information and case studies, however, are required, particularly large-scale experiments to test new separate collection systems, large-scale with different feedstock material at the most-modern material recovery facilities and waste incineration bottom ash treatment plants.

The environmental performance of plastic packaging waste management in Germany: Current and future key factors

“…Participation in source separation is influenced by a variety of factors, for example, consumption patterns and consumer behavior (Knickmeyer, 2020; Minelgaite & Liobikiene, 2019; Tong et al., 2018). An intensified use of material recovery facilities for residual waste is being discussed, particularly in urban areas with little participation in source separation, to exploit the resource potential in the residual waste (Lederer et al., 2022). In Germany, MBT is implemented as a low‐intensity type of a material recovery facility, applied to 17% of residual waste (BMU, 2018), without separating plastics for recycling.…”