Analysis and further development of the recycling quotas of the VerpackG (German Packaging Act) as a steering instrument for resource conservation

The research project "Analysis and further development of the recycling quotas of the VerpackG (German Packaging Act) as a steering instrument for resource conservation" (FKZ 3722 34 310 0) serves to create the scientific basis for the review and, if necessary, adaptation of the requirements for the recycling of packaging waste of § 16 VerpackG against the legal background of the review obligation in § 16 para. 7 VerpackG. This is done with a view to the practice of sorting and recycling, the state of the art, the composition of the Light packaging collection mixture and, if necessary, the sorting and recycling capacities available in the future, as well as on the basis of a weak point analysis with regard to the functionality of the quota determination and accompanying instruments. For this purpose, the status quo of the recycling results and the potentials for increasing the recycling rates qualitatively and quantitatively are examined, in each case separately for:

• packaging subject to system participation and
• transport packaging not subject to system participation as well as sales packaging and secondary packaging.

For packaging subject to system participation, the project team examines the status quo of the recycling results of the dual systems against the background of the calculation method for the recycling quotas. Insofar as quantitative and qualitative deficits in the collection and recovery infrastructure can be determined, bundles of measures for the development of existing steering measures will be developed for this purpose and possible adjustments to the quotas in § 16 VerpackG will be proposed.

For transport packaging not subject to system participation as well as sales packaging and secondary packaging, data on accumulation points, accumulation quantities, material composition and waste management are determined and processed. On this basis, the team examines obstacles and potential for improvement for (high-quality) recycling of these types of packaging and then develops a set of measures and instruments for reducing the obstacles and tapping the potential.