German packaging waste management: a successful voluntary agreement with less successful environmental effects

Abstract:

The Duales System Deutschland (DSD) is an association of the German packaging industry to collect, sort and recycle packaging waste from consumers. While it can be called a voluntary agreement, it was established in response to the regulatory threat from the German Packaging Ordinance of imposing individual collection and recycling duties for every packaging producer and distributor. The DSD fulfils most of the conditions for a successful voluntary agreement. German packaging waste management is less successful in its environmental effects, however, as it prioritizes recycling over waste avoidance. Whereas avoidance can save the full resource and energy content of economized packages, recycling leads to a partial recovery of the natural resources and energy embodied in waste packages only. The EU Packaging Waste Directive follows the basic principle of the German Packaging Ordinance and systems similar to DSD have been established in other European countries. There is the danger that a specific form of packaging waste management becomes locked in which sets free an innovative potential for recycling technologies, but neglects a similar potential for waste avoidance.