Back to the cycle
So far, a lot of plastic waste cannot be recycled. Therefore, chemical processes should produce a kind of crude oil from the materials - or new, high-quality substances. However, it remains to be seen whether this really helps to solve the plastic problem.
In Germany, six million tons of plastic waste accumulated in 2017. Every German citizen produced an average of 38 kilograms of plastic packaging waste - a total of 3 million tons. Within the EU, only the Luxembourgers, Irish and Estonians threw away more single-use packaging. The other half of the plastic waste comes from consumer goods, electronic components, construction and the transport and traffic sector. After all, Germany recycled almost half of it in 2017, the rest was thermally recycled - i.e. burned to generate electricity. Depending on the type, plastic has a considerable calorific value because its high-polymeric organic compounds are mainly produced from fossil raw materials such as oil, gas and coal. Therefore, the climate-damaging emissions over the course of its life cycle are also enormous.
Couldn't this plastic waste then be converted back into raw materials? Or could one even create higher-quality products from plastic waste? Wouldn't the best way be a sustainable "circular economy" in which all products, materials and resources are fully recycled at the end of their useful life instead of being incinerated, shipped or landfilled?
These are hopeful ideas that are now being pursued more intensely than ever…
