recovery

 

Recovery is one key issue for BDP market introduction - there is a

  • need to close substance cycles and for recycling
  • chance to implement new efficient recycling / recovery solutions
  • excellent opportunity to realize cost benefits (driver)

 

Packaging products have a short life and they are difficult to recycle, as they are frequently soiled with food residues. Composting is an alternative way of recycling which does not need complex infrastructure and thus is very cost-efficient.

  • In many European countries, composting is used for the recovery of disposed organic materials. In D composting is established almost nationwide ("biobin")
  • For packagings, the legal requirements for packaging recovery (Packaging Directives) can be fulfilled by using composting as recovery method (EU)
  • Other options, e.g. anaerobic digestion, thermal conversion, are also possible (regional infrastructure)
  • Requires a legal body, which operates the waste management (e.g. "dual system" for packaging products)
  • Germany: Interseroh is building up a dual system for compostable BDP packaging (composting for recovery) - Kassel is a role model for it.

Composting of PLA (Picture: Cargill Dow)

The city of Kassel is located in the middle of Germany, about 200 km north-east of Frankfurt. Starting April 2001, the city's 200,000 inhabitants will be able to buy a range of different compostable packaged products in their retail stores. After use, compostable packagings shall be disposed of in the biobin. The purchasing and sorting habits of the consumers will be studied until end of 2002. In Kassel source separated collection of biowaste (i.e. the biobin) has been in uses since 1994.
Kassel's municipal hauler, Die Stadtreiniger Kassel, supports the project and encourages citiziens to throw BDP-packaging into the biobins. BDP-packaging has to be certified as fully compostable by the DIN CERTCO institute, Berlin. The Environmental Ministry of the State of Hessia has passed regulations that the biobin is classified as a dual system according to the Packaging Ordinance; this dual system is organised by the Interseroh AG, Cologne.