Fraunhofer study finds composite packaging undermines German recycling gains
A Fraunhofer Institute Umsicht study commissioned by Interzero found the recycler saved 7.2 million tonnes of primary resources and avoided over 900,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 by recycling about two million tonnes of material across Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy and Slovenia. The study also found rising shares of composite packaging and hard-to-separate materials, such as paper packs with plastic inner linings and multilayer plastics, are limiting recycling yields, while PET's share of light packaging waste fell as more bottles moved into deposit return systems.
Why this mattersDesign flaws in composite and multilayer packaging are shown to cap recycling performance even as processed volumes rise, adding weight to PPWR design-for-recycling requirements.
- Interzero recycled about 2 million tonnes of material in 2025 across Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy and Slovenia
- The activity saved more than 7.2 million tonnes of primary resources, equivalent to the load of 13,439 freight trains
- More than 900,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions were avoided, valued at about EUR 900 million in avoided climate damage costs
- Recycling about 1 million tonnes of plastic saved roughly 3 million barrels of crude oil, equivalent to 9.5 million 50-litre car tank fills
- The share of composite packaging and unsorted waste in Germany's yellow-bag light packaging collection increased
- The share of PET packaging in the yellow bag declined as bottles shifted into the expanded deposit return system