Disposal of packaging waste

Most goods are delivered in plastic, metal, paper or glass packaging materials, which are later discarded and buried in landfill sites. Plastic is used ever more frequently as it is lightweight and impermeable. By 1999, it is expected that households will throw away 1 billion tonnes of plastic a year.

Reprocessing capacity is not yet large enough to handle waste material that people are willing to recycle. In Germany, capacity is 250,000 tonnes, but as of 1993 450,000 tonnes of material had been gathered for recycling. Exportation of the surplus waste to other countries only exacerbates those countries' waste disposal problems in turn.

Packaging waste constitutes around a quarter of household waste, which in turn constitutes around 6% of total waste. The amounts of packaging waste per person in 1991 were: in the Netherlands, 156 kg; Japan, 163 kg; West Germany, 125 kg; France, 181 kg; Britain, 134 kg; USA, 210 kg.

3.1% less packaging material was used in 1992 than in 1991 in Germany. For packaging alone, the USA uses approximately 50% of its paper, 75% of its glass, 40% of its aluminium and 30% of its plastics. In 1993, only about one eighth of household waste in Europe was recycled.