The German government has published the National Circular Economy Strategy, which outlines Germany’s existing raw materials policy strategy.

More recently, the German government released the National Circular Economy Strategy, which outlines Germany's vision of a transitory circle economy for various spheres of life and combines the existing strategic approaches toward raw materials policies for such formulation.

Germany, according to the NKWS, produces 5.7 million tons of waste plastics annually, of which 64% is incinerated, and only 35% is recycled. The recycling rate of post-consumer waste plastics amounts to 33%. NKWS added that most plastics are mechanically recycled in Germany, where chemical recycling is practiced in only 26,000 tons/year.

The NKWS also set two 2045 goals for the plastics industry:

Gradually increase the proportion of post-consumer recycled materials while improving sorting and recycling capabilities;

Increase the proportion of recycled materials used in plastic products, distinguished by material type (such as PET, PP, PVC and PS).

To achieve these goals, the NKWS also proposed several specific measures, mainly including the following:

Reduce the types of materials

As product demand grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to develop new types of plastics. However, the introduction of new types of plastics increases the difficulty of tracking pure waste streams, establishing economically viable recycling infrastructure, and achieving plastic recycling. The government should initiate a dialogue with industry to explore voluntary reductions in material diversity, especially for thermoplastics.

In this regard, Dr. Alexander Kronimus, President of the German branch of the European Plastics Association, said: "Material diversity is a guarantee for material innovation and product performance improvement. If the circular economy strategy is actually to intervene in the market and impose requirements on the use of polymers, it must be made clear that these requirements only apply at the product level, otherwise the federal government's circular economy strategy will be counterproductive."

Recycled material content

NKWS also advocates the introduction of mandatory recycled material ratios and recommends that they be agreed at EU level in the medium and long term.

Incentives for the establishment of recycling systems and technological innovations. Introduce material-specific ratios, stipulating that certain plastic varieties must use a certain proportion of recycled materials. Reduce the environmental footprint, increase the demand for recycled materials, improve their market competitiveness, and promote investment in the chemical and plastics industries.

Consider introducing a subsidy system for recycled materials and develop a demonstration concept for the plastics industry. The subsidy amount can refer to the "carbon difference contract" model, linked to the greenhouse gas emissions saved by using recycled materials instead of newly produced plastics, and permanently improve the competitiveness of recycled materials. In this way, the market can decide for itself in which product applications to use recycled materials.

Germany launched a carbon CFD in October 2024 to compensate for the difference between the actual cost of carbon-neutral production processes and the cost of traditional production processes (minus emission certificates), reduce the impact of market price risks on enterprises, and enable green transformation enterprises to obtain economic benefits faster.

Standardization

NKWS supports the launch of standardization work at the national and European levels to reduce barriers to the application of recycled materials.

The German Institute for Standardization's standardization roadmap clearly points out the need for revisions and new standards, especially in plastics. The current standards mainly deal with mechanical recycling processes and fail to fully reflect all dimensions of the recycling process. These gaps in standardization, especially according to the statement of the standardization roadmap, involve hazardous substances, additives in compounding processes, and odors and emissions in chemical analysis. Additional standards should be developed specifically for standardized assessments of life cycle costs, standards for assessing the reusability of plastics and their waste, and industry standards for the reusability of plastic packaging.

Chemical recycling

NKWS also recommends that material recycling processes should be further developed and increased, and chemical recycling should be developed for material streams that cannot currently be mechanically recycled.

The industry considers the "fuel exemption" mass balance approach as a "prerequisite for investment in chemical recycling." The NKWS said the German government “supports this mass balance approach and supports it in the coordination process at EU level.”