WASTE PLASTICS RECYCLING A GOOD PRACTICES GUIDE

BY AND FOR LOCAL & REGIONAL AUTHORITIES

Figure 7: Waste plastics generation by activity (50kg/European/year)

Source APME, 200027

Quantities of waste plastics from E&EE and ELVs are similar (2 kg/inh/y). The recovery of these
streams calls for dismantling to separate plastics from the rest. For waste E&EE, many composites
are found and their dismantling presents a new challenge for which solutions are investigated to
comply with the European directive on E&EE.

Table 9: Total Consumption & Recovery of Plastics by End-use Sector (x1,000 tonnes)
Consumption
Available
Recycling
Energy
Landfill
to collect
Recovery
Incineration
Agriculture

953

286

161

125

Automotive

2669

851

61

35

755

Building
& Construction

6710

530

58

472

Industry

1982
4130

1418

441

2271

854

34

816

13324

1087

4103

8139

19980

2819

4583

12578

Incl.
Packaging**

3987

Electrical &
Electronic

2783

Household/
Domestic
Incl.Packaging**

8501
10538

TOTAL

38123
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Source: APME 2002

27 & 28-

An analysis of plastics consumption and recovery in Western Europe 2000 APME Spring 2002

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WASTE PLASTICS RECYCLING A GOOD PRACTICES GUIDE

BY AND FOR LOCAL & REGIONAL AUTHORITIES

C&D activities may be divided into construction, renovation and demolition activities. Construction
activities generate mainly packaging waste which can be contaminated by cement, sand and
plaster. They generate also off-cuts and damaged materials. The renovation and demolition waste
comprise long-lived applications (e.g. roofing, flooring, pipes and frames). The difference between
renovation and demolition waste plastics is that the waste from renovation are easier to collect
because their collection does not need, or needs only little extra work for its dismantling or separation.
The agriculture sector (1 kg/inh/y) is the sector with less waste plastics production. However, most
applications here are short or medium lifespan (packaging, silage film, greenhouses etc).
Data on waste management practices identifies the weight of material that is currently being landfilled/ incinerated. There is considerable scope to divert much of this material into viable collection
and recovery operations.
Waste plastics generation and management by country
The waste plastics generation is not uniform across Europe, but differs between countries from
29 kg/inh/year in Greece to 73 kg/inh/year in Switzerland. These differences can be explained in part
by differences in the consumption patterns of specific polymers and plastic products (PVC with long
life applications is common in Germany but not in Greece).
This variation can also be seen in the management of waste plastics between European countries.
Plastic recycling (including feedstock recycling in Austria and Germany) varies between ~2 per cent
in Greece to ~29 per cent in Germany whilst energy recovery practices range between ~6 per cent
in the UK to ~75 per cent in Denmark. It is estimated however, that of the amount of waste
plastics available to collect (~19.5 Mt in 2000), 12.4 Mt (EU-15 countries) was disposed to landfill
or sent to incineration (without energy recovery) equivalent to 66 per cent of collectable plastics.
The figures above were estimated by consultants Taylor Nelson Sofres for APME.

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