Publications

Reach bleibt und hat Folgen (2014)

Lahl, U., Metzger, J.O. (2014): Reach bleibt und hat Folgen. Nachr. Chem., 62: 531-533. https://doi.org/10.1002/nadc.201490161

Europe after 2030 – The Development of Waste Management into an Industrial Location Factor – Update (in German) (2026)

Lahl U., Gosten A., Kummer B., Quicker P., Zeschmar-Lahl, B. (2026): Europa nach 2030 – Die Entwicklung der Abfallwirtschaft zum industriellen Standortfaktor – ein Update. In: Thiel S., Thomé-Kozmiensky E., Quicker P., Gosten A., Stengler E. (Hrsg.): Abfallwirtschaft und Energie 3, 2–19, 2026 (in German)

The authors‘ proposal is to rely on a single central regulation and to achieve a complete conversion of the raw material base of the plastics industry (chemical industry) by 2050 via a ramped-up quota system (defossilization). This would mean that many existing or planned regulatory provisions could be abandoned. As soon as the chemical industry has the clarity to obtain its raw materials from biomass, for example, or by recycling its products, i.e. today‘s waste, design for recycling will automatically become the industry‘s central business model in its value chains.

A defossilization quota proposed by the authors would make it possible to formulate more ambitious targets and allow companies to also choose cheaper options for carbon supply (i.e. biomass and recycling). This would give the waste management industry a new but central role as a future supplier of raw materials to secure the industry‘s future.

By recognizing all three options for defossilization (biomass, recycling, CCU) as equivalent, as well as the equivalence of mechanical and chemical recycling of plastics and biomass, the economy would have the opportunity to develop technology competition and select the most economically advantageous options.

Defossilization would get a boost if today‘s waste incineration (in WtE plants) were to be recognized as chemical recycling if it separates CO2 from the exhaust gas and uses it chemically in the future. At the same time, however, it would be necessary to set the landfilling of municipal waste in Europe to zero and to proceed in a similar way with waste exports to developing and emerging countries.

In terms of industrial policy, Europe is currently in a difficult situation. Especially for member states such as Germany, the survival of their industry is at risk.

In addition to the energy supply, the supply of renewable carbon and its recycling is a crucial asset for the chemical industry. Germany and Europe should therefore continue to develop its internationally leading waste management infrastructure and establish it as a locational advantage.

• vivis: Abfallwirtschaft und Energie

Risk evaluation of perfluorinated surfactants as contribution to the current debate on the EU Commission’s REACH document (in German) (2005)

Fricke, M. and Lahl, U. (2005): Risk evaluation of perfluorinated surfactants as contribution to the current debate on the EU Commission’s REACH document. UWSF – Z. Umweltchem. Ökotox. 17 (1), 36‐49 (in German)

• Springer Nature

Recycling Becomes Feedstock for Europe – Let’s Dare More Autonomy (2026)

Lahl, U., Zeschmar-Lahl, B., Börger, L., Carus, M., vom Berg, C., 2026: Recycling Becomes Feedstock for Europe – Let’s Dare More Autonomy. https://doi.org/10.52548/LFPX3960

The publication shows how the goal of transforming or defossilizing Europe’s industry can be implemented step by step. The key points were developed on the basis of discussions within the EU think tank of the DGAW, presented and discussed at specialist conferences, and combined in this paper with research results from the nova-Institute.

It shows how legal areas can be better integrated at the EU level, which will lead to new priorities for industry and waste management. This includes classifying all recycling technologies, from mechanical and physical to chemical processes and even incineration with CO₂ capture and utilization, as equivalent, as all processes are needed for the conversion of the various waste fractions and target products. Overall, the ten proposals derived and analyzed in the paper also lead to a significant reduction in administrative burdens.

There are some important proposals that build on instruments already introduced by the EU, such as substitution quotas for selected plastics sectors. The authors also mention proposals that are currently being discussed or put forward by Member States. However, there are also proposals to phase out existing regulations. It is important that the proposals build on each other and are implemented in a coordinated manner as part of a coherent, step-by-step overall package.

Fortunately, greater autonomy is becoming increasingly mainstream in the EU and is also one of the cornerstones of the new EU Council Presidency. However, until this is put into practice, greater autonomy and resilience will remain nothing more than a narrative. And the road to achieving this will be paved with difficulties.

• Download

Metrics are the key: development of criteria and indicators for measuring sustainability in international chemicals management (2025)

C. Blum, B. Zeschmar-Lahl, E. Heidbüchel, H. C. Stolzenberg, K. Kümmerer, A. Becker and H. Friege: Metrics are the key: development of criteria and indicators for measuring sustainability in international chemicals management. RSC Sustainability, 2025, D5SU00135H. DOI: 10.1039/D5SU00135H. Received 26th February 2025, accepted 8th August 2025, first published on 2nd September 2025

• RSC Sustainability (open access)

Supplementary files:

• Supplementary information PDF (222K)
• Supplementary information PDF (93K)

The new market for recycling additives – Need for action by the legislator (Müll und Abfall, 2025, in German)

Lahl U., Zeschmar-Lahl B. (2025): Der neue Markt an Recycling-Additiven – Handlungsbedarf für den Gesetzgeber. Müll und Abfall 7, 376-382. https://doi.org/10.37307/j.1863-9763.2025.07.03

In recent years, a market for chemical additives to improve the quality of plastic recyclates has been established. High growth opportunities are expected for these additives. The products are very diverse and can be used, for example, for the post-stabilization of recyclates or to reduce unpleasant odors. There are also products on the market that can repair damaged polymers. And additives are available that improve the miscibility of inhomogeneous sorting fractions. On behalf of a plastics recycler, the authors have attempted to find out the chemical identity and basic formulation of these plastic additives. However, this information is mostly not disclosed. Even in the available safety data sheets, the composition of these products was regularly not included. Only in individual cases, declarable individual substances have been specified. However, it is known from discussions and the gray literature that highly reactive substances are sometimes used for these products, which are to be added directly to the hot melt in the extruder. Now that the SME recycling industry is already confronted with plastic waste containing banned additives from the past (risk cycle, legacy-chemicals), a new problem is emerging for the future: are these practices sufficiently safe? The authors advise caution here and therefore advise against the use of recycling additives whose chemical identity and basic formulation are not disclosed.

• Müll und Abfall 7 (2025)

Europe after 2030 – The development of waste management into an industrial location factor (Müll und Abfall, 2025, in German)

Gosten A., Holländer R., Kummer B., Lahl U., Quicker P., Reichert D., Zeschmar-Lahl B. (2025): Europa nach 2030 – Die Entwicklung der Abfallwirtschaft zum industriellen Standortfaktor. Müll und Abfall 5, 277-296. https://doi.org/10.37307/j.1863-9763.2025.05.06

„After almost 40 years of amendments to the existing Waste Management and Circular Economy Act, it is time to reprioritise legislation in the coming German and European legislative periods in order to combine the aspects of resources,
climate neutrality, environmental impact and Europe as a business location.

The development or transformation of waste management can make an important contribution to maintaining Europe as an industrial location.

To achieve this, the existing legal framework, which begins with the last user’s ‚will to dispose‘ of a product, must be changed. The structures, terminology and objectives of the relevant laws must be redefined and adjusted.

To this end, ten priority fields of action with concrete implementation proposals and regulatory recommendations for political and social decision-makers are presented. It not only explains why the carbon cycle is a leading factor for the further development of waste management and Europe as a business location, but also which regulatory levers should be activated.“

• Müll und Abfall 5 (2025)

Third-generation biodegradable plastics – A complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem (2025)

The amount of plastic produced worldwide has reached 400 million metric tonnes in 2022. Estimated 3–5% of this amount ends up in the environment, where it poses significant threats to ecosystems and biodiversity. Littering, a growing global challenge, requires a combination approach to tackle its causes and mitigate its impact. There are different strategies to combat littering. But even with immediate and concerted action to reduce consumption of plastics, more than 700 million tonnes of plastic waste will cumulatively enter the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems until 2040. Waste management systems, even if improved, do not have sufficient capacity at the global level to cope with the huge mass of plastics entering the environment. Especially for plastic, which will foreseeable and inevitably enter the environment, where it can persist for hundreds of years (‘forever’ plastics), a solution is needed. Biodegradable plastics, that meet the criteria of ‘Safe and Sustainable by Design’ (SSbD) offer innovation perspectives and can be a complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem.

Lahl, R., Bleischwitz, R., Lahl, U., Zeschmar-Lahl, B. (2025): Third-generation biodegradable plastics – A complementary strategy to tackle the marine litter problem. Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy 2025, 44, 101925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scp.2025.101925

• Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy (2025)

Material Recycling of Plastics—A Challenge for Sustainability (2024)

The complexity of plastic polymers and even more so of additives has increased enormously in recent years. This makes the material recycling of plastic waste considerably more difficult, especially in the case of mixed plastic waste. Some additives have now been strictly regulated or even completely banned for good reasons (‘legacy additives’). Material or mechanical recycling generally uses old plastics that still contain these substances. Consequently, products that are manufactured using such recyclates are contaminated with these harmful substances. This poses a major challenge for sustainability, as there is a conflict of objectives between protecting the health of consumers, especially vulnerable groups, conserving resources and recycling, keeping material cycles ‘clean’ and destroying pollutants, and transporting them to a safe final sink. With regard to the first objective, we recommend avoiding the use of contaminated recyclates for products with intensive contact with consumers (‘contact-sensitive products’) until further notice.

In our recent article “Material Recycling of Plastics—A Challenge for Sustainability” we also show that the climate policy challenges for the plastics (and chemical) industry necessitate defossilization (‘feedstock change’). This turnaround can only succeed if solely closed-loop recycling takes place in the future; recyclates should primarily replace virgin plastics. For material or mechanical recycling, this means that this can only work if used plastics with a high degree of homogeneity and known formulation are collected separately, as is already the case today with PET bottles. The objective of this article is to illustrate the increasing complexity of plastic polymers and additives, especially legacy additives, which will force a legislative readjustment of todays’ material recycling.

Lahl U.,  Zeschmar-Lahl B. (2024): Material Recycling of Plastics—A Challenge for Sustainability. Sustainability 2024, 16, 6630. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156630

• Sustainability (2024)

Kunststoffe in der Abfallwirtschaft – closing the loop?

Lahl U., Lechtenberg D., Zeschmar-Lahl B. (2024): Kunststoffe in der Abfallwirtschaft – closing the loop?
Österr Wasser- und Abfallw (2024) 76, 7–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00506-024-01059-y

The circular economy will be an important, if not the decisive source of raw materials for the European economy after 2030. This applies not only to the supply of metals, but also to non-fossil carbon. What about the fossil carbon in the stock (plastics)? Only if it is recycled will it not have a climate impact. However, there is currently no reliable data available on the substitution of virgin plastics with recyclates (closed loop recycling) for the relevant plastic application areas (packaging, construction products, waste electrical and electronic equipment, vehicles). In our opinion, the feedstock change (“defossilisation”) in the plastics and chemical industry that is necessary from a climate policy perspective can only succeed if physical and chemical recycling is focussed on substituting “virgin plastic” in the future. The additives contained in long-lasting plastic products pose a problem here. Many of these substances are now banned or strictly regulated (legacy additives). The additives are usually recycled together with the material during mechanical recycling. The data on the contamination of recyclates from used plastics with hazardous or banned substances is a cause for concern. Based on the data available and its toxicological assessment, we recommend a moratorium on the use of recyclates for products with a high “user proximity” (contact-sensitive products like food packaging, kitchen utensils, toys, textiles, indoor products). Recyclates from closed, monitored product cycles should not be subject to this moratorium.

• ÖWAW (2024)