April 19, 2024

The updated article by Prof. Dr. habil. Uwe Lahl and his two co-authors on the topic of “Plastics recycling and hazardous substances – risk cycle” has been published in the  journal Müll und Abfall 4, 2024.

The production of new plastic articles has become increasingly demanding in terms of polymers and additive formulations. Can the recycling of mixed packaging plastics even meet today’s requirements for new products? We believe this is illusory. An honest assessment of the performance of post-consumer (PC) recycling of plastic packaging (packaging sold vs. recyclates in new products) for Germany shows: The result of quantitative material recycling is rather meager (perhaps 20%) and the recycled products are of inferior quality. Due to the overwhelming amount of data on hazardous substances (“legacy additives”) in plastic recyclates, we recommend that they no longer be used in consumer-related products (children’s toys, food contact materials/packaging, interior products, textiles, etc.).

Below you will find a link to the order form at Erich Schmidt Verlag.

March 25, 2024

We have been advising Wienerberger AG on the further development of its sustainability management for several years. This includes scientific advice on the preparation of the report on non-financial performance in accordance with the Sustainability and Diversity Improvement Act (NaDiVeG) and sustainability reporting in accordance with the GRI standard; this was also the case for the combined Annual and Sustainability Report 2023, which has been available for download on Wienerberger’s website since March 25, 2024.

February 8,  2024

The article by Prof. Dr. habil. Uwe Lahl and his two co-authors on the subject of “Plastics recycling and hazardous substances – Risk Cycle” (in German: Kunststoffrecycling und gefährliche Stoffe – Risk Cycle) has been published in the proceedings of the Berlin Conference on Waste Management and Energy – “Abfallwirtschaft und Energie 1” – by TK-Verlag.

Referring to current studies and scientific publications, the authors argue that the use of post-consumer recyclates (from packaging or technical products) for the manufacture of products with direct contact to humans should be discontinued for the time being. This applies in particular to children’s toys, food contact material (FCM)/packaging, indoor products and synthetic fibers.

Packaging should rather be collected unmixed in a controlled manner via extended deposit and return systems and sent for high-quality material recycling (closed loop, same product types such as PET bottles to PET bottles, PET trays to PET trays).

In the medium term, the existing separate collection of lightweight packaging could be converted into a dry collection of recyclable materials, for example to include plastics that were previously not recyclable or difficult to recycle (e.g. technical plastic products) and make them available for chemical recycling.

Below you will find a link to order the conference proceedings and to download the presentation at the conference in German and English.

December 31, 2023

In December 2023, the book “Antriebswende”, edited by Baden-Württemberg’s Minister for Transport Winfried Hermann, was published by the Molino-Verlag (only in German). Our expert for innovative fuels, Uwe Lahl, contributed the chapter on “Chemical energies”.

Unfortunately, a mistake has crept into the text on page 71. “Conclusion on efficiency” should start with:

Die Flächeneffizienz ist ein “pro” für das ICE. Hingegen ist die Antriebseffizienz das zentrale »pro«, was für das BEV spricht.
(The space efficiency is a “pro” for the ICE. Propulsion efficiency, on the other hand, is the key “pro” in favor of the BEV.)

Abbreviations:
ICE = Internal Combustion Engine
BEV = Battery Electric Vehicle

December 18, 2023

January 30, 2024

Prof. Dr. habil. Uwe Lahl, Senior Expert for the chemical recycling of post-consumer plastic waste, will give a presentation on “Plastics Recycling and Hazardous Substances – Risk Cycle” (Kunststoffrecycling und gefährliche Stoffe – Risk Cycle) at the Berlin Conference on Waste Management and Energy and will take part in the subsequent panel discussion on the “Future of the Circular Economy”. You can download the program flyer via the link below.