Interview: “When it comes to the availability of scrap and its possible uses, the recyclate content says nothing about ecological performance”

摘要

In their product advertising, more and more companies are referring to a high recyclate content, in other words to a high level of recycled material in their products. A high recyclate content is often equated to avoidance of waste and eco-friendliness. It conveys a positive product and company image, and ultimately a positive image of the industry as well. This form of green marketing can also be observed here and there in the aluminium industry, and efforts are increasingly being made in the plastics industry to disclose the amount of recycled material used in products. This is new in so far as the plastics industry has not excelled as a pioneer of recycling in the past and in contrast to aluminium the recycling of plastics is closely associated with the expression ‘downcycling’. ALUMINIUM spoke about this topic with Jorg Schafer, head of Recycling and Sustainability at Dusseldorf-based Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie and Hans-Jurgen Schmidt, managing director of Deutsche Aluminium Verpackung Recycling GmbH in Grevenbroi