This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Competition and Extended Producer Responsibility Lessons from Germany‘s competitive marketplace • Ursula Denison • Der Grüne Punkt – Duales System Deutschland GmbH • Head of Sales, Marketing and International Services
• Principle: implementation of EPR for all types of packaging • ICI packaging: self-compliance, no set targets • Sales packaging: obligation to participate in „dual system“, opting out via „sector-solutions“ (self-
compliance) as an exception • Dual Systems - requirements:
• Regular collection of all sales packaging from households/small commercial sites • Complete coverage, i.e. also in less-populated areas • Agreement with municipalities on method and frequency of collection • Payment to municipalities for container sites, cleanup, communication (126 Mio. €/year) • Regular mass-flow verification of collected, sorted, recovered and recycled packaging, by
external audit • Material specific targets, based on licensed volume (not market volume)
• E.g. Glass 75 %, Paper/board 70 %, Tinplate 70 %, Aluminum 60 %, Composites 60 %, Plastics 60 % recovery, of this 60 % material recycling (36 % total)
companies – 7.7 Mio. Tons of household packaging – curbside collection – all materials included
• Full-cost system, i.e. 100 % cost and control over collection, sorting, recycling
• 1993: major financial crisis, system on the brink of collapse. Reasons: • Fast and comprehensive rollout – high participation by consumers • No quick and cheap solution for plastics recycling • Financing not in sync with costs – high rate of free riders, lack of control mechanisms,
lack of regulatory oversight • Rescue package – incl. long-term contracts with waste management companies. Higher
• 1998: High cost leads industry to seek alternatives: increase of “self-compliance”
• Quasi-Monopoly of Green Dot always cause for concern of German and European competition authorities
• 2001: EU commission opens market for competitors - Shared use of collection infrastructure, use of Green Dot Trademark possible for companies under contract with competitors
• 2005: Ultimatum of Competition Authority leads to DSD reorganization: Change of ownership
• Market today: ten competing systems for household packaging, DSD remains market leader at 45-50 %
The Discussion has changed - From Waste to Resources • In the system of producer responsibility for packaging 7,5 Mio. tons of household
packaging waste are put to recycling and recovery every year. All targets for the recycling and recovery were overfulfilled significantly in the past years.
• In the last two decades the recycling rate for sales packaging (households/ small business) increased from 37,3 % to 79,2 (Source: GVM 2014):
Summary • The Green Dot: still a unique platform for interaction between stakeholders
from industry, retail, consumers, environmental organizations, waste management, recyclers, municipalities, and the government
• Green Dot can show clear successes: ü Reliable and well accepted separate collection, sorting, and recycling of all types of
household packaging ü New technology for sorting and recycling, especially for plastics – „beacon“ ü Market leader in a highly competitive market ü Credibility and acceptance among stakeholder groups ü Valuable network of international cooperation and exchange with over 30
countries in Europe and North America
The main challenge for the near future: competition on the system level without appropriate regulation and sanctions!