Rethinking the circular economy for plastics

Produktbeschreibung

Foreword
Executive Summary
Introduction 1
The need to decouple economic growth from raw material consumption 1
Special focus: plastics 2
Challenges for a circular plastics economy 3
Aims of the VDI Round Table 5
Approach of the VDI Round Table 6
Field of Action 1 8
(Re)organising the plastics industry for a circular economy
Circuit diagram 8
Challenges 12
Conclusions 13
Field of Action 2 14
Making closing the loop the task of all stakeholders
Rethinking closing the loop 14
Potential and challenges at each stage in closing the loop 14
Chemical Industry 15
Plastics producers 18
Plastics processors 20
OEMs/Users 22
Commerce 24
Consumers 26
Logistics/waste disposal 28
Recycling companies 30
Conclusions for the entire cycle 32
Field of Action 3 35
Creating regulatory incentives for a circular plastics economy
Steering instruments 36
Criteria for the discussion of steering instruments 37
Opportunities and challenges of the steering instruments 40
Conclusions of the evaluation of the steering instruments 51
Field of Action 4 53
Designing products for a circular economy
New holistic design approach needed 54
Increasing the effectiveness of design for circularity 55
Conclusions for the design for circularity 56
Recommended actions 57
List of sources 60
Glossary 62

Foreword
The challenges of a circular economy are a strong motivation for engineers to search for new solutions. At the same time, these challenges often deeply interfere with established structures, processes and technologies. Changes are demanding and therefore most likely to be possible in a larger context and with joint strategies agreed by all participants in a value chain.

However, the goal of largely recycling our raw materials also means a paradigm shift in thinking: problems must be defined differently in some cases and approached with completely new solutions. For example, the previous focus on waste recovery is being replaced with a new approach: circular value creation. This means a profound transformation for all players.

At VDI, we have discussed this challenge with all the participating stakeholders in the cycle, taking plastics as an example, and initially concentrating on the overarching and systemic issues. After all, the transformation to a circular economy will only succeed if not only individual
technical solutions, but the entire “system” is geared to the production and use of high-quality recyclates from the outset.
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Keywords: Kreislaufwirtschaft, Plastik, Kunststoff, Chemische Industrie, Recycling, circularity, plastic, chemical industry, recycling