Berlin, 08.07.2024 – In its statement on the draft of the National Circular Economy Strategy (NKWS), the Association for Compostable Products e.V. (Verbund) highlights the key role of the biological circular economy and calls for concrete measures to reduce microplastic pollution in the environment.
“We welcome the fact that the federal government is committed in the strategy draft to the guiding principles of waste prevention and the reduction of pollutant inputs into nature. Closing cycles consistently also means addressing the current gaps and the loss of material and product streams from the technical economic system. Products must be designed in such a way that they can be environmentally friendly in their recovery or disposal and do not leave pollutants in the environment,” explains Peter Brunk, Chairman of the Association.
In its statement, the Association therefore calls for specific requirements regarding the biodegradability of nature-based plastic applications—i.e., plastic products intended to remain in nature (e.g., in agriculture, forestry, or horticulture), enter the environment through abrasion, or reach nature via other material streams (e.g., compost)—to prevent the entry of microplastics and pollutants into the environment and to keep resources within the circular system. Relevant application areas include mulch films, binding twine, browsing protection, plant support clips, films for controlled fertiliser release, or even bristles for street-sweeping machines.
Regarding the federal government’s goal of optimising the use of biogenic waste and residual material streams, Katrin Schwede, Managing Director of the Association, states: “There is great, yet underutilised, biomass potential in organic municipal waste. An important lever for better collection and utilisation lies with households and the use of suitable collection aids, such as certified industrially compostable bags. These have been proven to contribute to more organic waste being separated and collected.”
For the transformation to succeed, both the technical and biological cycles must be considered and closed, according to the Association in its statement. The bioeconomy, as a central component of the biological circular economy, plays a key role that should be given greater attention in the NKWS. According to the Association, this requires, above all, innovation-friendly framework conditions that allow for different solutions to be tested and established in the market.
The complete statement can be found here.