{"id":176393,"date":"2026-05-05T07:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T05:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=176393"},"modified":"2026-04-29T11:46:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T09:46:28","slug":"successful-2025-results-erde-initiative-recycles-over-37000-tonnes-of-agricultural-plastics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/successful-2025-results-erde-initiative-recycles-over-37000-tonnes-of-agricultural-plastics\/","title":{"rendered":"Successful 2025 Results: ERDE Initiative Recycles Over 37,000 Tonnes of Agricultural Plastics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\"Successful
Successful commitment to environmental and climate protection \u2013 turning used agricultural plastics into new resources. \u00a9 RIGK \/ ERDE<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The ERDE initiative (Erntekunststoffe Recycling Deutschland) continues its successful growth trajectory. In 2025, a total of 37,342 tonnes of agricultural plastics were collected and sent for material recycling within the take-back and recycling system established by RIGK and its partners.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite an overall reduction in market volumes, the initiative further increased its recycling input rate compared to the previous year, making the system even more efficient. ERDE has once again made a significant contribution to the circular economy in agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recycling these materials resulted in savings of approximately 37,042 tonnes of CO\u2082 equivalents. This corresponds to around 350 million kilometres driven by passenger cars, the annual mileage of approximately 28,400 vehicles, or the carbon sequestration capacity of around 2.7 million trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe results demonstrate that our system works in practice when all stakeholders pull together,\u201d says Boris Emmel, System Manager of the ERDE initiative<\/strong>. \u201cThe high level of participation from agricultural businesses, trade and collection points shows that circular economy principles are increasingly being implemented in agriculture. Every returned agricultural plastic helps to keep valuable raw materials in circulation and sustainably reduce environmental impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Shared responsibility across the value chain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The results of the ERDE collection campaign are the outcome of collaboration between numerous stakeholders. Under the umbrella of the IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen, manufacturers work together with RIGK GmbH as system operator, agricultural businesses, collection partners, recyclers and the agricultural trade to ensure a functioning take-back and recycling system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The basis for this is the initiative\u2019s voluntary commitment to the German Federal Ministry for the Environment. It defines concrete targets for the collection and recycling of agricultural plastics \u2013 including a collection rate of over 60% for asparagus films by 2026 and 75% for silage and stretch films by 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr Laura C. M\u00fcller, Economic Affairs Advisor at IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen<\/strong>, emphasises: \u201cThe continuous progress shows that voluntary industry solutions can work in the spirit of the circular economy. ERDE is an example of how producer responsibility can be implemented in practice together with agriculture, trade and the recycling industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Expansion of the take-back system \u2013 infrastructure and material streams growing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Alongside stable collection volumes, the initiative\u2019s network continues to expand. With more than 700 collection points and over 160 collection partners, ERDE now provides a comprehensive infrastructure for the return of used agricultural plastics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collection portfolio is also continuously being expanded. Following successful pilot projects, greenhouse films and drip irrigation pipes have now been permanently integrated into the system. In addition, further manufacturers are joining the initiative, strengthening both the financing and ongoing development of the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strengthening the circular (agricultural) economy and European exchange<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

ERDE aims to continue its successful path in the coming years. The goal remains to further increase collection volumes and continuously expand the network across the agricultural value chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the initiative is increasingly engaged in international dialogue on take-back and recycling systems for agricultural plastics. Exchange with industry stakeholders and national initiatives across Europe is intended to help share best practices and further advance the circular economy in the agricultural sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Contact<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Initiative ERDE\u00a0<\/strong>
Boris Emmel, System Manager\u00a0
Phone: +49 611 308600-20
E-Mail: emmel@rigk.de<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ERDE initiative (Erntekunststoffe Recycling Deutschland) continues its successful growth trajectory. In 2025, a total of 37,342 tonnes of agricultural plastics were collected and sent for material recycling within the take-back and recycling system established by RIGK and its partners. Despite an overall reduction in market volumes, the initiative further increased its recycling input rate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":176414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Recycling these materials resulted in savings of approximately 37,042 tonnes of CO\u2082 equivalents, which corresponds to around 350 million kilometres driven by passenger cars, the annual mileage of approximately 28,400 vehicles, or the carbon sequestration capacity of around 2.7 million trees","footnotes":""},"categories":[17143],"tags":[10416,7105,14462,10453],"supplier":[19722,13272,7009],"class_list":["post-176393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recycling","tag-circulareconomy","tag-packaging","tag-plasticwaste","tag-recycling","supplier-erde-recycling","supplier-ik-industrievereinigung-kunststoffverpackungen-e-v","supplier-rigk-gmbh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176393"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176415,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176393\/revisions\/176415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176393"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=176393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}