Majority of glass and PET bottles are being repurposed

However, a large part of this packaging can be recycled, even though this does include a short detour abroad.

Glass, for instance, is completely recycled in facilities located outside of Luxembourg. Glass packaging is melted down, which allows it to be reused to create new bottles. 99% of the approximately 23,700 tons of glass which were collected in 2019 was recycled, according to an answer by Minister for the Environment Carole Dieschbourg to a parliamentary question by MP Fred Keup from the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (adr).

The majority of plastic packaging, collected through the blue bags or recycling centres, is also being recycled. According to Dieschbourg, 96% of PET packaging is for instance being repurposed. The old packaging is shredded into little flakes before being reused in the production of new packaging. Contrary to glass, part of the shredded plastic is being reused in the Grand Duchy itself. Approximately 25,000 tons of these "PET flakes" are repurposed in the production of new bottles in Luxembourg, which is significantly more than the amount which re-enters the domestic market.

However, the collected PET packaging is not only being used to make new bottles. Dieschbourg added that a large part was also being used in the production of synthetic threads for the textile and carpet industry.

How much energy the domestic recycling process requires is not precisely known, but the minister did point out that in general, the recycling of glass was more energy-intensive compared to plastic. For this reason, it is recommended to re-use glass packaging multiple times.

In regard to the question which was more environmentally friendly, plastic or glass, Dieschbourg did not want to commit herself to one answer. Instead, she stated that generally speaking, it was important that packaging is used multiple times and that transport routes are kept short. This was also why the Ministry was currently working on introducing a deposit-refund system for bottles.

In terms of how much of the packaging that enters the market is actually being collected for recycling, plastic has a slight edge on glass. About 85% of PET packaging was collected through the blue bag or recycling centres in 2019, compared to only 66% of all glass packaging.