100 Meetings of the DPG Advisory Board – Keeping the Bigger Picture in View

In the anniversary year of the German one-way deposit system, the DPG Advisory Board has held its 100th meeting. Since DPG was founded 20 years ago, senior representatives from the retail sector and beverage industry have supported its work through this advisory body, which is composed equally of representatives from both sectors. One hundred meetings over the past two decades show how continuously the Advisory Board analyses current developments and contributes its different experiences and perspectives to the work of DPG and the development of the system. The common goal: to keep the bigger picture in view and help ensure a smoothly functioning deposit system for the benefit of consumers.

The first meeting of the Advisory Board took place on 5 July 2005. At that time, there was no standardised nationwide deposit system in Germany – the retail sector and beverage industry still had to develop it. Today, the German one-way deposit system enjoys a high level of acceptance across the market. Returning beverage packaging is simple and has become a matter of course. More than 20 billion items of one-way beverage packaging subject to the mandatory deposit are placed on the German market each year. 96 per cent and more are returned through the deposit system. Behind these impressive figures lies the complex interaction of many different participants and processes.

Advisory Board members bring practical experience

“This interaction is at the heart of the work of the DPG Advisory Board. Its members represent continuous dialogue, different perspectives and a shared willingness to address new technical, regulatory and practical issues as they arise,” explains Susanne Kürschner, Managing Director of DPG.

All members of the Advisory Board hold senior positions in companies from the food retail sector or beverage industry, ensuring that the Board’s work remains closely connected to market practice. At least once a year, the Advisory Board also combines one of its meetings with a visit to a company within the DPG System or at another stage of the wider material cycle.

These visits are about staying close to the processes: What happens to beverage packaging after it is returned? How do the individual processes interact? What requirements arise at the interfaces? And what can DPG learn from other parts of the material cycle for its own work?

Staying close to the processes

Over the years, the Advisory Board has visited a wide range of companies and different stages of the material cycle. For its 100th meeting, this practical perspective took the Board to Speira in Neuss.

During the visit to the aluminium rolling and recycling company, the Advisory Board gained further insight into aluminium recycling, particularly the recycling of beverage cans – a part of the material cycle that generally remains invisible to consumers.

But the journey of beverage packaging does not end when it is returned through a reverse vending machine. Many different steps need to work together before returned packaging can once again become a high-quality raw material – from reliable identification and take-back to collection and sorting, through to recovery and recycling.

Keeping the quality of the entire cycle in view

Looking at these downstream processes makes one thing particularly clear: the quality of a material cycle is not determined at the recycling stage alone. It is created throughout the entire chain. This is also one of the distinctive features of the German deposit system. Many different participants each take responsibility for one part of the process – and together they create a system that works as a whole. As the system operator, DPG ensures that this interaction works. Through common and binding standards, it provides a reliable framework for all participants and lays the foundation for smooth processes across the system.

On the occasion of the 100th meeting, our special thanks go to all current and former members of the Advisory Board who have supported DPG’s work over many years with their time, expertise, critical questions and constructive discussions.

We would also like to thank the companies and partners who regularly open their doors to the Advisory Board and provide valuable insights into their work – this time, our thanks go to Speira for its hospitality and the opportunity to gain a closer look at another important part of the material cycle.