In November, Kurt Schüler testified as an expert witness before the Gelsenkirchen Administrative Court. The GVM expert opinion was the subject of the trial, which concerned the mandatory participation of shoe boxes from the Deichmann Group in the system. However, the Gelsenkirchen Administrative Court dismissed Deichmann’s lawsuit and did not allow an appeal. More information can be found here.

On November 11, the RePack network hosted a symposium providing insights into innovation projects funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMLEH). GVM provided expert support to the network and was represented at the event by Kurt Schüler and Nicolas Cayé.

Kurt Schüler was interviewed on the topic of “25 years of disposable deposits” (WDR 5 Quarks). Click here for the interview.

The German Federal Environment Agency has published the second part of a study in which GVM participated under the leadership of the Öko-Institut. The study evaluates various economic instruments that aim to reduce packaging consumption in Germany and improve the recycling of packaging materials. Click here to view the study.

In May 2025, the Federal Environment Agency published a study entitled “Promotion of reusable packaging systems to reduce packaging consumption.” GVM was part of the research consortium led by Ökopol GmbH. The study provides a basis of information for the design of environmental policy measures in favor of reusable packaging. Click here to view the study.

On February 12, 2025, GVM Managing Director Kurt Schüler gave a presentation on trends in the plastic packaging market at the IK Circular Packaging Days 2025. The presentation addressed the question of which plastic packaging was not yet recyclable in 2023. It also discussed what further progress can be expected to be made in the coming years.

At the beginning of January 2025, the Federal Environment Agency published the GVM study “Nationwide survey of data on the consumption of beverages in reusable beverage containers – reference year 2022”. As a result, 33.5% of all beverages consumed in Germany in 2022 were sold in reusable packaging. The full report is available for download from the Federal Environment Agency.

The GVM study on the generation and recycling of packaging waste in 2022 commissioned by the UBA has been published. Compared to 2021, the volume of packaging has fallen by 3.4% or 0.7 million tons. You can find the complete study here.

At the closing event for the study on the promotion of reusable packaging, Nicolas Cayé presented the opportunities and limitations for reusable systems in the B2B and B2C sectors. He also discussed the amount of waste that can be avoided by switching to reusable packaging. You can find the complete study here.

GVM Managing Director Kurt Schüler gave a presentation on the material flow of EPS packaging at the IK members’ meeting. The focus was not only on the waste source structure of EPS packaging, but also on how the packaging is collected and recycled.