Prozesscontrolling in der Kunststoffrecycling-Branche – Möglichkeiten und Chancen für KMU durch Standardisierung und Tool-Support

Plastics are omnipresent in our everyday life and offer various applications due to their diverse uses. In recent years, the discussion on how to deal with plastic waste has grown, especially concerning more sustainable use of resources, bringing concepts such as plastics recycling as a sub-sector of the circular economy further into focus.

This thesis examines the processes in mechanical plastics recycling of post-consumer waste and their systematic data collection and operationalisation. It aims to develop recommendations for research and industry to exploit the possibilities and opportunities through standardisation and tool support that less uncontrollable fluctuations in output occur through targeted process controlling, and the prices of recyclates will approximate those of primary plastics.

A systematic literature review on recycling, circular economy, processes, and their operationalisation presents the missing studies on the company level regarding process indicators in the plastics recycling industry. To close this gap, the researcher conducts problem-centred expert interviews with 18 experts from the industry. The focus is on the structure of the industry and its processes, the current systems of data collection and determination of key figures as well as current developments in the plastics recycling industry and the expert's assessment of their company's position compared to the rest industry. The researcher evaluates the interviews by content-structured qualitative content analysis established by Kuckartz.

Based on the results of the literature review and the expert interviews, the researcher develops recommendations for research and industry. The recommendations for research include carrying out future studies at the process level, support for the implementation of process controlling and measures to change the mindset in the plastics recycling industry. The recommendations for the industry include a rethink concerning dealing with competitors and key figures and concrete guidance for the gradual implementation of process controlling with automated evaluation of relevant process indicators.

Further studies should include individual case studies on implementing the process controlling developed in this thesis and, in connection with this, test its effectiveness. Furthermore, quantitative studies are needed to validate the qualitative results of the dissertation and accompanying studies on implementing the recommendations for action for research and industry.