DGW German Society for Recycling mbH

DGW German Society for Recycling mbH based in Isernhagen near Hanover was founded in 1991. The company is run as a medium-sized family business.

The foundation of the DGW was the answer to urgent problems of our time. Production and consumption in our highly developed industrial society required the search for environmentally friendly disposal and recycling options. In particular, it was the accumulated quantities of old shoes that no one had worried about until then.

The logistical and organizational activities of the DGW include the creation of collection locations and their regular support, the development of efficient, digitized route plans with an online connection, the control, separation and quality control of the recorded quantities of goods, and finally the preparation for further use of shoes and textiles that can still be worn Development of material recycling methods in accordance with the Closed Substance Cycle Act.

According to statistics, every German citizen buys around five pairs of shoes a year; that's almost half a billion pairs of shoes. Shoes are discarded in the same order of magnitude. shoes with a total weight of an estimated 420,000 tons; this corresponds to the volume of 41,000 freight cars. The figures continue in the textile sector: every German citizen 'consumes' around 10 kg of clothing a year. That is 800,000 tons per year in Germany; mathematically twice the number of freight cars.

Shoes and textiles are not only thrown away when they are no longer usable, they are often discarded for fashion reasons or because they are too small. Most of these goods still end up in household waste and ultimately pollute the environment, regardless of whether they end up in landfills or incineration.

For this problem, the DGW has developed a coherent concept that minimizes the environmental impact by refurbishing and reusing or recycling worn shoes and textiles. The passing on of these 'discarded' but still well-preserved products offers many people in poorer countries the opportunity to acquire high-quality consumer goods at low cost, which - through processing or repair - provide additional work for local craftsmen and traders.

In particular, the DGW has also taken on the subject of returned goods, returns and leftovers , for which the legislator is planning a special duty of care (amendment of the KrWG) in the future.

This transparent and efficient recovery and recycling model takes into account the recovery hierarchy of the Closed Substance Cycle Act, significantly extends the useful life of many items and thus reduces the amount of waste as desired. Collecting, sorting, organizing and transporting also creates numerous jobs in our country.