In recent decades, the use of plastic in the packaging sector has increased many times over because of its ideal properties. This master's thesis provides an overview of the amount, recovery rates and pathways as well as legal framework conditions for plastic packaging waste in selected countries worldwide. To collect uniform data, documents and studies from public and private sector bodies as well as expert interviews are used. In the detailed presentation of the selected countries, the individual legislation, future goals, the respective amount, the type of collection and recovery as well as the composition of the considered waste stream are discussed. Furthermore, the most important recycling paths are examined with the focus on mechanical recycling. It is noted that the differences in both the waste stream studied and the waste management sector between different countries are in some cases very large. Also, the process flows in the treatment chain differ, except for certain basic processes, depending on the type of collection and thus composition of the waste streams. This provides informative insights into the state of development and future potential of the respective disposal industry, as well as into various current recovery processes for plastic packaging waste.