In its annual report, the DIN Standards Committee for Plastics (FNK) provides information about its activities and projects.
 

The FNK represents German standardisation interests in the field of plastics production and plastics processing through active participation in the relevant national, European and international committees. In its 2024 annual report, the FNK provides information on its activities over the past year as well as completed and ongoing projects at national, European and international level. In 2024, for example, the FNK observed how digitalisation and the use of artificial intelligence are being driven forward in many industries. According to the FNK report, companies are investing more in automation and digital solutions, which is leading to efficiency gains. DIN is also focusing on new digital solutions as part of the transformation and introduced DIN OSD (Online Standards Development) as a tool for standardisation at the beginning of 2025. The tool is intended to provide standardisation bodies with a common space for online standard development – from the preparatory phase to publication – and works in a similar way to classic word processing in Word. However, a document in XML format is automatically generated behind the scenes for platform- and software-independent data exchange between computer systems. As part of the introduction of DIN OSD, experts in the committees are said to be given the opportunity to familiarise themselves with how to use the tool and to exploit its advantages.
 
Furthermore, the FNK report points out that the Technical Coordination Board (TCB) has been established for the area of new governance at DIN. It is to serve as an interface between the standards committees and the DIN management and is intended to advise the latter on decisions. In addition, according to the FNK, a number of projects were completed in 2024, such as the European series of standards on plastic piping systems for gas supply made of polyethylene (PE), the European series of standards on the circular design of fishing gear and aquaculture equipment, and 30 draft standards in the course of the EU standardisation mandate M/584 for standardisation relating to plastic recycling and recycled plastics.
 
Sources:

• FNK Annual Report 2024 (14.5.2025)
• Image: © FNK