In order to secure the supply of raw materials in Germany in the long term, there is no alternative to using secondary raw materials. The use of recyclable materials contained in municipal waste is justified by the need to close the cycle of resources. But the prescribed quotas sometimes do not take account of the value of the respective materials. The energetic, procedural, and ecological expenditure associated with recycling to produce high-quality secondary raw materials varies for the individual material flows. The separate collection and recycling of recyclable materials from municipal waste is decisive for the quality of the secondary raw materials produced from it. Recycling rates are initially a target figure for the realisation of separate collection as a prerequisite for recycling. However, more attention should be paid to the quality aspect of recyclates in the future. A material flow analysis of the individual recyclable material fractions from municipal waste shows a differentiated picture.