The COV19 pandemic has led to some distortions in the recycling sector. The recycling of plastic packaging in particular has been made more difficult by the drop in the price of crude oil and the associated significantly lower prices for primary plastic. The recyclers had difficulties getting their recyclates into the market and the storages filled up. There have been calls for a mandatory minimum utilization rate for recyclates in production, which should enable recyclers to sell their recyclates independently of such price fluctuations. In order to better understand these relationships, we have modeled the plastic packaging system as a simple material flow system and combined it with an economic equilibrium model. Using various scenarios, we examined how the system reacts to drastically lower primary plastic prices and the introduction of a minimum utilization rate. The results show that the model reflects the real impacts very well in terms of quality and that a minimum utilization rate as an additional but sole measure does not lead to the desired results. However, the model can very well be used to find and test policy measures.