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German Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin:
Deposit on disposable drinks packaging from 2002
will halt the advance of the can.
(German) Federal Environment Ministry Feb01
Agreement with Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology /
additional costs of 1.84 pfennigs per packaging for industry and
commerce.
The German government will introduce a compulsory deposit for
ecologically harmful drinks packaging. From 1 January 2002, drinks
cans and disposable glass and plastic (PET) bottles will be subject,
regardless of content, to a deposit of 0.25 euros (0.50 euros
for a net volume of 1.5 litres or more). Wine bottles will be
exempt. The agreement was reached between Federal Environment
Minister Jürgen Trittin and Federal Minister for Economics
and Technology Werner Mueller. The Federal Environment Ministry
will provide the sectors of industry concerned with a corresponding
draft amendment to the Packaging Ordinance.
Trittin described the compulsory deposit as a significant step
towards shaking off the 'throwaway' mentality. "The deposit
on ecologically harmful packaging will slow down the advance of
cans and disposable bottles and stabilize the proportion of ecologically
advantageous reusable packaging. It provides incentives to the
drinks industry, commerce and consumers to go back to reusable
packaging to a greater extent, thus avoiding waste," said
the minister. "The compulsory deposit will furthermore ensure
that cans and bottles finally disappear from the scene."
In addition
In Trittin's view the deposit will not create excessive costs
for industry and commerce. Basing their calculations on a necessary
investment volume of around 2.08 billion Marks, the Federal Environment
Ministry and the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology
estimate annual additional costs of 265 million DM, the equivalent
of an extra cost of 1.84 pfennigs per packaging. "The compulsory
deposit is therefore not only a consumer friendly instrument,
but also an economically sound one which does not intervene in
the market by imposing bans," said the minister, adding that
the deposit would also ensure employment and investment in reusable
systems, a sector in which mid-sized companies particularly have
invested over the past years, showing confidence in the regulations
contained in the Packaging Ordinance protecting reuseable systems.
The introduction of the compulsory deposit will repeal the Packaging
Ordinance's previous protection regulations for reuseable packaging,
under which the share of disposable and reuseable packaging respectively
was calculated in a costly procedure, and which prescribed that
the compulsory deposit was dependent on the share falling below
72%. In future, the Packaging Ordinance will classify drinks cartons
as ecologically advantageous due to their overall positive evaluation
from an environmental point of view.
The current Packaging Ordinance already provides for compulsory
deposit in cases where the reuseable quota is not met and different
results are not produced by a new survey. The 72% level was first
undercut in 1997. Since the trend towards disposable packaging
continued in the years that followed, it can be assumed that this
will be confirmed by the new surveys up to January 2000, currently
still being evaluated. This would have resulted in a deposit on
beer and mineral water in the second half of 2001, i.e. the can
of beer would have been subject to deposit, but not the can of
cola, and Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin therefore committed
himself to finding a feasible, easy-to-follow solution which is
now being implemented.
source: http://www.bmu.de/english/news/pressrelease010227.htm
German Federal Environment Ministry (English Version) http://www.bmu.de/english/fset1024.htm
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