The Berlin Senate sees significant hurdles in introducing a packaging tax modelled on the city of Tübingen. In a statement adopted on 19 May 2026, the state government instead advocates for a nationwide uniform regulation for the chargeable provision of single-use packaging. This would particularly affect gastronomy, retail, delivery services, and event businesses.
The Senate, while welcoming the objective of reducing packaging waste in principle, points to existing measures such as the mandatory reusable offer and the single-use plastic fund. At the same time, the Berlin government emphasises that, within the framework of the coalition agreement, it is further promoting the expansion of the Zero Waste Agency and the „Zero Waste“ guiding principle.
High effort for businesses and administration
In the Senate's estimation, a municipal packaging tax would cause significant organisational and financial burdens. Companies would have to adapt cash register systems and separately account for disposable items, among other things. Particularly for companies operating nationwide, differing municipal regulations could mean additional effort in terms of calculation, logistics, and tax processing.
From the Senate's perspective, such a tax would also contradict political efforts to reduce bureaucracy. Furthermore, the state government warns of potential distortions of competition within the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region if a uniform solution is not created.
According to the statement, the Berlin tax administration would also have to provide additional personnel and financial resources. The implementation of the tax would require a high level of individual case checks and would therefore be particularly personnel-intensive. At the same time, the Senate points out that revenues could decrease in the long term due to a possible greater use of reusable packaging. This could ultimately prove the tax to be uneconomical.
Nationwide regulation preferred
The Senate is therefore calling for nationwide regulations on the chargeable provision of single-use packaging. In the opinion of the state government, this could both improve the desired steering effect and reduce additional administrative costs for businesses.
The background is a resolution by the Council of Mayors of 19 February 2026. This had called upon the Berlin Senate to launch a statewide packaging tax. The statement now adopted will be submitted to the body for its information.
Source: Berlin State Chancellery
