The Federal Cabinet today approved an amendment to the Packaging Act at the suggestion of Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze. The amendment must now be passed by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.
People who buy take-away food will have a choice in future: restaurants, bistros and cafés will always have to offer reusable containers for to-go coffee and take-away food. In addition, the Mandatory deposit on all disposable plastic drinks bottles and cans from next year extended. Another change: PET drinks bottles must be made from at least 25 per cent recycled plastic from 2025.
"Takeaway food is part of everyday life for more and more people. The downside is a growing mountain of rubbish in many households. It doesn't have to stay that way. Disposable plastic is still the norm in many restaurants, snack bars and cafés. My aim is for reusable boxes and reusable cups for on the go to become the new standard. We are therefore obliging the catering industry to offer reusable packaging in addition to disposable packaging in future. Consumers everywhere should be able to opt for reusable packaging. I am convinced that this will lead to many good solutions, including for delivery services. This is an important step towards stemming the flood of packaging in the to-go sector." Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze
According to the Packaging Act, restaurants, bistros and cafés that sell food to go or to-go drinks will be obliged from 2023 to pack their Products also in reusable packaging to offer. The reusable version must not be more expensive than the product in disposable packaging. In addition, appropriate reusable cups must be available for all sizes of to-go drinks.
For example, snack bars, late-night shops and kiosks with a total of five employees or fewer and a shop area of no more than 80 square metres are exempt from the obligation. However, they must allow customers to fill their own reusable containers.
Exceptions no longer apply
From 2022, a deposit will also be mandatory on all disposable plastic drinks bottles. In addition, then all beverage cans with a deposit will be imposed. The amendment to the law ends the previous exemptions for certain drinks in plastic bottles and cans. Previously, carbonated fruit juice spritzers, for example, were subject to a deposit, whereas non-carbonated fruit juice was not.
In future, the following will apply in principle: if a drinks bottle is made of disposable plastic, it will be subject to a deposit. Exceptions for fruit juices or alcoholic mixed drinks in non-returnable plastic drinks bottles or cans will no longer apply. For Milk or milk products are subject to a transitional period until 2024.
In future, new plastic bottles should no longer be made from crude oil, but increasingly from old plastic. The amendment to the Packaging Act therefore provides for the first time for a Minimum recyclate content for beverage bottles made of disposable plastic.
Packaging Act stipulates quota for recycled plastic
From 2025, single-use PET drinks bottles must contain at least 25 per cent recycled plastic; from 2030, this quota will increase to at least 30 per cent and will then apply to all single-use plastic bottles. Manufacturers can decide for themselves whether they want to fulfil this quota per bottle or spread over a year in relation to their entire bottle production.
Schulze: "Old beverage bottles made from disposable plastic are not just waste, they are valuable raw material for new bottles. If they are collected by type, recycling becomes easier. And a deposit also makes collection easier. That's why, in future, all plastic drinks cans and bottles will be returned with a deposit."
Further content of the amendment to the Packaging Act: In future, operators of online marketplaces and fulfilment service providers will have to check that the manufacturers of packaged goods on their platform are registered in the packaging register of the German Federal Packaging Agency. Central office and comply with the Packaging Act.
Source: BMU
