The single-use plastic fund is coming

So now it's finalised: the single-use plastic fund is coming. A slightly amended version of the bill passed the Bundestag on 2 March and now only needs to be passed by the Bundesrat. The target start date is 2025. The German Packaging Institute, among others, has criticised the bill.

What is it about? As early as November 2022 the Federal Ministry for the Environment presented a draft law to establish a so-called single-use plastic fund. The law stipulates that manufacturers of single-use plastic items should contribute to the costs of waste disposal in public spaces. Depending on the quantity put into circulation in each case, a levy would have to be paid to one of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), which then distributes these funds to the municipalities. The funds will be used to finance waste management and awareness-raising measures. With this law, the German government wants to comply with the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive against single-use products. According to the initial results of a research project by the Federal Environment Agency, the fund's annual income is estimated at up to 450 million euros.

The view of the Ampel coalition is clear. The „passed-on“ costs incurred by local authorities for waste disposal are a failure of the market. „We are therefore correcting this market failure and at the same time protecting the environment from littering, and - what I particularly like about this law - we are also supporting those who free us from the flood of plastic in our parks, on paths and in forests every day, namely our local authorities,“ commented Green MP Jan-Niclas Gesenhues, head of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection working group, in the Bundestag debate on the draft law on 2 March.