The Greens are calling for the introduction of a reusable packaging system in view of the increase in packaging waste caused by online retail.
"Wherever reusable products are ecologically advantageous, they must be legally prioritised over disposable products," Bettina Hoffmann, the Greens' spokesperson for environmental policy, told the Tagesspiegel. In her opinion, this should also apply to the mail order business. "We have been waiting a long time for the Environment Minister to create a legal basis for converting mail-order parcels into user-friendly reusable systems."
Ministry of the Environment has recognised the issue
Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) has certainly recognised the issue. She is currently hoping to gain further insights from a research project in which online retailers Otto and Tchibo, among others, have tested reusable packaging. So far, such shipping bags, which customers return to the retailer, have not been able to gain widespread acceptance due to the higher costs.
"With a view to waste avoidance, measures must be taken to increase the proportion of reusable packaging," a spokeswoman for the ministry told the Tagesspiegel. However, she qualified this: Online retailers could hardly be forced to use reusable bags. This alone would not be legally possible: "A legal obligation to use certain packaging would be contrary to European law."
Source: Der Tagesspiegel
