Austria's one-way deposit fulfils target
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At the 2nd German Reusable Conference, Deutsche Umwelthilfe expressed its views on the topics of waste avoidance, climate and resource protection, emphasising the role of reusable solutions. The organisation is calling on the environment minister and local authorities to introduce binding reusable packaging promotion.
The best solution to the single-use waste problem is to make reusable packaging the standard. This is the core message of the second German Reusable Conference, which the German Environmental Aid (DUH) in Berlin today. Together with many participating companies and associations, DUH is calling on Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, as well as local authorities, Targeted measures to promote reusable packaging. This includes a Waste prevention target, reusable quotas, single-use levies, better tax treatment of reusable packaging and green public procurement.
"To protect the climate and resources, any packaging that does not have to be produced from scratch counts. The consistent implementation of the reusable quota in the Packaging Act is an important step in this direction: for non-alcoholic beverages alone, the potential savings amount to up to 970,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. However, the reality at discounters such as Aldi and Lidl is different. They do not offer reusable drinks packaging at all, but disposable plastic bottles and cans. That is why Federal Environment Minister Lemke must take action and penalise the constant undercutting of the statutory reusable quota by imposing a levy of at least 20 cents on single-use plastic bottles and cans in addition to the deposit."
Barbara MetzDUH Federal Managing Director
DUH also believes that the reusable supply obligation, which will come into force on 1 January 2023, will not be enough to make reusable to-go packaging dominant on the market. With its tax on disposable to-go crockery at municipal level, the city of Tübingen is showing what Environment Minister Steffi Lemke should do at federal level.
"The reusable offer obligation does not regulate how many drinks and meals must be served in reusable containers. It can simply be circumvented by complicating the return process and inadequately advertising reusable packaging. Financial incentives are needed to encourage as many consumers as possible to switch to reusable packaging. The example of Tübingen shows this impressively: the introduction of a municipal consumption tax on disposable to-go crockery has significantly reduced littering in public spaces within a very short space of time."
Thomas FischerDUH Head of Circular Economy
The innovative products that will be presented at the reusable conference demonstrate this: The reuse approach can easily be extended to many new areas. A current example of success is Reusable pallets for transporting plants from the grower to the retailer. Up to now, 95% of the pallets used were disposable plastic pallets, resulting in thousands of tonnes of waste. A Europe-wide reusable pool system for plants was launched by the "Euro Plant Tray" cooperative founded in August 2022. Meanwhile, standard MMP jars are increasingly being used for dairy products and other foods, such as nut butter.
"The more users come onto the market with their own products in standard jars, the more important centralised pool management becomes. It is not enough to simply bring reusable jars onto the market. Cross-company cooperation is required for container utilisation, return, rinsing and pool maintenance. Centralised, joint pool management is one of the most important points for a successful, industry-wide reusable solution."
Barbara Metz
Source: Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.
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