By Stefan Peter
Bulky waste on the streets, dirty parks, overflowing trash cans: Berlin is becoming more and more dirty. The Greens would like to counteract this with a packaging tax. On Thursday they introduced a bill in the House of Representatives. If this becomes reality, the capital will even be threatened with a tax on ice cream sundaes from January 1, 2024!
“Five coffee-to-go cups are thrown away every second in Berlin,” says Green MP Julia Schneider (33). “That’s 460,000 pieces per day. If we line them up next to each other, that makes a distance of 37 kilometers.” At least one opinion research institute claims to have determined this number six years ago.
The Pankow Green MP Julia Schneider (33) has presented the draft law on the packaging tax Photo: Green Berlin
Schneider is the author of the draft law to introduce a packaging tax in Berlin. Single-use packaging and disposable tableware would be affected. Clearly stated in the draft: “Ice cream from the ice cream parlor, salad with sauce”.
This means: If you buy your ice cream scoops in a cup rather than in a cone, you have to pay! The currywurst on the paper plate would also be affected! Planned: 50 cents for disposable tableware and 20 cents for disposable cutlery.
Ice cream shop owner Medeni Beyaztepe (55): “Customers pay me 1.60 euros for a scoop of ice cream – that’s expensive compared to the last few years. The customers confirm this. And with this law they would pay 2.30 euros for the same scoop of ice cream including a spoon just because they don’t like waffles and would rather have a cup? I would be afraid to tell my customers that. Who can still afford ice cream then? We are here in Wedding and not at the Kudamm. It’s actually hard to believe.” Photo: Ufuk Ukta
The Green politician complains that paper plates, aluminum boxes and plastic spoons too often end up on the sidewalk or in the bushes. “Public space as a garbage dump – we cannot accept that.”
Schneider to the BZ: “The packaging tax ensures that reusable packaging becomes the standard. Disposable packaging causes more and more disposal costs every year, not to mention the horrendous environmental costs. Environmentally friendly behavior must be more convenient and should not cost more than the throwaway mentality.”
Family father Ghanim (47) with his two children Mohammad (11) and Aila (8): “I’m eating ice cream with my kids today because it’s warm and we want to cool down a bit. We really like ice cream, but we can’t buy it every day anymore given the prices. That’s why we don’t believe in the law. My two children wanted their ice cream in their cups. So I would have paid one euro more just for that reason.” Photo: Ufuk Ukta
She is optimistic: “There are also reusable options for ice cream cups or currywurst containers.”
Now the Greens have to convince the other parliamentary groups of their draft – some MPs are skeptical:
► Danny Freymark (40, CDU): “A packaging tax means administrative effort and bureaucracy.” In addition, compliance is difficult to monitor.
► Katalin Gennburg (39, left): “We don’t agree.”
Ice cream parlor owner Silvio Dal Col (54) from Wedding: “I don’t think these plans are good at all. This makes the ice cream even more expensive. Meanwhile, customers are already saying that they can no longer afford ice cream every day – how should I explain such a price increase to them? In my opinion, reusable cups are not a solution either. Should I take the cups back and then clean them myself? I don’t think anyone would accept that. It’s not easy“ Photo: Ufuk Ukta
► Linda Vierecke (41, SPD): “Garbage is a huge problem in our city. A packaging tax can be part of the solution.”
► Alexander Bertram (35, AfD) warned that the law was “another bureaucratic monster”.
The bill will not be voted on for a few weeks. He will previously serve on three committees.
Salesman Kassir (35): “Let’s be honest, this law is nonsense. I’ll pay 50 cents more for an ice cream cup? People would probably buy their ice cream in a cone and throw it away instead of the cup when the ice cream is finished. That’s not good for the environment either. I also think that this law will hit people who already have little much harder. So I don’t think anything of it and hope it doesn’t come to that.” Photo: Ufuk Ukta
That’s how it works today with disposables and deposits
Regardless of whether they are 100 milliliters or one and a half liters – since 2022, all disposable plastic beverage bottles have been subject to a deposit.
► An exception currently applies to plastic bottles with milk. From 2024, a 25 cent deposit will also apply to them.
► The following applies since the beginning of 2023: Delivery services and restaurants are obliged to offer both disposable and reusable containers for take-away food and drinks.
► This excludes small businesses (e.g. snack bars) with a maximum of five employees and 80 square meters of sales space.
This means: So far there is no single-use ban, but rather a reusable requirement.