BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Even a year after the reusable offering requirement for take-away food came into force, environmental and consumer advocates complain about a lack of implementation and a lack of controls. Thomas Fischer, Head of Circular Economy at Deutsche Umwelthilfe, speaks of a “failure” and calls for improvements. During several test visits, catering companies reported reusable rates in the low single-digit percentage range. Compared to the original goals, these are “desolate results”.
Since the beginning of the year, restaurants, bistros and cafés that sell food on the go have had to offer both disposable and reusable packaging – provided they use disposable plastic packaging. There must be a reusable alternative for all types of drinks. Exceptions apply to smaller shops that are no larger than 80 square meters and have a maximum of five employees. However, customers there must be given the opportunity to have their own containers filled. Violations can result in fines of up to 10,000 euros.
The law suffers primarily from a lack of controls and a lack of sanctions for violations, said Fischer. The North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center is particularly critical of the fact that it only focuses on disposable plastic food packaging, even though other types of packaging are just as bad or even worse ecologically, as Philip Heldt, resource protection officer at the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer center, says. This leads to a switch to cardboard packaging. The Dehoga catering association sees considerable effort and costs in implementing the law – with reusable demand in most classic restaurants and cafés still manageable./csc/DP/mis
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