For years, the legislator in Germany has struggled and garbage comes out now. No wonder, it’s a new Recycling law. And this is the last hurdle in the countries of the chamber, happened on Friday.
The Germans, the white, all visitors from abroad, take it very carefully with your household waste. How far can it go, was a few weeks ago in the village of lower schlette Bach to examine. In a dispute with a Yellow bag, were attacked in the place in Rheinland-Pfalz two garbage men, beaten, hurt, and offended. The attacker, a father and son, did not want to accept that the garbage workers opened an incorrectly filled bag and to the Right of the saw.
In order for the waste recycling-so-important Yellow bag it went, on the Friday before the Bundesrat, the second chamber of the German Parliament, the länder contribute to the legislation. The representatives of the countries from blessed the so-called packaging law for more Recycling, which was adopted by the Bundestag already. This took several attempts and several years. A fast garbage processing through the Parliament, said the Yellow bag was in the way.
Point Of Contention, Yellow Ton
Resistance of the waste industry
In the Yellow bag, and in some cases is also a ton of, in Germany, packaging materials are not made of cardboard and paper or glass. There are other containers with other colors. At the beginning of the legislature from the Yellow bag wanted to make nationwide recycling bins, so a collection point for all kinds of recyclable materials, the squeaky-duck to the frying pan. The failed resistance of the waste industry.
It was in 2011, when the Federal government adopted for the first time, the end of the Yellow tons and bags in the eye. A good five and a half years later, in some municipalities the orange bins for all sorts of recyclables in the other. And this will remain the case with the now adopted new law. Only the so-called recycling rates are increased, and in the supermarkets, signs, returnable to advertise in future bottles. In the Background, but it’s a lot of money. At least 12 to 15 million Germans have a recycling bin.
The collection of recyclable materials in Germany, in the meantime, a good business, the private companies, according to the Association of the German waste disposal industry (BDE) per year, around one billion euros in sales. Wanted to let not take away from the local authorities, the care so far to the rest of the garbage. The municipalities should be in accordance with the first drafts of the law anywhere for fabric. If you, however, in the future, a Yellow bin or Yellow bags for packaging waste or an Orange bin for all recyclable materials, depends now, on whether municipalities and private companies agree.
Municipal garbage men in Berlin
“Zähes rings“
The Minister for the environment, Barbara Hendricks of the SPD, was nevertheless satisfied that it is “a hard struggle” managed to find a workable compromise: “The packaging law is an important step in the further development of the circular economy.” With the new law is developed, the existing packaging Ordinance. Goal is, according to the Ministry, the Recycling – but also the avoidance of packaging waste to promote more.
So should be increased by the law, the share of returnable bottles in the back of a “multi-rate”. The reusable portion should be at least at 70 percent. So far, he is around 45 percent, is decreasing all the time. Sanctions, however, are not planned. A point of criticism of the law is that manufacturers and retailers through a new Central body should take over the market surveillance.
Waste prevention is detail work, since the German legislature takes it very precisely: it must, Therefore, now be on some beverage Deposit paid, which were previously exempt from the Deposit, namely, fruit and vegetable nectars, carbonated and mixed drinks with a whey-fraction of at least 50 percent.
Valuable Plastic Garbage
Squeaky duck and frying pan
The new law also increases recycling rates. The need to make the private companies, the packaging waste collecting. The industry considers this to be feasible. The Association of municipal companies criticized, however, that the quotas had been, in the past, easily manipulated, and only had to show, whether about 63 percent for plastic are feasible. Instead, it would have been better, the producers of packaging to require that you must use a certain ratio of recycled Material and recycling it to produce powerful Material.
As of January 2019, the new rules should apply. The green Opposition had already voted in the Bundestag against the law – from disappointment over the compromise, as Britta Haßelmann, the Parliamentary Manager of the Greens made it clear: “in the future, the consumer will not understand why you should not throw products, such as a Squeaker-Duckling or a fryer to the packaging.”
ar/ul (dpa, afp, BMUV)