The German Environmental Aid (DUH) insists on improvements to the law after further violations of the obligation to offer reusable products in the hospitality industry were detected during test purchases. “This law urgently needs to be adapted, amended and improved,” said DUH federal manager Barbara Metz on Thursday in Berlin. “We urge that this happens before the end of this legislative period.” In addition, the federal states would have to fulfill their enforcement tasks, sanction violations and ensure that the standard was taken seriously.
After test visits to 35 branches of large chains in January, further spot checks and follow-up tests followed last week. According to the association, two companies had signed cease-and-desist letters, and five would be sued for injunctive relief before the respective regional courts. According to DUH information, this includes, for example, the cinema operator Cinestar, which environmental aid accused of not having offered any reusable containers for hot drinks and 1.5-liter soft drinks in the random samples. At Rewe, the DUH complained that there were no reusable bowls at the salad bar during test visits. Both companies rejected the allegations on Thursday.
Cinestar Managing Director Oliver Fock explained that the entire range of soft drinks has already been converted to reusable, only for 1.5 liter drinks no cups are available from the service provider, so that only this one size cannot be offered in reusable cups. However, the amount can be divided into two smaller reusable cups. For hot drinks, guests could choose reusable porcelain crockery.
Reusable alternatives at Rewe
Rewe said it “obviously does not resist the statutory obligation to offer reusable products.” Since the beginning of the year, there have been reusable alternatives for food and drinks bottled in stores. Bowls and cups could be borrowed and returned via empties machines or at the checkout. “REWE has commented in detail on the DUH’s warning, explained the system and its advantages in detail and was able to clarify the facts from its own point of view.”
Meanwhile, according to environmental aid, improvements have been made to Backwerk after no reusable offer was found there during a test visit. A spokeswoman for the chain said: “We can hereby confirm that there was a cease-and-desist declaration against a branch of the BackWerke in Berlin that was randomly examined and that the local franchise partner immediately offered its existing reusable tableware in accordance with the draft law.”
The multiple-way offer obligation has been in effect since January 1st. Restaurants, bistros and cafés that sell takeaway food and drinks must therefore also offer their products in reusable packaging. This is intended to replace single-use plastic packaging. However, the same product in reusable packaging must not be more expensive than in disposable packaging. Excluded are smaller shops such as snack bars and kiosks, in which a maximum of five employees work and which have a retail area of no more than 80 square meters. Violations can result in fines of up to 10,000 euros.
Representative Forsa survey
The environmental aid also commissioned a representative Forsa survey, in which 86 percent of those surveyed stated that they normally use disposable boxes for take-away food. When asked why reusable boxes were not used, 72 percent said there was no such offer and 27 percent said they didn’t want to carry the boxes around or store them. 55 percent stated that a low price or a low deposit amount was important to them. The survey shows that consumers want cross-company reusable solutions, as many return points as possible and price advantages for reusables, said Thomas Fischer, DUH Head of Circular Economy.
From the point of view of the Federal Environment Agency, the obligation to offer reusable packaging is “an important step towards promoting reusable packaging”. The companies are encouraged to implement it consistently so that reusable use becomes established. “We could and should do more to promote sustainable consumption, for example by extending the reusable obligation to all materials and not just plastic,” said UBA President Dirk Messner. Just the day before, the environmental organization Greenpeace launched a reporting portal that consumers can use to report violations of the standard to the responsible state authorities.
