On the occasion of World Refill Day, the alliance "Ways out of the plastic crisis" is calling on the German government to finally put waste prevention first and make reusable packaging the standard. According to Plastics Europe, Germany consumes the most plastic in Europe.
According to a Conversio study, packaging accounts for almost two thirds of German plastic waste. The volume of waste from paper, cardboard and aluminum packaging has also been rising steadily for years. On World Refill Day, organizations around the world drew attention to the only alternative: reusable packaging.
Only reusable packaging consistently protects the climate, conserves resources and avoids waste. Recycling can only be part of the solution. Despite the bans on certain plastic products in the European Union, new plants for the production of single-use plastic from cheap US fracking gas are being planned. Single-use products such as these are processed into low-quality products after a short period of use, incinerated or exported as waste.
The target must be a reuse rate of 15% by 2025 and 30% by 2030. Although it is good that suppliers of to-go food and drinks will have to offer a reusable alternative from 2023, the many exceptions and lack of financial incentives to make reusable products cheaper, such as a single-use tax, mean that the obligation to offer reusable products remains symbolic policy.
