With a cabinet decision to ban certain single-use plastic products from 2021, the EU Commission's requirement to ban some plastic products has also been set in motion in Germany. Rolf Buschmann, waste expert at the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND):
"A step in the right direction, but nowhere near enough: the ban on single-use plastic is not enough to get the problem of growing mountains of single-use plastic products under control. There have long been alternatives to the products banned from 2021 that may be plastic-free, but are often also single-use products. Replacing single-use products with other single-use products only puts off the problems of high mountains of waste and the increasing use of to-go products.
There is still a lack of binding guidelines to promote and establish reusable concepts across the board instead. Both retailers and industry must be obliged to offer concrete solutions. Universal reusable systems in the form of deposit boxes, bottles and bags that can be filled on site should become a nationwide standard.
A return to reusable concepts is overdue, particularly in the beverage sector. Although there is a functioning deposit system in Germany, large manufacturers prefer to market drinks in disposable packaging or specially designed bottles. In future, manufacturers should share the costs of waste collection and disposal, as required by the European Single-Use Plastics Directive. The 'extended producer responsibility' also stipulates that manufacturers must also pay for the removal of plastic waste from the environment. National guidelines are finally needed for this.
It is good that degradable plastics may no longer be placed on the market. However, binding regulations must also be put in place for the 'biodegradable plastic' that is frequently on offer. Consumers must not be misled about the supposed degradability of plastics. So far, these materials are only degradable in some specially designed composting plants and only to a certain extent. The existing collection and recycling structures are currently not suitable for these products."
