Germany first introduced a deposit on non-refillable cans and plastic and glass bottles for some types of drinks in January 2003 in response to refillable drinks containers dropping below 72% of the market share.
The purpose of the legislation was to encourage consumers to buy refillable, usually glass or plastic, bottles which were already subject to a deposit. By introducing a 25 cent deposit on single-use containers, the German Federal Environment Ministry hoped to encourage people to buy re-useable containers which have a lower deposit, for example eight cents for glass bottled beer.
However, as a national system was not established the law stipulated that during a transitional period the deposit on non-refillable containers could only be returned to consumers at the point of sale. This has led to many cans and plastic bottles not being returned and the deposit money, around 400 million euros, being taking out of circulation since shopkeepers were legally unable to use it.
New system
As of October 1, the German government responded to a public and industry outcry, as well as a warning from the European Union, by revising the deposit scheme that will be run by four competing nationwide schemes.
The new system should allow consumers to return cans and plastic bottles to any retailer. Stores are only required to take back the types of packaging they stock. To get around the new law, many shops are no longer stocking un-refillable containers.
However, in the many in the industry believe the new scheme may not improve on the old system. Stefan Dietrich, spokesman for Cleanaway in Germany, said: “The problem is that nobody knows. It hasn't worked so far and nobody knows whether it will now. I think that from October on, you won't be able to find a can of beer in a supermarket.”
Since the changeover on October 1, there has been much confusion in Germany. Consumers have been taking back cans saved up during the old deposit system to their local supermarkets. This sudden surge in returning the drinks containers has led many stores to refuse to take back any containers.
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