Restaurants, bistros and cafés that sell takeaway food and drinks will be obliged to offer their products in reusable packaging from 2023. In particular, they are intended to replace single-use plastic packaging.
Reusable obligation: From January 1, 2023, new requirements from the Packaging Act
Food and drinks in reusable packaging may not be offered under worse conditions than in disposable packaging. The same product in reusable packaging must not be more expensive than in disposable packaging. Appropriate reusable cups must also be available for all sizes of to-go drinks. It is permitted to issue the reusable packaging for a deposit, which will be repaid upon return.
“We need a real trend reversal in the way we deal with packaging. The consumption of packaging has been increasing steadily for years. The new obligation to offer reusable products can make a decisive contribution here. Consumers can then always choose reusable packaging to take with them, thereby strengthening waste avoidance in a consumer area with a particularly high amount of packaging waste. Germany is a pioneer across the EU. To ensure that reusable packaging soon becomes standard in all member states, I am committed to ambitious requirements in the new EU packaging regulation. At the same time, we can do even more for the packaging transition in Germany.”
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke:
The new reusable offer requirement from the Packaging Act must be complied with by all “final distributors” who place plastic food packaging and disposable beverage cups on the market, regardless of their material. This refers to all those who sell take-away packaging filled with food or drinks to consumers: restaurants, cafés, bistros, but also canteens, gas stations, supermarkets or catering companies.
Exceptions to the mandatory regulation
Smaller shops such as snack bars, late bars and kiosks in which a total of five employees or fewer work and which at the same time have a shop area of no more than 80 square meters are exempt from the obligation. Instead of the obligation to offer reusable products as described above, these companies have the option of allowing their customers to have the reusable containers they bring with them filled.
Chains such as train station bakeries cannot make use of the exception for small businesses. The sales area of the individual sales outlets may be less than 80 square meters. But if there are more than five employees working in the entire company, the exception does not apply to them. Restaurateurs can charge a deposit for reusable packaging, but they don't have to. For example, there are reusable packaging systems used nationwide that require registration of the product and customer via app instead of a deposit. The deposit on reusable packaging is not part of the price for the product. Deposit is charged additionally and will be refunded without deductions after the packaging is returned.
Law since May 2021
The Bundestag passed the amendment to the Packaging Act in May 2021. The new reusable offer requirement comes into force on January 1, 2023. Compliance with the new obligation will be monitored by the responsible authorities in each country.
Reusable is becoming increasingly important
In the future, reusable packaging will play an increasingly important role across the EU. The EU Commission made this clear at the end of November 2022 with its draft for a new EU packaging regulation. According to the draft, binding supply quotas for reusable packaging are to be introduced in various retail areas. Some small packaging will also be banned in the future, such as free shampoo bottles in hotels, but also certain single-use plastic packaging such as nets and bowls for fresh fruit and vegetables. European regulations are being proposed in many areas that are already in practice in Germany: extensive deposit and return systems for beverage packaging or the new requirement for reusable systems in the take-away sector.
Source:
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection
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