German cities are considering a tax on single-use packaging

According to the survey, ten municipalities – including cities such as Bonn, Cologne, Freiburg, Heidelberg and Bremen – are already preparing to introduce the measure, while another 64 cities are evaluating the possibility. In total, 144 municipalities have expressed interest in the initiative, Lebensmittelpraxis reported.

According to the DUH, previous examples are encouraging: in Tübingen and Konstanz, where such a tax is already in force, there has been a significant reduction in the pollution of public spaces by disposable waste. In addition, the use of reusable systems such as Recup has increased, with 83 per cent increase in Tübingen and 60 per cent in Konstanz among participating catering establishments. In Tübingen, the revenue from the tax covered nine times the costs.

The DUH stressed that consumption of single-use packaging increased by one billion between 2022 and 2023, to more than 14 billion pieces, while the share of reusable solutions is still only around 1%. According to the organisation, action by cities is key in reducing the environmental burden.