Retailers accused of blackmailing the nation over failure of the system

Retailers accused of blackmailing the nation over failure of the system

The German environment minister has accused retailers of ‘blackmailing the nation’ over the failure of the single-trip packaging collection system.

In a heated debate in the Bundestag yesterday, members of the opposition called for the withdrawal of the Dosenpfand system, which adds a deposit to certain types of single-trip beverage packaging and puts the responsibility for collection with the retailers.

The opposition cited the government’s industry ministry as reporting 10,000 jobs had been lost on account of the system, while environment minister Juergen Trittin insisted that 14,000 new jobs have been created, based on research commissioned by his ministry.

Trittin reminded parliament that retailers had committed to ensure a national return scheme and he had been forced to make concessions that caused inconvenience to consumers. He blamed the HDE retailers trade association and the Aldi and Metro chains for not making the system work.

PET beer bottle production has boomed following the introduction of the Dosenpfand system. A number of brewers – and bottle machinery manufacturer Krones – expect PET to capture the traditional 25% share of beer sold in metal cans.

Meanwhile, the European Commission will formally investigate the Dosenpfand system, which it suspects is discriminating against non-German suppliers.