Germany's solid waste disposal system: Shifting the responsibility

Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, Fall 2001 by Halpert, Amy

I. INTRODUCTION

Germany's ambitious national solid waste policy incorporates a new approach which, by shifting responsibility and incentives, aims to promote resource management through source reductions, reuse, and recycling. Germany's Packaging Ordinance, adopted in 1991, demands that German industry take responsibility for its packages to the end of their life cycles, including the costs of recycling after consumers have disposed of the packages. After several subject specialists presented draft proposals, the first draft amendment to the Packaging Ordinance authored by the Federal Government was not accepted by the Bundesrat in April 1997.1 The rejected draft was then edited to include additions to accommodate demands from the federal states, and following an initial period of vehement political debate, the new draft was submitted. The Bundesrat passed the draft in May 1998, and the Packaging Ordinance Amendment entered into effect on August 28, 1998.2 Germany's Federal Environment Ministry initiated the Amendment in an effort to bring its national packaging regulations in line with the European Union's packaging directive. In particular, Germany's recycling quotas for used paper, glass, metal, and other packaging materials had not been fully in compliance with European Union guidelines. 3

The philosophy underlying the Packaging Ordinance is based on a resource economics principle known as the "polluter pays" principle: namely, those who produce waste are responsible for its recycling and disposal. In the United States, waste management is a public responsibility funded by taxpayers, and some critics argue that funding waste management with public money subsidizes wastefulness .4 Germany requires private industry to take responsibility for waste, with the goal of influencing industry early in the design stage to make less wasteful packages and products. This shift of responsibility effectively "internalizes" waste management costs by integrating them into the package and product prices.5

Germany's strategy is simple: require industry to take back its products and packaging once their useful lives are over. The German approach allows industry

to determine the specific implementation mechanisms, rather than have the government oversee or micromanage the system. The German government has imposed no taxes or fees and is not involved in creating markets for recyclable materials. This strategy has allowed industry to create an alternative "take-back" packaging system, the Duales System Deutschland (DSD), provided that the system meets specified collecting, sorting, and refilling quotas. The DSD is a privately-operated public limited company that is not traded on the stock exchange. It is organized as a non-profit company based on the purpose for which it was set up; the dual system fulfills the obligations prescribed by the German Packing Ordinance of 1991 and the Amendment of 1998 on behalf of industry and trade. The DSD relies on two basic principles of waste disposal: (1) industry is critical of waste and material policy because it determines what packages and products are produced; and (2) incentives are a more effective public policy tool for modifying industry practices than extensive government regulations.6 The term "dual" stands for a second system which operates parallel to municipal waste collection and disposal. This is because the Packaging Ordinance requires the recycling of sales packaging to be organized by way of a nationwide "dual" system. The DSD mandates the submission of annual performance data ("mass flow verification"), which can demonstrate to the Environment Ministries of the federal states that post-consumer sales packaging is being properly collected, sorted and recycled. Further, the Product Recycling and Waste Management Act of 1994 also transfers responsibility for "waste for recovery" to the private waste management industry in other industrial fields, while the municipal residual waste collection and disposal system is responsible for "waste for disposal," generally via incineration and the use of landfills.7

While the German strategy has given rise to thought-provoking implications for United States waste policy, the Packaging Ordinance and the DSD have also received substantial criticism. This note will examine the German approach to waste management, address the criticisms, and outline the implications both for the European Community and the United States. Additionally, this note will analyze the German approach to solid waste management and will demonstrate that significant obstacles exist for policymakers in other nations who wish to shift waste management costs to producers.

II. SOLID WASTE AND THE PACKAGING ORDINANCE

A. THE SOLID WASTE PROBLEM IN GERMANY

For the purposes of discussion, this note refers exclusively to municipal solid

waste, otherwise called garbage or trash. In the United States, such waste comprises materials disposed of by the residential, commercial and institutional sectors and includes paper, food, packaging, yard waste, clothing and appliances.8 Municipal solid waste includes such commercial wastes as corrugated boxes, wood pallets, lunchroom waste, and office paper waste, but not industrial wastes such as slush and ash.9 It is important to note that "packaging waste" does not include waste that arises in the production of that packaging. Therefore, "waste" will hereinafter be understood as materials disposed of by their end users, such as households, businesses and institutions. Packaging waste includes all disposed-of packaging, including the portion that is ultimately recycled. This is the same definition used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the European Community, which divides waste into two categories: (1) waste for recovery, and (2) waste for disposal.10 It is worth noting that this definition differs from the German definition that classifies disposed of materials as either Abfall (waste) or Wertstoffe (valuable materials).11