Minister Schulze calls for swift implementation of EU rules on single-use plastics - BMU-Pressreport

The Council of the European Union has adopted the Single-Use Plastics Directive, which includes a ban on selected single-use plastic products that pollute our oceans. 

The European Union is creating a new legal basis for the sustainable use of plastics. To this end, the Council of the European Union today adopted the Single-Use Plastics Directive. The approval of member states was the last step in the European legislative process. The Directive includes a ban on selected single-use plastic products that end up as marine litter. With this Directive, the European Union wants to sharply reduce the volume of marine litter entering the world’s oceans. In addition, the Directive lays down the minimum amount of recycled plastic to be used in plastic bottles and makes it possible to distribute a greater share of waste removal costs to certain branches of industry.

Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze commented: The new EU provisions are helping us shape a new trend towards less short-run packaging, less waste and more recycling. The EU is facing up to its responsibility to combat the global pollution of our oceans. As plastic waste accounts for the largest share of marine litter, it is only right that we ban disposable plates and cutlery and other single-use plastic products as quickly as possible. In Germany, these products are to set vanish from our shelves even before 2021. I will continue talks with the retail sector to this end. The Directive also makes it easier to ensure manufacturers share in the disposal costs for their products, should these end up as litter in parks, on footpaths or beaches. This will also be useful for products like disposable coffee cups and cigarettes." 

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