25.01.2021 – 10:36
Deutsche Umwelthilfe eV
Berlin (ots)
- Mehr als 2.100 Vorschläge von Bürgerinnen und Bürgern zu weiteren Städten und Landkreisen, die plastikfrei werden sollen - DUH-Aktion "Plastikfreie Städte" führt bereits bei dutzenden Kommunen zu konkreten Plänen zur Mehrwegförderung, zur Prüfung von kommunalen Einweg-Steuern oder Einweg-Verboten bei der öffentlichen Beschaffung - Gescheiterte Abfallvermeidungspolitik von Umweltministerin Svenja Schulze macht kommunale Lösungen gegen die Plastikmüllkrise dringlicher denn je
Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) has currently submitted formal applications for less disposable waste in another 65 cities. It is thus continuing the “Plastic-free cities” campaign launched in September 2020. The environmental and consumer protection association had already in 2020 in 64 cities that had declared a climate emergency, requested measures to solve the one-way waste crisis. In addition, citizens were asked to name other municipalities to which applications against single-use plastic waste should also be submitted. Since then, DUH has received more than 2,100 suggestions. This underlines the need for action, which has become even greater during the corona pandemic. The consumption of single-use plastic packaging has increased by another six percent during this period.
As an interim result of the applications for “plastic-free cities” from 2020, the DUH is currently in intensive exchange with a total of 31 cities. They are examining specific steps, such as a municipal consumption tax on disposable to-go packaging, a ban on disposable packaging in public procurement, or financial support for reusable to-go packaging systems. The measures to avoid plastic waste requested by the DUH are increasingly being introduced in city council meetings and thus lead to an intensive debate about possible solutions.
“The waste policy of Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze has crashed. Germany is the European champion when it comes to packaging waste at 228 kilograms per person per year. The obligation to offer reusable to-go cups and food boxes currently proposed by the minister can easily be undermined by symbolic offers. Because there are no effective measures against single-use waste at the federal level, it is all the more important that municipalities make their contribution to solving the plastic waste crisis. 2021 must be the year in which cities and municipalities radically reduce single-use plastic. Climate change is advancing ever faster , which is why measures for reusable funding must be implemented now. With the municipal consumption tax planned in Tübingen from 2022 on one-way-to-go packaging, Mayor Boris Palmer is an example of what needs to be done “, says Deputy DUH Federal Managing Director Barbara Metz.
Cities and municipalities have many opportunities to drive the change towards a society with less waste. For example, Rostock, Berlin, Fehmarn and Erlangen are providing financial support for the introduction of reusable to-go packaging systems. Kiel, Landau in der Pfalz and Düsseldorf are examining the introduction of a consumption tax on to-go one-way packaging. Neumünster, Berlin and Mainz have banned their local authorities from buying disposable tableware and coffee capsule machines. Hamburg no longer allows single-use plastic bottles to be used when purchasing beverages from authorities.
“More than forty percent of the street garbage in German cities consists of one-way rubbish such as coffee-to-go cups, burger boxes or pizza boxes. One-way packaging uses up unnecessarily large amounts of resources and causes climate-damaging CO2 during production. Therefore, it is completely incomprehensible Some cities refuse to enter into a dialogue to solve the problem of too much single-use garbage. The more than 2,100 citizen proposals received by the DUH for further applications in cities against unnecessary waste show that urgent action is needed. Climate change and littering Landscapes cannot be sat out “says the DUH head of circular economy Thomas Fischer.
The DUH announces that it will soon publish results which municipalities are pioneers and which refuse and thus trample climate protection and waste avoidance underfoot.
The solution to the waste problem is obvious: Reusable systems avoid waste by being refilled multiple times, ensure less waste in public spaces and are particularly climate-friendly. Only through the consistent use of reusable cups, food boxes and crockery would there be annual savings of around 800,000 tons of the greenhouse gas CO2.
Background:
In January 2021, the DUH submitted 65 further formal applications to avoid disposable waste:
- Baden-Württemberg: Freiburg im Breisgau, Stuttgart, Mannheim, Emmendingen, Karlsruhe - Bayern: Bamberg, Nürnberg, Würzburg, Augsburg, Regensburg - Brandenburg: Barnim, Cottbus, Brandenburg an der Havel, Uckermark, Oberspreewald-Lausitz - Freie Hansestadt Bremen und Bremerhaven - Hessen: Frankfurt am Main, Gießen, Kassel, Darmstadt, Main-Taunus-Kreis - Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Schwerin, Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Wismar - Niedersachsen: Göttingen, Hildesheim, Osnabrück, Braunschweig, Region Hannover - Nordrhein-Westfalen: Essen, Köln, Dortmund, Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, Duisburg - Rheinland-Pfalz: Ahrweiler, Neuwied, Südliche Weinstraße, Germersheim, Frankenthal (Pfalz) - Saarland: Neunkirchen, Homburg - Schleswig-Holstein: Flensburg, Pinneberg, Nordfriesland, Herzogtum Lauenburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde - Sachsen: Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, Zwickau - Sachsen-Anhalt: Halle (Saale), Magdeburg, Dessau-Roßlau, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Halberstadt - Thüringen: Erfurt, Weimar, Gera, Eisenach, Nordhausen
Even before the Corona crisis, there were 28,000 tons of garbage annually in Germany in disposable cups for hot drinks and 155,000 tons of garbage in disposable food containers. This corresponds to around 320,000 used disposable cups and around 800,000 disposable food boxes, plates and bowls per hour.
System service providers such as Recup, FairCup, Vytal or Recircle now offer reusable packaging with a national deposit for both coffee and food. They can easily be returned to participating branches. These so-called pool systems relieve the environment and the climate in a particularly efficient way and are also very consumer-friendly. The same applies to the use of reusable bottles for drinks. Compared to single-use plastic bottles, mineral water in reusable glass bottles only causes around half of the greenhouse gas CO2.
Links:
- Einen beispielhaften Antrag finden Sie hier: http://l.duh.de/p210125 - Mehr Informationen zur Initiative plastikfreie Städte: https://www.duh.de/plastikfreie-staedte/
Press contact:
Barbara Metz, Deputy Federal Manager
0170 7686923, [email protected]
Thomas Fischer, Head of Circular Economy
030 2400867-43, 0151 18256692, [email protected]
DUH press office:
Matthias Walter, Marlen Bachmann, Thomas Grafe
030 2400867-20, [email protected]
www.duh.de, www.twitter.com/umwelthilfe,
www.facebook.com/umwelthilfe, www.instagram.com/umwelthilfe
Original content by: Deutsche Umwelthilfe eV, transmitted by news aktuell
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