EU Requests Germany Halt Can Recycling Program

European regulators asked Germany to stop levying deposits on non-renewable bottles and cans and to ensure the obligatory deposit system is compatible with European Union law.

German store owners have boycotted the nationwide container- return system, in place since January. The government wants consumers to be able to return non-recyclable bottles and cans anywhere, not just at the point of sale.

The EU ``will not open an infringement case at this stage,'' said Jonathan Todd, a European Commission spokesman in Brussels. The EU wants to study the system to ensure that it's compatible with the bloc's laws and if it isn't, the commission may take Germany to court, Todd said.

Commission President Romano Prodi wrote to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder ``thanking him for making sure a community- compatible return system is in place on Oct. 1,'' Todd said.

Last month, an industry group said it was pulling out after the commission issued a letter to German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin in which it said the deposit system hinders commerce.

The government has called the retailers' accusation ``factually false.'' The criticism from the commission, the EU's executive arm, to Trittin was not of the deposit system; rather, it viewed the system's ``full'' implementation as harmful.

The commission's letter said that while the deposit is admissible in principle, the lack of a nationwide container- return system calls the legality of the system into question.  Reuters