Germany's Federal Cartel Office, is expected to investigate the company that controls 95 percent of the country's recycling of packaging, it announced in Bonn Friday.
Germany operates the world's biggest single garbage recycling system, with 80 million people required to sort their refuse into separate bins, one for packaging and the other for everything else.
Most German products have a "green dot" printed on them to show the manufacturer or importer has paid a levy to recycle the container, whether it is made of paper, glass, plastic or metal.
The inquiry brings to a head a growing tussle between Duales System Deutschland, which operates factory-style works to scavenge everything of value from the refuse, and small competitors who contend they can do the job cheaper.
Ulf Boege, president of the Cartel Office, indicated Friday where the inquiry was going, saying he saw no reason why there should still be a permanent limit on competition. DSD had a market share of 95 percent and dominated the business, he noted.
DSD triggered the inquiry itself, filing an application last week for a dispensation to continue its exclusive contracts with industry and municipalities.
While strongly supported in Germany, the Green Dot system has never managed to earn enough money from selling waste plastic and metal to pay for its huge fleet of collection trucks and its sorting centers.
Instead, DSD, a non-profit private company, earns most of its revenues from the legally mandated levy. Expatica.com.Latest from Recycling Today
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