Plans to spur Germans to even greater recycling efforts suffered a blow earlier this week when a German court ruled against a new regulation putting a deposit on drink cans and many previously deposit-free bottles.
The administrative court in Duesseldorf said the impact of the deposit for consumers and companies was too great to be settled by government decree, and should have been put before parliament.
Drinks companies, who have filed complaints with courts across the country, hailed the verdict as signaling the beginning of the end for a regulation they say will be too expensive to implement.
But, the government insisted the deposit would come into force as planned on Jan. 1.
The court decision applied only to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Environment Minister Juergen Trittin said. State authorities urged the companies to back an accelerated appeal to a federal court to establish quickly the regulation's legality.
After the change, cans and many bottles — mainly plastic ones — of up to 1.5 liters (45 fluid ounces) would have a 0.25 euro deposit (dlrs 0.24), with the deposit doubling for larger containers.
Germans already pay deposits for many glass and plastic bottles. But the government has missed recycling targets set out in earlier legislation as metal cans have become highly popular.
Extending the deposit has been championed by the Greens party, the junior partner in the center-left government that faces a tough re-election battle in Sept. 22 elections. Associated Press