Drinking straws, stirrers for coffee, disposable tableware made of conventional plastic and made of "Bioplastics" as well as to-go cups and disposable styrofoam containers should be banned.
The federal cabinet decided that. After the Bundestag, the Bundesrat also gave its approval on November 6th.
Cotton swabs, cutlery, plates, drinking straws, stirring sticks and plastic balloon sticks as well To-go- Drinks cups, fast food packaging and disposable food containers made from expanded polystyrene (known as Styrofoam) will no longer be allowed.
The regulation bans conventional single-use plastic products made from fossil fuels such as crude oil. If they end up in the environment and not in the yellow bin, they will remain there for many decades - just like disposable plastic bags. Disposable plates or cups made of bio-based or biodegradable plastics are also prohibited.
Around 320.000 one-way cups are used every hour in Germany alone - up to 140.000 of them to-go cups, according to the Federal Environment Ministry. The waste balance of disposable tableware and to-go packaging was more than 2017 tonnes in 346.000, according to a survey by the Society for Packaging Market Research. According to the Federal Environment Agency, the total amount of plastic waste rose by 2015 percent to 2017 million tons between 3,9 and 6,15. That was the highest level so far. The reusable share has been falling for years, especially in beverage packaging. However, as part of the EU-wide one-way plastic ban, many companies have now switched to manufacturing reusable products, for example.
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