Revisions to the German Packaging Ordinance (GPO) aimed at closing loopholes in the country’s household packaging waste collections have been approved by the Bundesrat, Germany's upper house of parliament.
All firms supplying consumer packaging will be required to pay a licence fee, by joining the Green Dot – or Der Grüne Punkt – system or similar initiative, under the new legislation.
The GPO has, however, been returned to the cabinet and lower house, the Bundestag, which needs to endorse a number of amendments made by the upper house.
Recycling firm Interseroh said last year that freeloaders had brought the existing system to "the brink of collapse", by using the Green Dot symbol, which exempts them from legal requirements to take back packaging, without paying for it.
Commercial waste remains exempt from licence fees, but firms must ensure that it contains no waste from households.
The Green Dot system was launched by former monopoly Duales System Deutschland, but has since been adopted by several other countries.
The GPO came into force in 1991 and places responsibility for packaging with the whole supply chain.
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