Skip to content
Banana

Plastic census: Federal government has products with plastic counted & labeled

Berlin. The German government has commissioned a five-year, legally mandated collection of statistical consumption data to obtain the actual amount of plastic waste that Germans produce each year through their purchases. The change in the law will take effect from 01.05.2019 and will mean that in future a consecutive number will be noted on every item with plastic packaging.

"We have noticed on the sidelines that a few citizens complain that cucumbers and bananas are packed in plastic. But we don't believe that we produce a lot of waste here. After all, Germany is so clean. But because the welfare of our citizens is important to us, we are now having all foodstuffs with plastic counted over a 5-year period and labelled accordingly. Then we want to see whether we really make so much garbage with our purchases," said MP Angelo Merte at the federal press conference on Friday.

This is how the plastic count works

Supermarket
Probably soon a typical picture in the supermarket - products are counted and labeled. However, the count only refers to products with plastic.

To avoid a possible problem with the Plastic waste in the environment the federal government has taken action. The plastic census includes the following changes and procedures:

  • From 01.05.2019 to 31.04.2024 all products with plastic packaging will be counted.
  • This includes, for example, plastic carry bags, shrink wrap for food, Coffee-2Go cups and also electronics packaging.
  • Each item is given a sequential number for counting, which is noted on the product with a black, waterproof sharpie.
  • After five years, the exact figure is viewed and evaluated in plenary.

"After five years, we will know more. Until then, we ask for patience. If our survey really shows that we produce a lot of plastic waste in Germany, we'll see further," Merte added, still in a personal interview with CareElite. He then took a firm pull of the straw from the Starbucks cup and bid farewell to our reporters with a friendly nod.

PS.: This post was an April Fool's joke.


In our sustainable news you can find out the most important news from the fields of environmental protection and sustainability every day.

Coffee box Suggestions for improvement Newsletter

* Links with asterisks are so-called Affiliate links. If you click on it and buy something, you automatically and actively support my work with CareElite.de, because I get a small share of the sales revenue - and of course the product price does not change. Thank you for your support and best regards, Christoph!

nv-author-image

Christoph Schulz

I'm Christoph, an environmental scientist and author - and here at CareElite I'm campaigning against plastic waste in the environment, climate change and all the other major environmental problems of our time. Together with other environmentally conscious bloggers, I want to give you tips & tricks for a naturally healthy, sustainable life as well as your personal development.

2 thoughts on “Plastik-Zensus: Bundesregierung lässt Produkte mit Plastik zählen & beschriften”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *