Talks begin on joint Danish-German deposit system

European Environment & Packaging Law
Friday April 03 2009

Talks between German and Danish officials regarding a possible coupling of the Danish and German deposit system for beverage containers were launched last week, a Danish official told EE&PL.

Although the talks are still at an early stage, Kristoffer Slottved, Head of Section at the Danish Environment Minister, told EE&PL on 31 March, that he hoped a "basic framework" could be agreed in the coming months.

In a country where the prices for both beer and soft drinks are higher than in most EU countries, Danes often cross the border into Germany to buy their drinks. Although Germany has a deposit system for cans and bottles, Danes shopping in German supermarkets are exempt from paying the German deposit if they sign a form declaring the beverage containers will be taken back to Denmark.

Without a deposit system encouraging Danish consumers to bring the empty beverage containers to recycling facilities, Denmark is now faced with a serious litter problem, particularly in the South across the border from Germany.

In a February letter to his German counterpart, Sigmar Gabriel, Danish Environment Minister Troels Lund Poulsen explained that around 400 million cans cross over the German border into Denmark each year "and a major part of these are either thrown into the Danish nature or disposed of without being properly recycled."

In his letter, Poulsen calls for an end to the Danish exemption from the German beverage deposit based on two principles. "Danish customers buying beverage cans in German border shops must, like German customers, pay the required deposit without any exception. Secondly Danish customers must be given the option of having their deposit on cans bought in Germany refunded in Denmark."

As Slottved told EE&PL, "the first meeting between my colleagues and German officialsÉ to find a lasting solution to the issue on Danish/German beverage deposits" took place in Berlin on 25 March.

Although still in "initial state," the discussions centred over whether Danish customers should pay a German or a Danish deposit.

The German deposit system is both more expensive (€0.25 compared to €0.13) and less flexible than the Danish one. While in Denmark the empty deposit containers can be returned to any shop, in Germany, they have to be returned to the shop where they were bought.

"There are also technical considerations to be discussed on how the system will work," Slottved said.

As he explained, the majority of the drinks bought by Danes in German supermarkets are in fact Danish drinks. Therefore technically, it could be as simple as changing the code on the bottles.

However, Slottved said there was "big opposition" from the retailer's side on "some of the solutions" being envisaged which might make it difficult to find a solution rapidly.

"Danish retailers are not keen on providing their logistic system" to make the arrangement work if there is "no profit" for them to be made.

"This and technical issues means it is difficult to say when something solid can be announced," he said.

The Danish environment ministry is now trying to find a solution acceptable to all stakeholders and is therefore looking to getting "the reflections of business" on a possible solution. Once this has been achieved, Slottved said another meeting with Germany was planned before the summer.

"A basic framework is probably as far as we will get this year," he said.

Danish retailers want German deposit

The Danish federation of retail grocers (DSK) told EE&PL on 1 April that it was "very dissatisfied with the German exception with beverage deposit in the border area."

According to the Deputy Director of DSK, Claus Bøgelund Nielsen, the problem is more a case of "insufficient enforcement of the German deposit" system because in theory, as confirmed by both Sigmar Gabriel and his predecessor Jürgen Tritten, "the deposit regards all consumers, regardless of nationality and places for buying."

B¿gelund Nielsen told EE&PL this lack of enforcement resulted in three main problems:

- an increased cost for the handling of waste in Denmark;
- a reduction in the effectiveness of the Danish deposit system; and,
- a reduction in the prospects of fulfilling the targets in the packaging waste directive.
"DSK shall strongly recommend that all German stores collect German deposit from all consumers, who can subsequently get the deposit refund in German grocery stores," Bøgelund Nielsen said.

Contacted by EE&PL, the Danish Brewers Assocation refused to comment on the issue.