Germany is a comparatively neat and tidy place, but there are quite a few problem spots and scapegoats for litter. Politicians are targeting one visible culprit, with some precedence and a mixed record of success, in Munich and Berlin by proposing levying a fast food tax on the disposable remains of daily routines—coffee cups, greasy bags, waxy paper. Not wanting to dispatch more sanitation workers on new beats or provide ever growing waste-bins, however, the tax scheme, borne by the cafes and fast food outfits that produce these leavings and pass the costs on to the consumer, seems to be only punitive.
Believe it or not, the judicial system in Germany only lets stand taxation programmes that somehow benefit, and not merely punish, those who pay into it. In fact, most of the litter that one sees is from take-away (or quickly overflowing from public trash receptacles) and is quite easily traced by to its source through shameless
branding. No industry is a paradigm of cleanliness, though, just some are better hidden and less identifiable. While I agree that something should be done and the producers might need to acknowledge a little more responsibility for the lifestyle they are promoting, I am not sure how it can be legislated without providing special consideration and extra services for the litterbugs. Berlin’s scheme encourages people to bring their own mugs to coffee stands to avoid the surcharge, and I’ve been to quite a few festivals that not only charge a deposit fee, refunded when one busses their own cups, steins and glasses back to the counter, but also on paper plates, plastic cups and disposable knives and forks. Take-out culture might need a little fine-tuning, with more trash redeemable to ensure it’s disposed of properly. What do you think? Should snack bars and fast food operators be saddled with the financial or the collection responsibility of their disposables or ought the matter of civic pride just be left up to the patrons?
