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Typical fast food packaging material on the lawyers' table at the Administrative Court in Mannheim
Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa
The packaging tax in Tübingen is ineffective.
This was decided by the Baden-Württemberg Administrative Court in Mannheim on Wednesday, without first presenting any further justification.
The city has been levying a levy on single-use packaging for prepared food and drink since the beginning of the year, but a McDonald's branch was suing.
Restaurateurs had to pay 50 cents to the city for each disposable plate or cup they gave out, plus 20 cents per piece of cutlery.
With the levy, Tübingen wanted to create incentives to avoid waste, use fewer resources and use reusable systems.
According to the city, the disposal of packaging waste alone costs more than 700,000 euros a year.
In addition, "income for the city budget" should be generated so that the costs of waste disposal can be paid at least partially by those who caused them, as the city wrote on its website.
Tübingen could now take action against the decision in Mannheim before the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, the Administrative Court allowed the revision.
The city of Kassel (Hessen) had already wanted to introduce a packaging tax in 1998, but failed before the Federal Constitutional Court.
ok/AFP