Plastic bags: Supermarkets circumvent the ban with a special trick
Created: 06/21/2022, 09:49 am
By: Julian Kaiser
Despite the ban, some retail chains continue to sell plastic bags.
The circumvention of the packaging law is met with severe criticism.
NRW – With the new packaging law passed at the beginning of this year, single-use plastic bags with a wall thickness of 15 to 49 micrometers at the tills of supermarkets and discounters should actually be a thing of the past.
It is not for nothing that the Federal Ministry for the Environment describes them as "a phased-out model" and "classic disposable product." But thanks to a trick, some retail chains have found a way to bring the controversial plastic carrier bags to customers anyway - which does not meet with much approval from environmental organizations and the federal government .
Plastic bags ban by new packaging law | Applies since January 01, 2022 |
Includes | Plastic carrier bags that are thinner than 50 microns (0.05 millimeters). |
exception | Primary packaging for foods such as meat, fruit and vegetables |
Plastic bag ban: Despite a few exceptions, disposable bags have been banned from retail since the beginning of 2022
Customers who have bought a bag at the checkout from Aldi, Lidl or Edeka will generally no longer receive a plastic variant due to the amended packaging law – so the theory goes.
Exceptions are refrigerated bags, rigid shopping bags and small plastic bags for meat or fruit and vegetables in the self-service area, also known as knot or shirt bags.
For reasons of hygiene, these very light plastic bags with a wall thickness of less than 15 micrometers (0.015 millimeters) are still permitted.
Although the retail chains avoided a large number of pre-packaged goods in this way, the small bags also accounted for the "largest proportion of plastic bags in terms of volume" at around 3 billion pieces per year, reports the
consumer advice center
.
For comparison: In 2019, the total consumption in Germany was 4.7 billion bags, that is about 57 bags per capita.
Plastic bag ban: German environmental aid complains about loopholes
In reality, one or the other consumer will have noticed that some retail chains continue to happily sell plastic carrier bags that do not fall under the exceptions mentioned.
According to the consumer
advice center, the federal government is planning
to further reduce plastic waste by 2025 in compliance with the EU directive.
Apparently with success: According to the
federal government
, the consumption of plastic bags in Germany is falling significantly overall.
also read
Discounter Lidl introduces the “5xD” rule – the change affects all customers
Deposit at Aldi, Lidl &
Co.: Markets introduce return limit
According to the German Environmental Aid (DUH), supermarkets and discounters such as Lidl, Penny, Kaufland, Rewe, Aldi Nord and Süd adhere to the new regulation in an exemplary manner.
Other companies, on the other hand, used every conceivable loophole to sell disposable variants, which, strictly speaking, are considered reusable bags because they are a micrometer thicker, as RUHR24 reports.
Plastic bags ban: drugstore chain Müller simply sells thicker bags
According to the Tagesschau
, it is not without reason that supermarkets and drugstores such as Edeka, Norma and Rossmann
have become the target of DUH criticism.
DUH Managing Director Barbara Metz called the actions of the companies that found a way to circumvent the ban "irresponsible and mendacious."
Plastic bags have been largely banned from German supermarkets and discounters since the beginning of 2022.
© Michael Gstettenbauer/Imago
By simply selling thicker and reusable bags, the ban on single-use plastic bags with a wall thickness of 15 to a maximum of 49 micrometers does not apply.
As the DUH reports, for example, the plastic bags offered by the drugstore chain Müller are 50 microns thick.
According to Barbara Metz, it is misleading to offer these bags as reusable products.
Plastic bag ban: Ministry of the Environment calls for the ban on “cheat bags”
She is not alone in this view.
Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke from the Greens therefore called on retailers on Friday (June 17) to refrain from using so-called "cheat bags" and to stop the flood of disposable plastic bags.
According to the current status, it is difficult to sue supermarkets, discounters and drugstores.
After all, the EU is currently not allowing a ban on bags with thicker walls, according to Lemke.
