BERLIN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- German environment minister Svenja Schulze has rejected calls for the introduction of a tax on plastic packaging on Friday.
"I doubt that a few more cents paid reluctantly at supermarket tills will lead to a change in mindset," Schulze told Redaktions Netzwerk Deutschland (RND). Instead of another new tax, more effective measures could be taken in "intelligent coordination leading to less waste and more recycling."
A proposal by EU Commissioner Guenther Oettinger for a Europe-wide plastic tax sparked a public debate in several EU member states over the issue. Oettinger argued that such a tax could help make up for a shortfall created by the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU, as well as reducing the use of plastic by consumers and companies.
According to the European Commission, the bloc generates 26 million tons of plastic waste each year. Despite growing recycling efforts, a large share thereof still ends up in oceans where it endangers marine ecosystems and can also re-enter the human food chain in the form of small plastic particles found in fish.
Reacting to Schulze's statement on Friday, Green party (Gruene) leader Robert Habeck criticized the reluctance of the environment ministry to back a plastic tax. Habeck argued that Oettinger's proposals could have a "nudging effect" on consumers.
The Green party leader further complained that although Schulze was willing to admit that plastic pollution was "the mega problem of the century", she had no concrete solutions to offer.
The EU Commission is currently proposing a joint plastic strategy for the bloc which would legally require all related products to be recyclable from 2030 onwards.
The Brussels-based organization issued a directive in 2016 which banned supermarkets from giving out single-use plastic bags free of charge to customers. Since then, the use of single-use plastic bags in the EU has fallen by a third.