BERLIN, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The German government has adopted a draft law aimed at reducing waste and promoting recycling, the Ministry for the Environment (BMU) said on Wednesday.
Food and other products should "not be wasted," according to the draft. The aim is to counteract the unnecessary destruction of stockpiles, especially by online traders with high return rates.
Manufacturers and retailers in Germany should "clearly document" how they deal with unsold and returned goods or products, the ministry noted. In order to avoid wastage, returned products would be allowed to be sold at a discount or donated.
Throwing away products that are as good as new is "not the way to deal with resources," Minister for the Environment Svenja Schulze said here on Wednesday.
The new law should "lay the foundations for important progress towards less waste and more recycling," Schulze said, stressing that the German government, but also manufacturers and retailers, should be held more accountable than before.
The German Retail Federation (HDE) criticized the planned documentation requirements as "superfluous." Already today, returned goods are destroyed in exceptional cases only.
"For cost reasons, retailers are already making every effort to keep the number of returns of goods by customers as low as possible," said HDE Managing Director Stefan Genth.
The new law would also require manufacturers and distributors of disposable plastic products, such as cigarettes or plastic cups, to contribute to the cost of cleaning parks and streets in Germany. Currently, the cleaning of parks and streets is paid by German citizens through municipal fees.
The goal is to create "a clean environment in which there is no rubbish or toxic cigarette butts lying around," Schulze said.
