BERLIN, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Germany should introduce a penalty of 20 euro cents on all single-use plastic bottles in order to reach a government quota for reusable bottles, an environmental group said on Wednesday.
Last year, Germany introduced a law calling for a reusable quota of 70 percent with the aim of increasing recycling rates and reducing plastic waste in the country.
The introduction of the law in Germany had not led to "a clear trend reversal" from disposable to reusable products, Environmental Action Germany noted.
The reusable quota was defined in the law as a target and there was no penalty if the quota was not achieved. "In addition, the reusable quota should be designed in such a way that it must be implemented by every bottler and retailer," the group said.
"This is the only way to make the negative environmental impact of short-lived disposable packaging visible in the price and to create effective economic incentives for returnable bottles," said Barbara Metz, the group's deputy managing director.
