Following a ruling in November/02 by a court in Munster - as of Jan/03, anyone purchasing a soft drink in a disposable bottle in Germany is obliged to pay a deposit of between EUR 0.25-0.50, depending on the size of the bottle. The only way to recover the money will be to return the container to a shop. The law was passed in 1991, but a series of legal actions by the soft drinks industry has delayed its application until now. However, following the court ruling, the law will be applied throughout Germany with stiff penalties for failure to comply. The government has refused to allow industry more time to put in place a system for recovering the millions of disposable drinks containers that will start to pile up in shops. It is thought unlikely that people will continue to dispose of the containers, given the high cost of the deposit.
