International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

The German deposit scheme is recognized as an expensive scheme. Perchards
note: 366
330
29/09/09
Some of the small importers in our survey reported that DPG participation was
very expensive, far more than participation in DSD. These costs had a knockon
effect on the retail price of the drink.
Some also reported administrative problems, such as that DPG was slow to
refund deposit monies and that it had changed its terms and conditions three
times last year. Some other importers indicated similar problems, but put
these down to ‘teething troubles’, and said that things were now operating
more smoothly.
Some importers told us that their customers are expressing a preference for
refillables, and so these importers are now considering switching to refillables.
Some of these issues may relate specifically to the way DPG operates, but
much of the expense is inherent in any clearing system for deposits, and
these costs inevitably bear more heavily on low-volume operators.
Imported speciality products have to compete in a highly price-sensitive
market in which the deposit on non-refillables might be twice the basic price
of the product. For example, in REWE, which is not classified as a discounter,
we bought a bottle of mineral water for € 0.12 (plus €0.25 deposit). In a REAL
hypermarket and in the discounter Penny, we bought beer for € 0.29 (plus
€0.25 deposit). Cans of Faxe beer imported from Denmark cost €0.55 (plus
€0.25 deposit) at the traditional supermarket Edeka.
Where imported speciality beers were on sale, which was predominantly in
department store food halls, we found that the bottles were often sold as
refillables. During our telephone survey of importers, we were told that
participation in DPG is simply too expensive for the small quantities of each
beer imported by each company. To recover the cost of registration, the retail
price of the beer would have to increase by around €0.30 per bottle, which is
more than the total price excluding deposit of standard German beers. One
importer told us that it had lost around half its customers since the deposit
was first imposed. Marking the bottles as refillable and charging only an
€0.08 deposit reduces the perceived price by €0.17. Even so, we paid € 1.99
for a bottle of Spendrups beer from Sweden (which no deposit was charged
on, for some reason) and € 2.49 for Asahi and Quilmes, from Karstadt
department stores.
In a more recent report, Perchards add, regarding the German system: 367
DPG, the system operators, commented in May 2008 that the cost per
container is three times as much as household-based collection.
366 Perchards (2007) Study on Factual Implementation of a Nationwide Take-back System in Germany
After 1 May 2006, Final Report, 14 February 2007.
367 G. Bevington (2008) A Deposit and Refund Scheme in Ireland, Report commissioned by Repak Ltd.,
September 2008.