The Federal Constitutional Court must deal with the controversial packaging tax on disposable cups and food packaging in the city of Tübingen. McDonald’s announced on Friday that a franchisee from Tübingen had filed a constitutional complaint. A spokesman for the highest German court confirmed their receipt in Karlsruhe. It’s about a ruling by the Federal Administrative Court, which ruled in May that Tübingen can charge sellers of food and drinks such a tax on disposable packaging, disposable tableware and cutlery. This means that the operator of a McDonald’s branch in the university town, who had sued the local packaging tax statute with the support of the fast food company, lost. In the lower court at the Baden-Württemberg Administrative Court, McDonald’s had prevailed. The city’s goal is to use the tax to reduce waste in public spaces. McDonald’s said on Friday that it would continue to support the franchisee. “The reason for this is that we are still convinced that a nationwide and uniform solution is needed to this issue.
The German Environmental Aid, in turn, said: “Instead of finally banning disposables from its branches and switching to reusables, McDonald’s wants to prevent courageous local politics by all possible means.” The constitutional complaint is a game for time and is intended to prevent effective measures to promote reusable goods. “This activity wastes valuable resources of the Federal Constitutional Court and could easily be stopped by Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke by making unnecessary disposable tableware financially unattractive through a nationwide tax of at least 20 cents.”