justice
Özdemir and Buschmann propose “containers” without penalty
Last generation climate activists distribute discarded food they rescued from containers in Potsdam. photo
© Monika Skolimowska/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
Food waste should be reduced. But how? Two ministers now have an idea that urges the states to act.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) want to ensure that nobody is punished for taking edible food out of waste containers. However, there are no plans to change the law at federal level for the time being.
Rather, in a joint letter to the justice ministers and senators of the federal states, the two federal ministers are promoting support for a proposal by the state of Hamburg from 2021. This provides for a change in the guidelines for criminal and fine proceedings, which could be decided by the federal states.
According to this, the so-called container should only be punished if there is a trespassing, “which goes beyond overcoming a physical obstacle without developing a significant effort or at the same time fulfills the offense of property damage”. In other words, if you climb over a low wall to get to the supermarket dumpster and take groceries with you, you shouldn’t be prosecuted for theft. On the other hand, anyone who breaks open and damages a gate in search of food that can still be eaten would still have to expect a penalty.
One of many building blocks
“If people take discarded food home with them without committing damage to property or trespassing, then in my opinion there is no longer any need to be prosecuted,” said Buschmann. Özdemir said the changes to the guidelines on procedural law could be one of many building blocks in the fight against food waste – “the federal states can also make a concrete contribution here”.
According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, around eleven million tons of food are disposed of in Germany every year. Every consumer in Germany throws away an average of 78 kilograms a year. That’s 59 percent of food waste. About 17 percent of food is wasted in restaurants, canteens and other forms of out-of-home catering. According to the ministry, around 1.6 million tons are lost during processing, for example due to defective packaging, which is 15 percent of the food. According to this, seven percent of food waste is generated in retail, for example due to large order quantities that are not sold in full. The shrinkage that occurs in agriculture, for example during storage or through slaughterhouse waste, accounts for around two percent.
Problem not tackled at the root?
Rolf Sommer from WWF Germany says: “The legalization of containers is a good step, but the federal government is not tackling the problem of food waste at the root.” What ends up in the bin is only better distributed. A legally anchored obligation to reduce food waste would be better – for all economic operators at all levels of production and distribution.
Rezzo Schlauch, who acted as a lawyer in 2020 for two young people from Tübingen who had been caught piling up containers, also criticized the move as not going far enough. He told the German Press Agency: “I think that’s half-baked, if you want to make a clear cut, you have to lift the criminal liability of containers.” Last year, climate activists from the group “Last Generation” blocked roads on the grounds that they wanted to put pressure on the federal government to introduce a “Food Saving Law”.
Shortly before Christmas, the federal cabinet passed a draft law by Buschmann on the law on sanctions, which, among other things, provides for shorter imprisonment in the event of unpaid fines. However, the government has not yet decided on a further reform, in which, for example, fare evasion could be downgraded from a criminal offense to an administrative offence. In connection with a planned general review of individual paragraphs of the Criminal Code, which is said to take several months, it could then also be considered whether there should also be a change in criminal law in addition to the container.
Such a change is not explicitly provided for in the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. There it only says: “Together with all those involved, we will reduce food waste in a binding manner for specific sectors, clarify liability issues and allow tax relief for donations.”