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Beverages fail to meet German refillable quota

The German government formally announced in January 1999 that the beverage industry failed to meet the 72 percent refillable quota for 1997. Under the German Packaging Ordinance, soft drinks, beer, wine and mineral water are required to maintain a combined 72 percent ratio of refillables to disposable containers.

The government is currently monitoring the volume of beverage sales for each beverage market to determine whether or not specific beverages are reaching the refillable rate they achieved in the base year of 1991. According to the 1991 German Packaging Ordinance, some beverages may be below the 72 percent level and some may be above, but 72 percent of the 'combined' volume of beverages must be packaged in refillable bottles.

If the beverage industry fails to meet the quota three years in a row, a mandatory deposit system will go into effect for those beverages that do not have the same or greater ratio of refillables to disposables they attained in 1991.