01 Jul 2020 --- The German Cabinet has agreed to ban the sale of single-use plastic items outlawed by the EU Single-Use Plastic Directive (SUPD) by July 3, 2021, including straws, plates and styrofoam cups and containers. This news is “neither surprising nor progressive” in the view of Deutsche Umwelthilfe (Environmental Action Germany, also known as DUH), which underscores how Germany is not maximizing its capacity to drive change in the movement against plastic pollution. Moreover, Germany’s adherence to the minimum requirements of the SUPD and failure to ban single-use plastic items deemed non-essential by the EU has let certain opportunities slip through the cracks.
