News
Ban of disposable food and drink containers at events in Munich
In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland different regulations have been put into place to ban the use of disposable food and drink containers at large scale events and to establish a framework for the use of reusable crockery. Several German cities took action against disposable food and drink container at events in the early 1990s, and Munich was among these forerunners.
In 1999 the local government of Munich banned the use of disposable crockery (paper plates, plastic cups, plastic forks and knifes) at large-scale public events that take place on land owned by the city. This obligation applies to all city facilities and events, such as the Munich-based weekly markets in the Olympic Stadium and Munich's Oktoberfest. However, it does not cover events taking place on privately owned land. The event organizers replace disposable crockery by reusable items for which consumers pay a deposit that they get back when they return the items. This action significantly reduces the waste generated by events like the Christmas market, Auer-Dult Fair, Oktoberfest and Munich City Marathon. Apart from that, the City of Munich cooperates with MobielSpiel and other organisations for smaller-scale events of 200-300 people, offering the possibility to rent crockery and dishwasher equipment. The City of Munich also promotes returnable bottles for beverages.
The popular event Oktoberfest will be used as an example here.
Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival celebrating beer held annually in Munich, running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 6 million people from around the world attending the event every year. The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the original Munich event.
For more information: Mr. Frederic Weihberg frederic.weihberg@muenchen.de
General data
|
Country |
Germany |
|
RA/LA |
Munich |
|
Population |
1,353,186 (2010) |
|
Waste generated (kg/inh/y) |
233.18 kg/inh/y (residual waste, 2010) 73.64 kg/inh/y (paper waste, 2010) 28.55 kg/inh/y (organic waste, 2010) 5.24 kg/inh/y (lightweight packaging and plastics waste, 2010) |
Waste prevention activity data
| Waste flow | Packaging waste : Disposable crockery |
| Strategy | Refillable/returnable packaging |
| Scale | Roll out |
| Year(s) of tde project development | 1991 |
| Participation target | About 6 million visitors come every year to the Oktoberfest |
| Waste reduction target | No quantitative target. Simply no use of disposable crockery at the Oktoberfest |
| Participation rate | About 6 million visitors come every year to the Oktoberfest, for all of them the ban on disposable crockery is binding |
| Waste quantities reduced | Total waste generated at the Oktoberfest dropped from 11,000 t in 1990 to 8,000 t in 1991 and 300-500 t since 1993. This is a decrease of more than 95% |
| Budget | Only administrative effort (passing the by-law, enforcement), no extra budget needed |
