More Regulation Story

I know you are going to start laughing, but you have to sit and ponder upon this subject, and where the environmental people want to take it.

So there's been chatter going on for several months about 'waste'.  This kind of waste?  Well....people collect statistical data from internet sales, and one out of every six items.....ends up being sent back to the company.  Maybe it was the wrong size, wrong quality, or just a poor selection on your part.

ARD, Channel One and public TV in Germany, sat down to discuss this matter today.

The deal is this. The Environment Minister, (Schulze, SPD) says this is stupid....because the bulk of the returned items just gets dumped.

So she is pushing a bill through the Bundestag that would ban dumping of goods  returned. 

What she suggests that a retailer (like Amazon or Saturn or Karlstadt) should be obligated to keep usable goods and 'share' the disposal cost with customers (meaning you need to charge the customer some kind of return fee....to pay for disposal).

I know....this just opens the door for complicated regulations....not just five or ten, but probably upwards to a hundred to two-hundred pages of regulations.

The legality of this?  There's supposed to be some bill attached to this....coming out on Thursday, and explaining this.

But here's the thing....it doesn't just stop there....there's chatter on the bill that it'll include unsold items.

You know....at the end of March when all those winter items are sitting there and weren't sold, there would be a governmental law to forbid them from trashing or dumping the items.

But here's the other thing....this disposal talk even includes coffee cups (the plastic or paper type) at the local bakery.  They would have to charge you extra for the plastic cups.....to satisfy the law.  The trash at McDonalds?  It's probably going to be sorted into some disposal fee.

Making your life more complicated or troublesome?  Yes, all in the interest of Germanizing the environmental laws. 

What will happen with the goods left unsold?  I'm guessing some 'agent' will be part of the solution....who will come up with a truck once a week, and carry the items to some 3rd-world freighter....transporting it to Africa or India....selling the German goods there....rather than charging disposal fees to German customers. 

The coffee cup problem?  I'm guessing that most Germans will just start carrying a heavy-duty plastic cup around in their purse or bag, and yank it out at the coffee shop when they stop for some coffee.  Being unsanitary?  Yeah, but don't worry....the Germans asked for it, and should get the conditions with the unsanitary cup.

Eventually, some idiot will survey usage of toilet paper in German public toilets, and decide that legislation needs to occur there, and limit you to six 'stripes' of toilet paper per use.  At that point, folk will start carrying their own toilet paper around with them, and solve that problem.