Potsdam wants to introduce a municipal packaging tax. Businesses that offer takeaway food in disposable crockery will have to pay this tax in future. A corresponding draft resolution is to be submitted to the city council on 4 March 2026, with the new regulation coming into force in July 2026. According to current plans, sellers of takeaway food will pay 50 cents per disposable cup, plate or bowl and 20 cents per disposable cutlery set. Information campaigns and subsidies for the purchase of reusable containers are planned to make the changeover easier for the businesses affected.

Tübingen is the pioneer of a municipal packaging tax. The university city introduced such a tax on disposable tableware in 2022 against some resistance. The Federal Constitutional Court then confirmed that a municipal packaging tax is generally permissible as a local consumption tax (decision of 27 November 2024, ref. 1 BvR 1726/23).