The Federal Constitutional Court has declared the packaging tax of the city of Tübingen to be constitutional (Ref.: 1 BvR 1726/23 of 27 November 2024). As the Federal Administrative Court (Link: https://www.dombert.de/verpackungssteuer-in-tuebingen-ist-rechtmaessig/), the Federal Constitutional Court is also of the opinion that the tax on non-reusable packaging and non-reusable crockery and cutlery introduced in 2022 is a local consumption tax in accordance with Art. 105 para. 2a sentence 1 of the Basic Law. The city had the legislative competence for this. The franchisee of a McDonald's branch was therefore also unsuccessful with his constitutional complaint. As the Federal Constitutional Court explained, the city's packaging tax statute is linked to the fact that the food served in the disposable packaging is consumed directly on site. This establishes the required local connection of consumption. The Tübingen packaging tax is also not in conflict with federal regulations. According to the Federal Constitutional Court, although the freedom of the fast-food restaurant operator's profession is affected, it is not „unreasonably impaired.“

The contact person for waste law issues in our practice is the lawyer Izabela Bochno.