Germany, Garbage, & the Green Dot: Challenging the Throwaway Society

For US policy makers & citizens who are grappling with the question of how to handle this countrys mounting municipal garbage & commercial wastes, this report offers a revolutionary approach taken by Germany to promote both recycling & source reduction. German legislation is stimulating industry efforts to reduce packaging & product waste by requiring that the businesses producing packages & products be financially responsible for taking back their used materials & recycling, reusing or disposing of them. This report describes what Germans have done in solid waste policies, the difficulties they are confronting & the impact on wastes to date. It discusses environmental problems that the US & other industrialized countries face, identifies practical solutions: programs & policies that work to conserve our valuable air, land, water & natural resources & enable us to live & do business less wastefully.