After McDonald’s brought a case against Tübingen’s disposable packaging tax, judges at the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe have now ruled that the tax is legal. Other southern German cities are expected to implement the charge following the ruling.

Tübingen wins disposable packaging tax case against McDonald’s 

Germany’s Constitutional Court has overruled a legal complaint lodged by McDonald’s in Tübingen, after the city in Baden-Württemberg introduced a tax on disposable food packaging.

The tax was first introduced in 2022 and charges businesses for serving food in disposable packaging; 50 cents per coffee cup, 50 cents per food tray or box and 20 cents for straws and disposable cutlery.

After the tax was introduced, the McDonald’s franchise challenged the legality of the city’s tax in an administrative court in Mannheim and won, arguing that it infringed on businesses’ freedom to operate as a vendor, which is protected in German law. The Constitutional Court, Germany's highest court, has now sided with the city, ruling that local authorities can implement consumption taxes. 

Authorities in Tübingen previously reported that disposable waste clean-up costs the city around 700.000 euros per year. Now, they expect to raise 800.000 euros per year from the new tax, and since the law was first adopted in 2022, the number of restaurants in the city offering reusable packaging has quadrupled.

Baden-Württemberg cities mull adopting disposable packaging tax

As of January 2025, the southern German city of Konstanz has also adopted a disposable packaging tax.

Now that the tax has been deemed legally sound, the ruling is expected to be a precedent-setter for regulation in other cities in Baden-Württemberg. Freiburg and Heidelberg are reportedly among the cities which may follow suit.

Thanks to a separate federal law, vendors should already be prepared to offer reusable packaging. Since January 2023, cafes and restaurants across Germany have been obliged to offer a reusable alternative to disposable takeaway packaging.

These rules also apply to bakeries and butchers, though small businesses with a maximum of five employees in a space no bigger than 80 square metres are exempt.

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