Overview
- On ARD’s Hart aber fair, guests highlighted that nearly one in four packages in Germany is returned, with about 95% resold and 17 million items discarded in 2021.
- Industry representative Gero Furchheim said VAT rules can make donating returned goods more expensive than disposal and offered a legal analysis to CDU lawmaker Christoph Ploß to change that.
- Ploß signaled openness to a tax fix and cited the end of the €150 customs exemption as a move to curb low-quality imports.
- Consumer and NGO voices called for more spot checks and corporate liability for unsafe imports, referencing a Greenpeace and Bianca Heinicke probe of Shein products.
- Green politician Renate Künast argued that cutting red tape risks sacrificing human-rights and environmental safeguards, and no concrete legislative change has followed from the debate.