Germany Mulls Deposit on Juice Boxes

Almost two years after Germany introduced a 25 eurocent (30 US cents) deposit on cans and non-recyclable bottles, government officials announced on Wednesday that the same deposit will be imposed on juice boxes starting in March. Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin had already said that recycling quotas for such boxes had not been reached, triggering a law that required a deposit if people don't recycle enough. Germany wants 72 percent of drinks containers to be refillable. But in 2002, only 57 percent of packaging was reusable.The deposit scheme could be a boon for makers of container collection machines and recycling machines, such as Tomra and Wincor Nixdorf, Reuters newsagency reported. Germany's upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, could still block the move on Friday.