The cost is included in the price of the product. Voluntary commitments by those responsible for products can supplement statutory regulations, in 1996, for instance, the automobile industry and the other relevant sectors undertook the obligation to the Federal Government to reduce the proportion of non-recyclable wastes in scrap car processing from the current level of about 25 percent by weight to a maximum of 15 percent by weight by the year 2002 and to a maximum of five percent by weight by the year 2015. At the same time, a comprehensive system for taking back and recycling scrap cars is being created for the whole of Germany. Manufacturers and importers have also committed themselves to taking back free of charge their vehicles which are up to at least 12 years old. In addition to these voluntary commitments, the Federal Government has adopted a Scrap Car Ordinance which lays down environmental standards to be met by scrap car processors.

The Federal Government’s waste management policy, which is aimed at avoiding waste in the first place and then recycling the rest, is already proving successful: As a result of the implementation of the Packaging Ordinance alone, the annual consumption of packaging materials in Germany dropped by more than 1.3 million tons between 1991 and 1995; the percentage of reusable packaging could be kept stable. Between 1993 and 1996, nearly 20 tons of sales packaging were recycled by the DSD; a comparable amount of transport packaging was recycled as well.