Germany's battle for a cleaner environment.

(From Business Line)

Byline: Mohan Murti

AS I write, thousands of Germans are rinsing out their yoghurt pots before tossing them into their colour-coded waste-bins.

Recycling is Germany's contribution to the global battle for the environment, and the country has been very successful in its fight against growing garbage heaps.

Unlike the situation in many countries, this public commitment is backed by government legislation. As early as 1991, a ruling called the Packaging Ordinance made it the duty of manufacturers, suppliers and retailers to 'take back' different kinds of packaging, no matter how large or small.

Consumers reacted promptly, leaving mountains of plastic and paper trash and even empty bottles or cans behind them in the supermarkets. Overwhelmed by this sudden unwanted deluge, manufacturers and retailers got together to set up a central body that would handle packaging material collected throughout Germany.

They established the Duales System Deutschland (DSD) - a private …