Up to 100,000 euro fine for illegal waste disposal

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  Many people in Berlin simply dispose of bulky waste on the street. (Archive photo)

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  Carelessly discarded waste can be seen in many corners of Berlin. (Archive image)

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  "Free to a good home" boxes are sometimes well-intentioned, but can also constitute a misdemeanor. (Archive image)

Whether it's cigarette butts, drinking cups, or old sofas: illegal waste disposal in Berlin is now significantly more expensive than before.

On November 4, the Senate approved a new catalog of fines, which has now been published in the Amtsblatt (government gazette). The aim is to increase deterrence in the hope that waste will be reduced. The maximum possible fines are increasing dramatically in some cases, and even supposedly minor offenses can really hurt financially.

Which offenses incur how much in fines

• The fine for discarded cigarette butts, whose toxic ingredients are considered highly harmful to the environment, has been increased from €80 to €120 to €250 to €3,000. It is still possible to classify the offense as an administrative offense, for which a warning fine of €55 is payable. As with other types of litter, public order officials have discretionary powers in this area.
• Discarded plastic bags, disposable cups, drink cartons, or chewing gum can result in a warning fine of €55 or a fine of €250 to €500. For larger quantities, the fine can be up to €5,000.
• Items such as glass bottles or shards, nails, sheet metal, and iron scraps will incur fines ranging from €250 to €800, up from €75 previously. Cigarette packets, paper, tissues, or fruit and food packaging will incur a warning fine of €30 to €40 or a fine of €50 to €100; the latter was previously slightly lower.
• Dog owners who do not dispose of their four-legged friends' waste in accordance with the regulations face a warning fine of €55 or a fine of €100 to €350. Even those who do not carry aids such as bags with them must pay a warning fine of €35 or a fine of €60 to €250.
• For mattresses left on the side of the road, or items such as suitcases, strollers, toy cars, tricycles, washbasins, chairs, cabinets, picture frames, boxes, sleds, or baskets, the fine doubles to between €300 and €1,500. Several such items or larger objects such as a bathtub or bed frame cost €1,500 to €4,000, which is up to five times more than before. For larger quantities, the fine can reach five figures, up to €11,000.
• Electrical appliances and bulky waste containing harmful substances are subject to fines of between €1,000 and €15,000; previously, the minimum fine was €500. This applies to items such as cell phones, radios, kitchen appliances, televisions, monitors, boilers, washing machines, ovens, refrigerators, air conditioners, radiators containing asbestos, and fluorescent tubes.
• The fine for illegally disposing of old tires has doubled. It starts at €700 per tire for quantities of up to five tires. If the quantity is greater, the fine can be up to €20,000; previously, the maximum fine was €3,000. By way of comparison, old tires can be handed in at the recycling centers of Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR) for a fee of €3 to €8.
• The fines for illegally disposed vehicles have doubled: a bicycle, for example, costs up to €600, a moped up to €1,600, and an old residential or sales trailer up to €9,000.
• Illegally dumped construction waste will also be significantly more expensive: for quantities of up to five cubic meters, fines ranging from €1,200 to €25,000 will be imposed, and for larger quantities or hazardous construction waste, fines of up to €100,000 will be imposed.
• Other waste such as paint, batteries, or chemicals can cost between €1,200 and €100,000 (previously €40 to €25,000).
• Boxes placed on streets with the sign "Free to a good home" also constitute an administrative offense—and, incidentally, not just since the new catalog of fines was introduced, according to the environmental administration. Although "Free to a good home" boxes are a low-threshold way of making used items available to other people, "The idea behind it is good and desirable." However, the "free to a good home" label has in some cases reached extremes that are not in line with this intention. The public order offices deal with such boxes at their discretion and "with a great deal of sound judgment," as it was stated.