Contract adjustments required
High diesel costs increase garbage fees
03/26/2022, 08:58 am
The high diesel prices have an impact on many household items as follow-up costs. Now the garbage disposal companies, who are getting higher and higher bills for filling up, are getting in touch. They want to pass the cost on to customers.
The high fuel prices could also increase the garbage fees. “The additional costs for diesel have risen so much that we cannot cushion them permanently,” said the Vice President of the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU), Patrick Hasenkamp, of the “Welt am Sonntag”. The federal government wants to reduce the energy tax on fuels for a limited period of three months. In the end, however, that was no more than a “dampening effect,” said Hasenkamp. After all, it’s about 14 cents if the diesel price increases by a total of 85 cents per liter.
The private waste disposal companies made similar statements. “Anything that relieves companies is helpful,” said the President of the Federal Association of German Waste Management, Water and Raw Materials Management (BDE), Peter Kurth, the newspaper. Whether the reduction in energy tax is sufficient in individual cases must be examined specifically for each company.
Garbage collection is carried out by municipal as well as private companies. In the big cities, the waste management companies usually have their own vehicle fleets, while in smaller towns and rural communities the municipalities commission private disposal companies. According to the report, these companies are now approaching their clients to talk about adjusting current contracts.
The traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP agreed this week on a second package worth billions to relieve high energy prices. Among other things, there should be an energy price flat rate of 300 euros and the price of gas should be reduced for three months. It was agreed to reduce the price of petrol for a limited period of three months, namely by 30 cents per liter for petrol and 14 cents per liter for diesel. The energy tax on fuels will thus be reduced to the European minimum for a short period of time. In addition, local public transport is to become more attractive with a special tariff. It is still unclear to what extent this will affect the budget.