The German Greens Party has announced the support of the introduction of a deposit for the purchase of smartphones and tablets to cut e-waste.
According to euronews, customers will receive the money back when they return an old device.
The deposit should be EUR 25, according to a proposal of the party’s parliamentary group on electronic waste.
The plan includes a total of 20 measures to tackle the problem of electronic waste.
The Greens want to bring the proposal to the attention of parliament soon.
Each person in Germany produces on average more than 20 kg of electronic waste, according to euronews.
About 24 million new smartphones are sold annually in the country. The devices contain 720kg of gold, 7.3 tonnes of silver and 396 tonnes of copper that could be used in other products.
Deposit return schemes are common in Europe and usually placed on single-use packaging items such as drinks containers. The customer pays a small deposit on for the item’s packaging, which they get back on the return of that packaging.