Tuesday, 19 August
€250 for a cigarette butt? Berlin increases fines on illegal waste
Starting this Tuesday, the Berlin Senate is rolling out a series of new penalties for the illegal disposal of waste in the city, with some fines rising dramatically. Being caught dumping illegal waste (an old sofa, for example) previously cost €150; this will now rise to €4,000. Dumping several large items will incur a fine of €8,000, while the simple act of throwing a cigarette butt on the ground will now cost €250, up from €55. Dog walkers who fail to clean up their animal’s mess will face a milder increase, with fines set at €80, up from €55.
The measures are part of a campaign by the Berlin Senate to make the city cleaner. Many districts struggle with carelessly and illegally discarded waste, with people often leaving old furniture, carpets or electrical appliances on the street. Clearing such waste cost Berlin’s city cleaning service, the BSR, €10 million in 2023.
The highest fines will be imposed on those dumping large quantities of waste: disposing of up to 100 kilograms of construction rubble could lead to fines of up to €25,000. For larger quantities of hazardous substances such as asbestos, the penalties can be significantly higher.
But are higher fines the best way to combat illegal dumping? City cleanliness has long been a priority for the CDU/SPD coalition, which argues that tougher financial penalties will deter offenders. However, politicians from the Greens and Die Linke counter that the measures will likely be ineffective without greater monitoring and enforcement.
