"Not feasible"

Sausage stands in existential fear due to one-way deposit

Würstelstandler spokesman René Kachlir (left) and colleagues from other well-known Viennese sausage stands (from left: Leo, Stadion-Würstelstand, Mat's, Bitzinger) show how much extra space he would need at his stand to collect the deposit bottles.

(Bild: Zwefo)

From January 1, the one-way deposit for drinks bottles and cans will apply throughout Austria. Vienna's sausage stands could disappear as a result, the operators fear, as they can hardly comply with the rules in contrast to food multinationals.

Vienna's sausage stand spokesperson René Kachlir makes it clear: "We are not against environmental protection, we are for practicable solutions." However, the upcoming deposit system for disposable containers, from PET bottles to drinks cans, is anything but practicable for the stallholders, on the contrary: they don't know how they are supposed to meet the requirements and see the sausage stands as a "piece of authentic Vienna" in danger.

"If everyone hands in three or four bottles, that's thousands!"
From January 1, sausage stands will have to accept disposable containers like any other point of sale and pay 25 cents back for each one. It's not just about drinks that they have sold themselves. Kachlir and his colleagues can already see that they will have to serve as return points, especially in the evening or at weekends when supermarkets are closed. The rule that you only have to accept as many bottles as you usually sell yourself hardly helps: "If everyone hands in three or four bottles as they pass by, that's thousands!", calculates Kachlir. 

The Vienna Social Democratic Business Association (center: President Marko Fischer) supports the demands of the sausage vendors.

(Bild: Zwefo)

Call for an exception for small businesses
The current rule is simply unfeasible for the vendors: they have neither the necessary storage space (the packs are only collected from a quantity of 450 units, and even then only after up to 48 hours), nor the employees to take care of the processing. The fact that the bank charges 20 cents for each roll of coins required is already a threatening financial burden for most of them - one that will have to be passed on to customers sooner or later.

The deposit system poses a significant threat to these small but vital cornerstones of our society.

Aus dem Brief der Würstelstandler an Ministerin Leonore Gewessler

The vendors are calling for an exemption from the take-back obligation for businesses with less than 25 square meters. A corresponding motion by the Social Democratic Business Association in April was unanimously adopted by all parliamentary groups in the Chamber of Commerce. As the Ministry of the Environment did not respond, pressure is now to be built up with an open letter to Minister Leonore Gewessler, warning of "irrevocable damage" to "the cultural heritage that lives in our sausage stands".

However, the Ministry of the Environment wants to retain the rule in its current form and points to Germany, where it works. The only remaining lifeline is the city, which could help the sausage stands with storage permits in public areas or similar exemptions. Otherwise, for around 700 snack stands, tobacconists and other small businesses in Vienna, it looks more like a seizure than a deposit.