During his The Manifesto series, Thomas reacted to a comment from an audience member who said that shoppers should be allowed to remove any packaging they consider unnecessary from items they’ve just purchased and discard it in-store, rather than take it home with them.

The packaging would then be sent back to the manufacturer by the retailer, who would then have to dispose of it in an environmentally-responsible way. According to the audience member, there is a law in Germany allowing shoppers to do this in a bid to tackle the issue of over-packaging.

Thomas replied by saying that he “likes the idea” of such a scheme and added that there was so much “bloody packaging and stuff, it’s just nuts” – a comment which drew loud cheers from the audience. He then asked the audience member whether the law has made any difference out in Germany and what public reaction to it has been.

The audience member replied: “The reaction seems to be ok, it’s just not many people do it. But it really annoys companies who use too much packaging – the idea that it has to be at their expense and that they have to reuse it and not throw it away.”

Maxine Perella

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