The Verpackungssteuer(packaging tax) imposes an extra payment of fifty cents on any disposable packaging, from coffee cups to ice cream bowls to meal plates. In addition, all disposable cutlery like folks, knives and spoons cost twenty cents extra. Even pizza boxes and the foil around a takeaway falafel are taxed. Regardless of whether they're made from sustainable or recycled material, anything that is one-time use will be costlier, based on the principle that non-production is better than future recycling or disposal.
