The new German Packaging Act is coming
As from 1 January 2019, the new German Packaging Act (VerpackG) will replace the current German Packaging Ordinance. For operators of small online shops selling on the German market, particularly, this will entail important questions and requirements regarding sales packaging and secondary packaging, transport packaging and packaging materials. But terms like “mandatory participation”, “mandatory registration” and the newly created “Central Packaging Registry” (Zentrale Stelle) need to be clarified. To enable you to stay on top of these issues surrounding the new law, we have summarized the most important information here.
First of all: the new German Packaging Act 2019 (VerpackG) applies to all distributors who put packaging into commercial circulation on the German market for the first time (referred to as “manufacturers”) – i.e. both for national producers and for importers, online dealers, etc. The act contains some new regulations and duties or their modification.
Why does the German Packaging Act replace the packaging ordinance?
The main objective of the new German Packaging Act 2019 (VerpackG) is to prevent or reduce the impact of packaging waste on the environment. This is to be achieved by avoiding and recycling packaging waste. Especially the recycling quotas as defined in the packaging ordinance in 1991 are no longer up to date regarding the modern possibilities of packaging recovery and recycling.
The new Packaging Act 2019 is also intended to make retailers more responsible for promoting the use of eco-friendly and recyclable packaging.
However, the main reason why the German Packaging Ordinance (VerpackV) will be replaced by the new German Packaging Act (VerpackG) is another: the establishment of the Central Packaging Registry as an organizational and control institution for legally compliant distribution of packaging and its take-back as well as high-quality recycling.
What is the purpose of these new duties?
Nowadays, far more packagings are separately collected and recovered than are actually being reported at the dual systems. There are various reasons for this. Many companies, particularly small ones, do not know their duties under the German Packaging Ordinance and the new German Packaging Act (VerpackG). With the new rules, though, it will be easier to identify which packagings have been registered (i.e. are participating in the dual system) and which haven’t.
The advantage is this: the more packaging participate in the dual system, the wider the financial base is – which means the costs are shared among more shoulders, rendering it more affordable for a single company. So in the long run everybody benefits.
Source: https://www.gruener-punkt.de/en/services/packaging/german-packaging-act.html