Packaging Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Law on the placing on the market, return and high-quality recycling of packaging |
| Short title: | Packaging Act |
| Shortcut: | Packaging Act |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Issued on the basis of: | Art. 74, Paragraph 1, No. 24 and No. 1 of the Basic Law |
| Legal matter: | Waste law , ancillary criminal law |
| References : | 2129-61 |
| Issued on: | July 5, 2017 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2234 ) |
| Effective on: | January 1, 2019 |
| Last change by: |
Art. 2 G of September 22, 2021 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 4363, 4368 ) |
| Effective date of the last change: |
January 1, 2022 (Art. 3 G of September 22, 2021) |
| GESTA : | N034 |
| Weblink: | Text of the law |
| Please note the information on the applicable legal version. | |
The packaging law aims to minimize the impact of packaging waste on the environment in Germany . It is used to implement Directive 94/62 / EC on packaging and packaging waste. The aim of the law is to increase recycling rates.
contents
To this end, the Packaging Act lays down requirements for product stewardship. The law is aimed at manufacturers, online retailers and companies that bring recyclable packaging into circulation. The law is intended to regulate the behavior of the obligated parties in such a way that packaging waste is primarily avoided and prepared for reuse or recycling .
The Act set coalition parties one in the coalition agreement to own objective. On January 1, 2019, it replaced the previous packaging ordinance. The main aspects of the Packaging Act are the obligation to register with the central office and the obligation to license a dual system (obligation to participate in the system). Failure to comply with the obligations stipulated by the Packaging Act may result in a ban on sales and fines of up to € 100,000.
Registration with the central office
The law obliges manufacturers and distributors of packaging to register with the Central Packaging Register, which is responsible for organizing, applying and monitoring the provisions of the law.
The central office has summarized which packaging is subject to system participation in a catalog in order to simplify the classification into system participation and not system participation. Registration takes place via the online presence of the Central Packaging Register (www.verpackungsregister.org). Registration is possible after setting up a login. Necessary information for the registration are: Name and address data of the manufacturer, the VAT ID, brand name and the declaration of participation in a dual system. Following the registration, the central office sends a registration number that must be communicated to the selected dual system. As an additional control mechanism that all parties involved comply with the obligation, the register of the central office is publicly available. In this way, violations of the registration obligation can be easily checked for all market participants.
Licensing with a dual system
Participation in the dual system takes place by purchasing a license for a fee. In this way, a contract is concluded with a dual system. In the contract, the client specifies the estimated amount of packaging that will be put into circulation over a period of one year. The amount of the license fee depends on the type and quantity of the waste to be licensed. The basis for this is the allocation of the packaging to material fractions such as glass, plastics, etc. The selected provider for the dual system is thus given responsibility for the collection, sorting and recycling of the packaging.
Controversy and criticism
It is true that Section 21 of the Act obliges the systems to create incentives to promote the use of recyclates and renewable raw materials. However, there is no requirement that recycled plastic should be used. The Central Packaging Register, which is responsible for compliance with the Packaging Act , therefore warned of the inefficiency of the Act in 2020. The German Environmental Aid Association criticized the fact that minimum employment quotas are not fixed from recycled material in the law.
literature
- Dirk Wüstenberg: New Seller Obligations in the Updated Packaging Act , in: Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (NJW) 2018, pp. 3614–3619.
- Dirk Wüstenberg: The Packaging Act - Responsibility of the new "Foundation Central Office Packaging Register " in Osnabrück , in: Niedersächsische Verwaltungsblätter (NdsVBl.) 2018, pp. 357–362.
Web links
- Text of the law
- Draft, justification and process flow for the law
- The new packaging law - an overview of the most important things in the information portal oekolandbau.de of the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food
- Detailed information on the Packaging Act
Individual evidence
- ↑ Product search in the catalog of packaging requiring system participation. Accessed December 1, 2020 .
- ↑ Topic paper Delimitation of packaging Catalog of packaging requiring system participation. (PDF) Retrieved December 1, 2020 .
- ↑ Nils Klawitter: Recycling Lie: The new flood of rubbish caused by Corona. In: The mirror . August 24, 2020, accessed September 10, 2020 .
