Check new packaging law compliance to maintain German market access, urges Lorax Compliance.
Businesses which place goods on the German market face a fine of up to €50,000 and a prohibition in sales if they fail to comply with the country’s updated packaging laws.
To maintain market access, businesses are obligated to register before dispatching anything for the first time in Germany before 1st January 2019, recording their firm’s name, address, contact details, identification and tax registration numbers and brand names.
Companies that produce volumes of packaging higher than 80,000 kilos of glass, 50,000 kilos of paper and cardboard and 30,000 kilos of aluminium, plastic, compounds or tinplate/ across goods that are sold in Germany and fail to submit a declaration of compliance (DOC) could receive a €50,000 fine.
“Germany as a country has set itself some ambitious future recycling targets to meet, which will affect producers considerably going forward,” says Michelle Carvell, COO of Lorax Compliance. “By 1st January 2019, Germany will recover and recycle 90% and 63% of plastics and mechanically reclaimed materials respectively placed on the market, and 90% of all metal, glass and paper by 2022. Businesses must check their compliance requirements in order to maintain market access.”
Germany’s forthcoming VerpackG legislation, amended to accommodate the country’s ambitious new recycling targets, applies to all manufacturers, importers, distributors and online retailers placing goods on the German market. All companies which sell goods in Germany must prepare to participate a dual system to arrange for packaging recovery after use to continue trading in the country.
This comprises compulsory registration with the newly established Central Packaging Registry to regulate the collection and recovery of packaging after use and registration with a take-back scheme such as Der Grüne Punkt. There are no minimum reporting thresholds, and companies placing even a single item of packaging onto the German market are required to take part in the dual system.
“Businesses should be mindful that registration must be completed by obligated businesses, and can’t be outsourced to third parties,” Carvell added. “We urge businesses which are unsure about their environmental obligations to get in touch.”
