The German Packaging Law once again clarifies a principle that has been in place since 1992: enhanced product responsibility for fillers and distributers who place packaged products on the market in Germany. This means that anyone who puts packaging into circulation must take back and recycle their sales, transport and outer packaging (see §15 Packaging Law only available in German).

In the B2B sector, fillers and distributers commission RIGK to do this. In the consumer sector, packaging has to be licensed in a dual system that collects the packaging in a ‘yellow sack’ or ‘yellow bin’ collection. RIGK recently began offering this service, too. Anyone delivering to private households and similar accumulation points must also register with the Central Agency and record the associated brand names used in the B2C sector in the LUCID packaging register. The packaging quantities (licensed quantities in the dual system are referred to in the catalogue as “subject to a dual system participation obligation”) must now also be registered with the Central Agency.

RIGK and our cooperation partner support our trademark users in this. Industrial and commercial packaging that is licensed and recycled through RIGK does not need to be registered with the Central Agency. Needless to say, however, it is still subject to compulsory recovery and recycling, which is covered by the RIGK systems. The terms “subject to a dual system participation obligation” for packaging for private households and similar accumulation points and “not subject to a dual system participation obligation” for everything else, as used in the catalogue, the Law and publications from the Central Agency, are therefore confusing and very unhelpful. In short, compulsory recovery and recycling remains in place for all packaging; for industry and commerce it is governed by § 15 VerpackG (Packaging Law only available in German).