Who is affected by the Packaging Act?

Importers, retailers, and companies not based in Germany may also be affected by the Packaging Act (VerpackungsDG). Anyone who imports packaged goods into Germany or makes them available here must carefully assess their own role under packaging law.

Key points include:

• Importers must ensure that the packaging complies with the law and that the required documentation is available
• Retailers may not make products available if there are obvious compliance issues
• As things stand, companies without a branch in Germany generally need an authorized representative
• A German VAT ID alone does not replace an actual place of business in Germany

An early compliance review is particularly important, especially in international supply chains.

Companies must document their packaging compliance obligations in a transparent manner. The specific documents required depend on the type of packaging, the company’s role, and its distribution model.

Typical supporting documents include, among others:

• Proof of registration
• Quantity and packaging data
• Evidence of take-back and recycling
• Documentation regarding the organization of compliance efforts
• Proof of financing
• Technical documentation and conformity documents, if applicable

It is important that these documents be complete, reliable, and readily available when needed.

The packaging supplier generally provides technical information, specifications, and documentation. However, legal responsibility does not depend solely on the manufacture of the packaging, but rather on the respective role in placing the product on the market.

Anyone who places packaged products on the market in Germany or the EU is responsible, depending on the circumstances, for ensuring that the packaging complies with legal requirements. Companies should therefore not rely solely on suppliers but should actively assess their own role and responsibilities.

Companies that place packaging on the market in Germany must comply with various legal obligations depending on the type of packaging and their role in the supply chain. These include, in particular:

• the take-back and recycling obligation
• registration in the ZSVR’s LUCID registry
• Information obligations toward customers
• Record-keeping and documentation obligations
• Financing obligations
• If applicable, a license if take-back is organized internally

Transparent and reliable documentation will become even more important in the future, particularly for B2B packaging and packaging not subject to mandatory participation in a recycling system.

The company that manufactured the packaging is not automatically responsible for taking it back. Rather, the decisive factor is who first places the packaging—or the packaged product—on the market in Germany.

Depending on the circumstances, responsibility may therefore lie with different parties:

• when importing from a third country, it is generally the importing company
• for private-label products, it is often the retailer
• in the case of contract manufacturing, often with the company placing the order
• in cross-border distribution, it varies depending on the market and distribution structure

Many companies assume multiple roles simultaneously. As a result, several obligations may exist in parallel. This makes it all the more important to determine one’s own role in a legally sound manner.

The Packaging Implementation Act generally applies to all companies that place packaging or packaged products on the market in Germany. Depending on their business model, this includes, among others, manufacturers, importers, brand owners, retailers, distributors, and fulfillment service providers.

What matters is not just who produced the packaging. Rather, the decisive factor is who acts as the entity placing the product on the market. For this reason, companies that do not consider themselves traditional manufacturers may also be affected.

Violations of the Packaging Act (VerpackDG)—in particular, failure to register or noncompliance with EPR obligations—can result in fines of up to €200,000. In addition, there may be immediate sales bans as well as reputational damage resulting from public registries of unregistered companies.

Yes. The new Packaging Act (VerpackDG) does not include a provision for small quantities and makes no distinctions based on company size or revenue. Even small business owners and sole proprietors are subject to these obligations if they place packaging subject to the packaging system requirement on the market on a commercial basis. 

Yes. Extended producer responsibility also applies to commercial, industrial, and agricultural packaging—regardless of whether private end consumers are involved. Anyone who places such packaging and packaged products on the market in Germany for the first time is subject to the legal obligations mentioned above.

Yes. Anyone who imports goods from abroad and places them on the market in Germany is, in principle, considered a manufacturer and bears all the obligations of the original manufacturer—regardless of whether the goods are imported from EU countries or third countries. The country of origin of the goods is irrelevant. 

Yes. Online retailers place packaging on the market through their shipping materials and are subject to the same obligations as brick-and-mortar retailers. This also applies to retailers on marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay, provided they ship the goods themselves. Fulfillment service providers may also be affected under certain conditions.

Foreign companies that deliver goods directly to private end consumers or businesses in Germany are affected. They are generally considered manufacturers in the German market and must therefore register and fulfill their EPR obligations. These obligations apply even if the company has no physical presence in Germany.