Germany | Disposal of packaging to become greener

The new Packaging Act entered into force on 1 January 2019, thus replacing the Packaging Ordinance which had been in effect prior to this date. In addition, there are financial incentives for producers to design packaging to make more recyclable, to consume fewer Resources and make more use of recyclates in production, "said Maria Krautzberger, President of the German Environment Agency. Otherwise, they may no longer bring their packaging into circulation on the market. " The requirement to register applies to the secondary accumulation of consumer goods, but it also affects many online retailers and importers. 

Registration in the new Central Office Packaging Registry is meant to create a sense of greater fairness and transparency on the packaging disposal market and ensure that all its duties are fulfilled. LUCID packaging registry. Producers of (secondary) packaging contained in consumer goods. 1 January 2019. This mandatory registration also means to participate in a dual (take-back) system of waste management. 

Whenever possible, or when replacing it with reusable packaging. If non-reusable packaging is unavoidable, it must be recyclable and contain recyclates if at all possible. The Central Office Packaging Registry and the German Environment Agency have published their guidelines. 

Recycling quotas have been raised under the new Packaging Act. For example, the recycling quota for plastic packaging is expected to gain 36 percent (by weight) to 58.5 percent and increasing in a second step to 63 percent as of 2022 (mechanical recycling). 

More recycling is necessary to conserve valuable resources. Material-intensive packaging to prevent waste from being incurred. Dual systems of waste management wants to create financial incentives to use more recyclable packaging and recyclates. 

CONTINUE READING ON www.umweltbundesamt.de (Automatically translated from German)