The German Packaging Act (VerpackG): what online retailers need to know

The German Packaging Act (Verpackungsgesetz, or VerpackG) sets out important rules that every online retailer selling into Germany needs to keep in mind. Since the reform that took effect in July 2022, the obligations reach further than ever, and getting them wrong can have serious consequences, up to and including a ban on selling your products.

In this article we cover exactly who the Packaging Act applies to, what it requires compared with the earlier Packaging Ordinance, and what online retailers need to do so that nothing goes wrong.

Together with our partner Lizenzero we have summarized the most important facts about the Packaging Act and added practical tips you should keep in mind when you organize your e-commerce logistics.

The German Packaging Act: what goals does it pursue?

In the interest of environmental protection, the Packaging Act is designed to achieve the following goals:

• A fairer distribution of costs among competitors

• A reduction in the total volume of packaging waste

• A more sustainable cycle within the packaging industry

• Stronger environmental protection

• Higher recovery rates for plastic packaging

• Fewer non-deposit packaging types

• Higher recycling rates

The recycling rate as the decisive benchmark of the Packaging Act

The overriding goal of the Packaging Act is to raise the recycling rate in two phases:

• Since 2019: recycling rates raised by an average of 10 to 15 percent across all materials

• Since 2022: the recycling rate is set to reach up to 90 percent for many materials (composite materials and plastics excepted)

In detail, the individual recycling rates are raised as follows:

Does the Packaging Act apply to me as an online retailer?

As soon as you fill packaging with goods that eventually end up as waste with the final consumer in Germany, you are obliged to comply with the provisions of the Packaging Act.

This means that every online retailer who sells goods on the German market is automatically covered by the Packaging Act. The Act sets no exemption thresholds: no matter how much you ship, how much revenue your business makes, or how large your company is, the Packaging Act applies to you.

Which types of packaging are covered by the VerpackG?

On the subject of packaging, Section 3 of the Packaging Act states:

Packaging consists of products made from any materials to hold, protect, handle, deliver, or present goods, ranging from raw materials through to processed items.

Accordingly, all materials that are directly or indirectly connected with the product and its shipment fall under the provisions of the VerpackG. These include:

• Adhesive tape

• Various filling materials for safe shipping

• Outer cartons

• Shipping packaging used by online shops

• Product packaging

• Cans and cartons

• Jars

• Beverage packaging

• Cork

For more on choosing the right materials, see our shipping packaging tips.

What does the Packaging Act require?

The Packaging Act creates obligations for online retailers in relation to their shipping packaging, and these obligations also affect their entire shipping process.

The Packaging Act places the following obligations on online retailers:

• Registration obligation

• System participation obligation

• Data reporting obligation

• Obligation to submit a declaration of completeness

• Deposit and labeling obligations

• Take-back obligation for transport packaging

In the sections below we look at each of these obligations in more detail so you know exactly what they involve.

1. Registration obligation under the Packaging Act

Before their first shipment, online retailers must register in the LUCID database run by the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR), the central packaging register authority. After entering their details, retailers are assigned a registration number. They must provide this registration number when they participate in a dual system, a process also known as packaging licensing.

The registration obligation applies to all online retailers, regardless of their shipping volume. Retailers who do not register are not allowed to ship any goods to Germany.

Since the reform of the Packaging Act, the registration obligation applies without exception to every company that places packaging on the market. This affects the commercial sector in particular, where all packaging is now subject to registration as well, including transport packaging that stays within the trade and does not usually end up with private consumers, as well as reusable packaging.

In addition, final distributors of service packaging, that is those who fill items such as carrier bags, pizza boxes, or coffee-to-go cups with the goods being handed over, are now also required to register.

Note on service packaging: this does not create an obligation to report volumes of service packaging, and the system participation obligation can still be delegated to the upstream distributor. The registration obligation, however, can no longer be delegated.

You need to have the following details ready for registration in LUCID:

• Name, address, and contact details

• Details of an authorized representative

• National identification number of the producer

• The brand name under which the producer brings the packaging into the trade

• A declaration that participation in a dual system takes place

• A declaration that all information provided is true

Registration with the central packaging register is done entirely electronically and is free of charge for you. You can find the register online at verpackungsregister.org.

2. System participation obligation

Online retailers are obliged to participate in what is known as a dual system, which carries out the nationwide take-back, sorting, and recycling of packaging materials. When you join a system, you must also provide your personal registration number.

To license sales packaging, such as product or shipping packaging, you can register quickly and easily through providers such as Lizenzero and the Interseroh+ dual system.

Official operators of a dual system

For a clearer overview, here is a list of all operators currently authorized to run a dual system:

• INTERSEROH+ GmbH

• BellandVision GmbH

• Der Grüne Punkt, Duales System Deutschland GmbH

• Landbell AG für Rückhol-Systeme

• Noventiz Dual GmbH

• PreZero Dual GmbH

• Reclay Systems GmbH

• Veolia Umweltservice Dual GmbH

• Zentek GmbH & Co. KG

3. Data reporting obligation under the Packaging Act

The Packaging Act also obliges online retailers to pass on all the information they have submitted to the operator of a dual system to the central register without delay.

The following details are subject to the data reporting obligation:

• Registration number

• Material and mass of the packaging used

• Name of the provider whose dual system you belong to

• The exact period of system participation

Note: the data reporting obligation is a recurring, annual requirement.

4. Obligation to submit a declaration of completeness

If a threshold for larger volumes is exceeded, a so-called declaration of completeness must be submitted in addition to the report to the central register and the dual system.

The obligation to submit a declaration of completeness supplements the data reporting obligation. Through it, online retailers are required to report the packaging they placed on the market over the past year.

Exempt from the declaration of completeness are all online retailers who, over the previous calendar year, used less than:

• 80,000 kg of glass,

• 50,000 kg of paper, cardboard, and carton,

• and 30,000 kg of iron, aluminum, beverage carton packaging, and other composite packaging.

Because these are volumes that only arise for online retailers with a fairly large shipping volume, most online retailers are unlikely to be affected by the obligation to submit a declaration of completeness.

The Packaging Act stipulates that the declaration of completeness must be submitted electronically to the central packaging register every year by 15 May at the latest.

The former rules on the declaration of completeness under the Packaging Ordinance, under which it had to be submitted to the local Chamber of Industry and Commerce by 1 May, no longer apply under the current Packaging Act.

If you are not exempt from the declaration of completeness, you must provide information on all sales and secondary packaging used for shipping in the previous year.

5. Deposit and labeling obligations in the Packaging Act

When it comes to shipping packaging, as an online retailer you probably think first of the carton and the filling material. But does your online shop also ship food items such as beverages? If so, the rules of the Packaging Act on deposits and deposit labeling are relevant to you as well.

The Packaging Act requires a deposit of at least 0.25 euros per package for the following beverages:

• Carbonated fruit and vegetable nectars

• Mixed drinks with a share of dairy products (such as whey) of at least 50 percent

In addition to the deposit obligation, online retailers who use beverage packaging are also subject to a labeling obligation. This means you must inform customers on the relevant product pages whether you use non-reusable single-use packaging or reusable packaging.

6. Take-back obligation

Once producers and distributors have placed packaging on the market, they are obliged to take it back again. This take-back must happen at the point of origin or in the immediate vicinity.

Take-back is carried out by the dual systems, which must ensure collection free of charge through drop-off systems, collection systems, or a combination of the two.

For packaging that is not subject to system participation, such as transport packaging that stays within the trade, a take-back obligation has also applied for a long time. This is not handled through the dual systems but can be assigned to other service providers that specialize in this area.

The following aspects of transport packaging are also regulated by the reform:

1. Information obligation: final consumers must be informed through appropriate measures and to a reasonable extent about the return option and its purpose, for example through an enclosed note or a print on the delivery documents.

2. Proof obligation: producers and distributors of packaging not subject to system participation must keep proof that the take-back and recovery requirements have been met.

3. Registration obligation: see point 1 above.

What costs does the Packaging Act create for me as an online retailer?

Because of the Packaging Act, you will inevitably face additional costs as an online retailer, which you have to pay to the dual system in the form of so-called licensing fees. It pays to compare the different system providers, because doing so can help you save real money on shipping.

With providers such as Lizenzero, online retailers can license their shipping packaging in the Interseroh dual system particularly conveniently, quickly, and cost-effectively.

The licensing costs of each provider in turn depend on the packaging materials you use.

What does the Packaging Act mean in practice for online retailers' shipping? Four scenarios

You now know the most important rules and obligations of the Packaging Act, along with the key changes introduced by the reform. But what does the Packaging Act mean for different types of online retailer, and what further obligations arise in individual cases?

Below we have outlined typical scenarios in which the Packaging Act presents online retailers with quite different challenges.

Scenario 1: the retailer runs their own online shop

Here the situation is fairly clear. With their own online shop, it is usually the shop operator who fills shipping packaging with a product and then ships that combination of goods and packaging to the end customer.

Accordingly, as the so-called first distributor, they are responsible for licensing the shipping packaging.

Careful: if the retailer is also the manufacturer of the goods being shipped and fills them into product packaging, they are responsible for licensing both the shipping packaging and the product packaging.

Since the licensing fee is always based on the quantity and materials of the packaging, it is worth checking where online retailers can reduce packaging volume without compromising product protection. Can you save on cushioning material, for example? Or would smaller cartons work?

Scenario 2: the retailer works with a fulfillment provider

The central packaging register, which acts as the supervisory body for the Act and therefore as the authoritative source on its interpretation, understands fulfillment as follows:

a mail-order retailer commissions a logistics company to handle packaging and shipping. That company packs the goods and ships them.

And this is where it gets complicated.

Contrary to the general rule that the party required to license is the one who actively fills packaging with goods, here it is not the logistics provider who has to license the packaging but, as before, the online retailer. The reasoning: it is exclusively the online retailer who appears externally as the sender or originator of the shipped goods, so the licensing obligation stays with them.

Responsibility for shipping packaging in the case of fulfillment is now clearly regulated, in that only the commissioning online retailer is obliged to license it and to register in the packaging register.

Fulfillment providers are also required to check whether the retailers who commission them demonstrably meet their obligations under the VerpackG. If retailers cannot provide proof, fulfillment providers may not perform services such as storage, packing, or shipping for them. The same duty to check applies to online marketplaces and their operators. Likewise, a distribution ban applies to the goods of retailers who cannot provide proof.

The central packaging register (ZSVR) provides detailed guidance papers on its site, including one specifically for online retail. It is advisable to follow the rules set out there.

Scenario 3: the retailer uses dropshipping

With dropshipping too, the central register's understanding is decisive. The ZSVR understands this to mean that the online retailer has the goods ordered by the end customer shipped directly from the producer, thereby acting as a kind of sales agent for the producer.

Accordingly, the retailer fills no packaging, has no physical contact with the goods, and is not visible to the recipient of the goods. All obligations arising from the Packaging Act therefore rest solely with the producer of the goods, who is responsible for both the shipping and the product packaging.

Important notes on dropshipping:

• Because retailers (the dropshippers) ship the goods to end consumers as the final distributor, there is a proof obligation that all relevant packaging materials have already been enrolled in a system. This proof should be requested from the supplier or producer.

• When selling through a marketplace, the marketplace operator needs proof that the retailer (the dropshipper) has met their obligations under the Packaging Act. This proof must therefore be passed on by the dropshipping provider.

• If dropshipping is used to ship goods from abroad, the obligation to license packaging falls to the importer, who is required to register in LUCID and license the imported packaging as well as any additional packaging (see also Scenario 4).

The central packaging register provides up-to-date information on such case-specific decisions on its website.

Scenario 4: the retailer imports goods into Germany

The Packaging Act always applies to Germany as its area of coverage and is therefore also concerned with packaging that arises here through the import of goods. In this case, the party obliged under the rules is always whoever bears responsibility for the goods as they cross the border.

In most cases this is the importer, but in case of doubt it should be clearly agreed between the contracting parties. Important: the importer is responsible for all imported packaging, not just the shipping packaging.

If a foreign online shop ships its goods directly to end customers in Germany without going through an intermediary, its operator is obliged to license the packaging shipped with the goods (in most cases probably the product and shipping packaging).

However, if a retailer exports their goods, their packaging does not fall under the provisions of the German Packaging Act. That said, most destination countries have their own rules on the introduction of packaging waste, which you should look into before shipping.

What now? Implement the Packaging Act correctly in just three steps

If you are only just getting started with your new online shop, you should make sure right away that you meet your obligations as an online retailer under the VerpackG. Implementing them is not difficult and can be done in just three steps.

Here is how you meet the requirements of the Packaging Act correctly:

1. Register with the central packaging register in the LUCID database.

2. License your individual packaging volumes with a dual system such as Interseroh+ through a provider like Lizenzero, quoting the registration number assigned by the central register.

3. Finally, report the dual system and the volumes reported there back to the central register via LUCID.

4. Where relevant, update your website with information on single-use or reusable packaging (for certain beverage packaging).

Tip: the information you provide to the central register and to the dual system, in particular the packaging volumes, should always be kept consistent, because the two are cross-checked.

What comes next? Optimize your shipping process with Sendcloud

Once you have licensed your shipping packaging, the most important task is done. After you have successfully taken care of licensing, we recommend that, as an online shop operator, you also work on optimizing the rest of your shipping process.

For straightforward shipping, a shipping platform like Sendcloud can support you extensively. Benefit from features such as:

• Easy connection to the most popular shop systems, such as Shopify, Shopware, and WooCommerce

• Flexible use of different carriers

• A faster workflow through smart shipping rules

• Printing shipping labels with a single click

• An engaging tracking experience through personalized tracking emails and tracking pages

• A smooth returns process for your customers

• And much more

About the author: Ida Schlößer works in online marketing at the environmental services provider Interseroh and helped develop Lizenzero, the online shop for packaging licensing. The goal in designing the shop was to keep the bureaucratic effort around the Packaging Act as low as possible and, above all, to give small and medium-sized retailers a helping hand so they can meet their obligations in just a few steps, entirely online.

Want to make your shipping and packaging process more efficient? Get in touch with us.