Some have already received them, other manufacturers are likely to receive fines in the near future because they have not fulfilled their obligations under the German Packaging Act (VerpackG). The Packaging Act obliges manufacturers to register in the LUCID database of the Central Agency Packaging Register (ZSVR), to register their sales packaging in a system and to report the corresponding data in LUCID.

Violations can be very expensive: There is a fine of up to 200,000 euros for a missing, incomplete or incorrect system participation and up to 100,000 euros for a data report that is not submitted in LUCID, is incomplete, incorrect or not submitted on time. And: packaging that is not registered or not properly registered may not be placed on the market – it is subject to a sales ban.

How do these fines come about? The ZSVR monitors whether manufacturers register their packaging quantities and whether this information matches the information it has received from the systems. If there are any doubts, it notifies the relevant state authorities, who follow up, for example by requesting the relevant data from the systems. If the suspicion is confirmed, a fine is imposed – and ignorance is no defense against punishment!

Less packaging in the system, but more waste collected

Investigations by state authorities are currently on the increase – the systems are of course obliged to provide information and support the authorities to the best of their knowledge and belief. Incidentally: For some time now, it has been noticeable that the amount of packaging being collected by the systems is decreasing. At the same time, however, the amount of packaging waste collected is increasing, reports special information service Euwid.

Enforcement by the state authorities with the support of the ZSVR is therefore necessary to ensure the financing of the dual system – and fair competition. Not only those who honestly fulfill their obligations should pay for everything, but all those who are obliged to do so.

And how likely is it that a company that has not fulfilled its obligations will “blow the whistle”? Obviously, the probability is increasing, as the ZSVR has a pretty good overview of the market with its databases and the state authorities are active – after all, the fair and reliable financing of the dual system as an indispensable part of the German circular economy is also of great importance.

As a manufacturer, you should therefore not leave it to chance and take care of the proper participation of your sales packaging in good time. This is very easy to do via www.verpackgo.com.

^{Picture: Jorma Bork_pixelio.de}