● Current customer question

What should be considered when making use of used boxes in online business?

Packaging such as cardboard boxes and bubble wrap that online retailers use to send their goods to customers is considered by law to be sales packaging subject to system participation. This means that online retailers are responsible for this packaging and must participate it with a dual system in order to fulfil the legal take-back and recycling obligation, i.e. they must register it and obtain a licence for it.

From both an economic and an ecological point of view, it makes perfect sense to use not only new but also used cardboard boxes. However, in order to avoid costly warnings, a few important things need to be considered when dealing with used packaging material.

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The fact that ‘used packaging’ is made use of does not indicate whether this packaging was previously registered as sales packaging subject to system participation and whether it was included in a system.

 

If, for example, a cardboard box is a previous transport packaging or sales packaging that was used in the industrial or commercial sector, there was a registration requirement for it but no system participation requirement.

 

If such used packaging is now being brought into circulation for the first time for typical use by private end consumers, the first party to bring it into circulation must register the correct type of packaging and ensure that it is included in a system, e.g. with Der Grüne Punkt.

 

‘The party using the used packaging material has to be able to provide evidence of system participation to the competent authorities upon request.’ (FAQ Section 7.8 of the ZSVR)

 

Further information can be found in the FAQs of the Central Packaging Registry (ZSVR) under points 4.11 and 7.8: FAQ (verpackungsregister.org)

 

‘But...’ No one has to pay twice either. If the shipping packaging has already been licensed, the material does not have to be settled again. This may be the case, for example, with a return that has been sent back from the customer to the retailer.

 

By the way: calculating offers and concluding contracts for fast and secure licensing of your packaging are much easier with us than the technical question described here. You can find our new VerpackGO licence calculator here.

 

If you have any further questions, the competent customer service of Der Grüne Punkt will be happy to help: anfrage(at)gruener-punkt(dot)de

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