Guideline
System participation requirement: using the catalogue data base to verify compliance
Companies are required to pay for the recycling of certain types of packaging. This is called 'system participation' and applies to packaging which for the most part typically accumulates as waste with private households or comparable sources of waste generation. Whether sales or grouped packaging is subject to system participation depends on the packaged product in question. Search our catalogue database for your products to find out if their sales or grouped packaging is subject to system participation.
Whether packaging for the most part typically accumulates as waste with private households or comparable sources of waste generation depends on the result of an overall market assessment. That means that the classification of packaging does not hinge on any specific case, sector or distribution channel.
Private households are consumer households. Comparable sources of waste generation include restaurants, hotels, hospitals, canteens, amusement parks, libraries and schools. Other examples are craft enterprises (e.g. laundries) and agricultural holdings (e.g. plant nurseries ), where packaging waste can be disposed of at the rate that is normally associated with private households, i.e. at 14-day intervals and in waste bins that do not exceed 1,100 litres per collection group. A list of comparable sources of waste generation can be found here. A list of comparable sources of waste generation can be found here.
Couldn't find your product?
That does not mean that the packaging of that product is not subject to system participation or that you are exempt from packaging law obligations. The catalogue is not exhaustive.
Here's what else you can do:
Search the catalogue for products that are similar to yours – especially similar as to how and in which packaging they are distributed and whether they accumulate as waste with private households or comparable sources of waste generation. The result can be applied to your packaging.
To fulfil your producer responsibility, you must classify the packaging yourself, i.e. you must assess whether your packaging is subject to system participation. For case-based specialist advice, please reach out to qualified experts, environmental consultants, system operators or auditors. You will find the ZSVR's register of auditors on the public registers page.
The ZSVR decides and publishes – including upon application – whether packaging is to be classified as (i) packaging subject to system participation, (ii) reusable packaging or (iii) single-use beverage packaging subject to deposit. These are general decisions. The results are transferable to similar packaging.
Please note: to be sure that you are acting in compliance with the law, please check for yourself whether your packaging is subject to system participation. If it is, enter into a system participation agreement with a system operator. You can choose one from this list of system operators.
Retrospective review of the system participation requirement with the 2023 catalogue edition
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the German Packaging Law Implementation Act (VerpackDG) have been in force since 12 August 2026. The VerpackDG has replaced the Verpackungsgesetz (German Packaging Act – VerpackG) . The 2023 edition of the system participation requirement catalogue remains available to you for any retrospective review of the system participation requirement of retail, grouped or shipment packaging prior to 12 August 2026 (only available in German).