Service packaging: what will change under the PPWR?
We come across service packaging everywhere in our daily lives. Bakeries, butchers, market stalls, pharmacies, dry cleaners, amusement parks and many other businesses use packaging that is filled at the point of sale and dispensed to the end user together with the product.
With the application of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the German Packaging Law Implementation Act (VerpackDG), the responsibilities relating to service packaging will change fundamentally. On the one hand, this will concern businesses that use this type of packaging and have their name, logo or brand printed on it. On the other hand, packaging manufacturers, importers and wholesalers may also have to fulfil packaging law obligations, depending on their role in the supply chain. What's more: in most cases, it will no longer be possible to fulfil these obligations by purchasing pre-participated service packaging.
This is why companies should first check who will be considered the producer under the PPWR in future. Remember that the producer is responsible for financing packaging recycling and for fulfilling the associated registration and reporting obligations.
The PPWR's provisions on service packaging can be viewed from two perspectives: do you use service packaging – or do you supply it? Please select:
Businesses that use service packaging for their products: e.g. bakeries, butchers, all types of takeaway food providers, pharmacies, florists, dry cleaners: I use service packaging
Companies that supply empty service packaging: e.g. packaging manufacturers, importers, wholesalers: I supply service packaging
What is service packaging?
In accordance with the PPWR, service packaging is designed and intended to be filled with a product at the point of sale in order for this product to be dispensed to the end user.
Please note: for packaging to be considered service packaging it does not matter
- whether employees or customers fill the packaging (and are considered the end user),
- whether customers pay for the service packaging or whether it is provided free of charge,
- which material or material combinations the service packaging is made from (paper, plastics, metal, glass, paper composites, plastics composites, etc.).
I use service packaging
Whether it's bakeries, butchers, snack bars, pharmacies or florists – anyone who uses service packaging for their products must check whether they are considered producers under the PPWR. The key question is: does the packaging bear your name, logo or brand?
The decision tree below provides initial guidance about the circumstances in which businesses must assume extended producer responsibility (EPR) for service packaging in Germany and finance its recycling. Please note that this decision tree is highly simplified, provides only an incomplete picture and should be used for initial guidance only. The case scenarios from the decision tree, as well as two special cases, are explained in more detail below.
Case scenarios for businesses that use service packaging for their products
If you buy service packaging bearing your name, logo or brand, you are considered both the manufacturer and producer under the PPWR – regardless of whether the business from which you buy the packaging is based in Germany or abroad. This means: you will be responsible for financing the recycling of this packaging as well as for its technical documentation and the declaration of conformity.
Please note: even if the name of your packaging supplier is also printed on the service packaging, this does not change anything about your responsibility for own-brand packaging.
Exception: if the ordering party is a micro-enterprise (pursuant to Recommendation 2003/361/EC: fewer than ten employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding two million euros), the following applies: if the supplier of the empty service packaging is based in the same Member State, it is both the manufacturer and producer.
If you source service packaging that does not bear your name, logo or brand from a packaging manufacturer, importer or wholesaler in Germany, that supplier is the first party to make it available within the domestic supply chain and therefore considered both the manufacturer and producer for the purposes of extended producer responsibility (EPR).
Please note: even though you do not carry producer obligations in this case, you, as the distributor, should verify that the manufacturer and producer obligations are met (Article 19 (2) PPWR).
If you source service packaging that does not bear your name, logo or brand from abroad – that is, from another EU Member State or a country outside the EU (third country) – you are generally regarded as the first party to make it available within the domestic supply chain and so are considered the producer under the PPWR.
In this case, the foreign packaging manufacturer is the manufacturer of the service packaging in question and must fulfil the associated obligations.
Please note: as a producer, you must ensure that the manufacturer of the service packaging you use has fulfilled their obligations under the PPWR – especially preparing the technical documentation and the declaration of conformity. If service packaging is sourced from a country outside the EU (third country), Article 18 (2) PPWR applies; if it is sourced from another EU Member State, Article 19 (2) PPWR applies.
Packaging material on rolls (e.g. cling film, aluminium foil or wrapping paper), which is used to wrap a product and hand it over to customers, only becomes complete packaging once it has been filled.
In such cases, as the party filling/using the service packaging, you are both the manufacturer and producer under the PPWR – regardless of whether you source the packaging material domestically or abroad. Please note: if you buy film or paper cut to specific sizes, it is already considered service packaging at the time of purchase because the empty service packaging is already in its final form. Case scenarios 1 to 3 apply.
The Verpackungsrecht-Durchführungsgesetz (German Packaging Law Implementation Act – VerpackDG) also contains an additional provision which allows the system participation requirement to be transferred to the upstream distributor in certain cases. This exception is subject to the condition that no manufacturer within the meaning of the PPWR is based in Germany. Since manufacturer responsibility is clearly assigned under the PPWR, only two exceptions remain (section 7 (2) VerpackDG):
- For micro-enterprises: if neutral service packaging is sourced from a country outside the EU (third country) and subsequently marked with the company's own brand or changed in some other way – for example, by applying a sticker
- For all other companies: if neutral service packaging is sourced from a country outside the EU (third country) or another EU Member State and subsequently marked with the company's own brand or changed in some other way
In particular, the pre-participation option is not available for businesses that order service packaging bearing their own name, logo or brand – regardless of whether it is ordered domestically or abroad. In such cases, it is clear that the ordering party is the manufacturer within the meaning of the PPWR.
I supply service packaging
Whether you are a packaging manufacturer, importer or wholesaler – anyone who supplies empty service packaging must check whether they are subject to extended producer responsibility (EPR). The key question is: does the packaging bear the ordering party's name, logo or brand?
The decision tree below provides initial guidance about the circumstances in which companies that supply empty service packaging in Germany bear the financial responsibility for its recycling. Please note that this decision tree is highly simplified, provides only an incomplete picture and should be used for initial guidance only. The case scenarios are explained in more detail below.
Case scenarios for packaging manufacturers, importers and wholesalers
If you produce service packaging that bears an ordering party's name, logo or brand, or are instructed to develop such packaging for them, that ordering party is considered both the manufacturer and producer under the PPWR – regardless of whether you are based in the same country or abroad.
This means: the responsibility for financing the recycling of the packaging in question (producer obligation) as well as the obligation to prepare the technical documentation and declaration of conformity (manufacturer obligation) lie with the ordering party.
Please note: even if your company's name is also printed on the service packaging in question, the responsibility still lies with the ordering party. However, as the supplier of the empty service packaging, you are required under Article 16 PPWR to provide the ordering party with all information and documentation (such as the technical documentation) necessary to meet their manufacturer obligations and demonstrate the conformity of the packaging.
Exception: if the ordering party is a micro-enterprise (pursuant to Recommendation 2003/361/EC: fewer than ten employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding two million euros), the following applies: if the supplier of the empty service packaging is based in the same Member State, it is both the manufacturer and producer.
If you are the first party to make service packaging without an ordering party's name, logo or brand available within the domestic supply chain, you initiate the supply chain and are considered the producer under the PPWR.
This means: you are responsible for financing the recycling of the packaging in question. This may apply to the manufacturer of the service packaging, or to importers or wholesalers who source it from abroad and redistribute it in Germany.
Please note: who is considered the manufacturer and therefore responsible for ensuring packaging conformity and whether this applies to you must be examined separately. Please visit the 'Distinguishing between manufacturers & producers' page for guidance on this matter.
Packaging material on rolls only becomes complete packaging within the meaning of the PPWR once it has been filled or used as service packaging.
In such cases, the manufacturer and producer under the PPWR is always the party filling the service packaging, i.e. the party using the packaging material to hand over their products to customers at the point of sale.
Please note: even if you do not carry producer obligations, you should draw your business partners' attention to the fact that – as the parties filling/using the service packaging – they are manufacturers and producers within the meaning of the PPWR and have the associated obligations. Under Article 16 of the PPWR, you also have to provide your business partners with all information and documentation (such as the technical documentation) necessary to demonstrate packaging conformity.
Complying with the extended producer responsibility for service packaging
All companies that are considered producers under the PPWR and are required to fulfil their obligations in Germany must take immediate action:
1. Organise system participation
Please ensure that your company has organised, in good time, system participation with a system operator and the reporting of packaging volumes to the LUCID Packaging Register.
2. Check and update LUCID registration
Please check whether your details in the LUCID Packaging Register are still up to date. If service packaging has previously been declared as 'pre-participated', this must be updated – because in most cases, this option will no longer be available under the PPWR. Please also ensure that all relevant brand names are fully and correctly filed in the LUCID Packaging Register.
3. Obtain packaging data from the supplier of the empty service packaging
For compliance with producer obligations: system participation and reporting of packaging volumes to the LUCID Packaging Register require information about the service packaging's material type, weight and volume, which you should obtain from the suppliers at an early stage.
For compliance with manufacturer obligations: please obtain information about the material composition of the packaging in question (technical documentation), since this is necessary for the declaration of conformity, which must be provided for your packaging under the PPWR.