A year of transition lies ahead for packaging recycling. The Packaging Ordinance, which is over 20 years old, is still in force. It will be replaced by the new Packaging Act on 1 January 2019. Nevertheless, manufacturers and distributors of packaging will come into contact with the new „Stiftung Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister“ (Central Packaging Register Foundation) as early as next year.
From the year after next, the Osnabrück-based „Central Agency Packaging Register“ is the sole point of contact for all companies that are obliged to report the type and quantity of packaging placed on the market. As an authorised federal authority, it is to ensure greater transparency in the Packaging recycling ensure that this is the case. Among other things, it checks the „Declarations of completeness“ and the quantities of packaging. It also calculates the market shares of the dual systems. The aim is to Fair distribution of costs for demonstrably provided disposal services. A register is also kept of all those responsible for products in trade and industry.
In the second half of the coming year, the Packaging Register website will feature a Registration platform and a portal for the Quantity reports. All companies therefore have sufficient lead time to adapt their reporting processes. Next year, they will still have to organise the content of their reports in accordance with the Packaging Ordinance. However, the data will already be reported in accordance with the provisions of the Packaging Act. From 2019, the Central Agency Packaging Register will then take over all register and reporting data - including that from 2018.
Recycling rates to rise sharply
The centralisation of responsibilities for packaging recycling is intended to create more transparency. Among other things, legislators, companies and consumers are to be able to recognise more easily whether the packaging recycled by the Packaging Act defined Recycling rates have been achieved for the individual recyclable material groups. The proportion of recycled materials is to increase significantly in two stages by 2022. Quotas of 90 per cent are planned for all recyclable materials except plastic. Plastic, on the other hand, is to increase its quota from the current 36 per cent to 63 per cent. Producers of particularly recyclable packaging will be „rewarded“ with reduced licence fees for the Dual System. There are also plans to increase the reusable quota for drinks packaging from the current 45.1 per cent to 70 per cent. However, if this target is not met, there will be no sanctions such as levies on single-use deposit bottles.
Not all recyclable materials are still being recycled
The assessment of the new Packaging Act is not entirely favourable. Doubts are being raised about the recycling quotas. The „Süddeutsche Zeitung“ newspaper, for example, described them as „utopian“ and „unattainable“. The packaging law offers no means of tackling the actual problem - the packaging waste volume of 200 kilograms per capita per year. The recycling statistics, which according to the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU) are easy to manipulate, are also criticised. These only record the quantities of packaging delivered to the recycling plants, not the materials actually recycled. For the VKU, the current procedures are above all bureaucratic and cost-intensive, but ecologically unsustainable.
It is also regretted that the originally planned Recyclable Materials Act did not materialise after several rounds of negotiations with the federal states. This means that the registration of recycling waste will not be extended to all products. The ecological impact of the packaged goods is often greater than that of the packaging, as Siegfried Kreibe from the „bifa“ environmental institute in Augsburg stated at a workshop organised by BKV GmbH in Bad Neuenahr in May [infotext icon].
Interview: What needs to be considered before the start of the packaging register?
Read the interview with Guda Rachut, Head of the Central Agency Packaging Register, to find out how companies can prepare for the changes in packaging quantity reporting in the coming year.
New Packaging Act: still a lot of work to do before the packaging register is launched[/infotext]
