The Stiftung Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR - Central Agency Packaging Register Foundation) takes a critical view of the EU Commission's proposed national leeway in the definition of producer in the future Packaging Ordinance (PPWR). A temporary deviation from the uniform EU definition of producer between 12 August 2026 and 1 January 2027 is hardly tenable under European law and could financially destabilise the German system of household packaging disposal.
The German Packaging Act currently stipulates that the economic operator who places filled packaging on the German market for the first time is deemed to be the manufacturer. In the case of imported goods, this is usually the foreign supplier who bears the legal responsibility when crossing the border. With the PPWR, this role is shifting: in future, the producer will be the party who initiates the supply chain in the member state in which the packaging becomes waste - in the case of imports, this is typically the domestic trading company that sells the goods to end customers.
Import share as a system-relevant factor
An analysis carried out by the Gesellschaft für Verpackungsmarktforschung on behalf of the ZSVR shows that the share of filled imports in the market volume of packaging subject to system participation is around 40 per cent on average; for ferrous metals it is a good 50 per cent. Lightweight packaging, which contributes significantly to the financing of the dual systems, is particularly relevant.
Around 80 per cent of packaging volumes are currently financed by the household collection and recycling system. If this proportion were to fall below 70 per cent, the ZSVR believes that the basis for the economic operation of the dual systems would be jeopardised. In the worst-case scenario, the financing share could fall below 50 per cent following the relocation of producers to imports.
Doubts about national transitional arrangements
The PPWR entered into force on 11 February 2025 and will apply directly in all Member States from 12 August 2026 after a transitional period. The ZSVR emphasises that the definition of manufacturer in Article 3(15) of the PPWR is therefore directly applicable EU law and cannot be postponed at national level. A proposal to postpone the application of this definition at national level until 1 January 2027 and to adhere to deviating regulations in the meantime would contradict the primacy of EU law.
The ZSVR also considers a derivation via Article 46 of the PPWR, which regulates the transfer of extended producer responsibility to organisations, to be systematically unsustainable. The regulation is designed precisely to harmonise the roles and obligations of economic operators across Europe; there is no scope for special national definitions for a limited period of time.
Danger of an „enforcement-free area“
From the perspective of the ZSVR, parallel application of the EU Regulation and national transitional law would lead to a contradictory legal situation. Companies could then claim that their behaviour complies with at least one of the two legal situations. Administrative offences would be difficult to prove, as both illegality and reproachability would be in question. Effective enforcement of the manufacturer obligations in the fourth quarter of 2026 therefore seems hardly feasible to the ZSVR.
For companies operating internationally, they would also have to check for each member state whether the direct PPWR definition applies there or whether a national transitional arrangement applies. This could lead to parallel legal regimes having to be taken into account and corresponding provisions having to be recognised.
ZSVR sees dual system in Germany acutely jeopardised
As a result, the ZSVR warns that a national postponement of the producer definition would create an enforcement-free period. Companies could effectively suspend their system participation obligations without having to reckon with sanctions. In view of an affected import share of almost 40 per cent of the packaging volumes subject to system participation - with a shortfall risk assessed as critical from as little as 10 per cent - the ZSVR sees the financing of the dual system in Germany under massive threat in this scenario. In an extreme case, the ZSVR estimates that the system could collapse in the fourth quarter of 2026 due to underfunding.
Source: ZSVR
