Amendments to German battery and packaging laws officially adopted

Germany’s upper and lower houses, the Bundesrat and the Bundestag have approved the amendments to the German battery law.

The new legislative framework can therefore enter into force on 1 January 2021 as planned. The most important changes include creating a level-playing field between take-back schemes and raising the collection rate to 50 percent.

The law implementing the European Union’s Waste Framework Directive has also been officially adopted, including the amended definition of composite packaging.

The Bundesrat’s environmental committee had recommended to veto the law as it does not address the existing enforcement problems sufficiently. However, the institution’s plenary did not follow this recommendation.

The law implementing the European Union’s Waste Framework Directive is already published in the country’s Official Journal and can be found here.