Amendments to German Packaging Law, WEEE Law and Treatment Regulation

The amendments to the German Packaging Law (VerpackG) have been approved. After the country’s Lower House approved the corresponding bill on 6 May, the Upper House gave its green light on 28 May. The revised law can now enter into force as planned on 3 July.

Throughout the parliamentary procedure, members of parliament made some changes to the draft adopted by the German government. For example, the approval authority will be empowered to request an assessment of a scheme’s financial capacity by the Central Packaging Register to support decision-making in the approval process. In addition, the “insolvency-proof security” to be provided by the schemes was deemed to be “adequate” if the period to be secured does not exceed three months.

Furthermore, on 7 May, the German Upper House gave the green light for the amendments to the country’s WEEE law (ElektroG), which was passed by parliament in April.

Both laws now introduce requirements for online marketplaces and fulfilment service providers to check the compliance of their sellers with their extended producer responsibilities. In case of non-compliance they must stop their distribution of the products marketed by the affected sellers.

Landbell Group offers compliance solutions for packaging and EEE, and online solutions for companies placing small amounts of packaging onto the market via its EasyShop.

The Upper House also approved the new regulation on requirements for the treatment of WEEE (Treatment Regulation), but made some minor amendments to the version passed by the government