News on the Packaging Ordinance in consideration of the 5th amendment
This is only an informative summary and has no advisory character.

The 5th amendment to the Packaging Ordinance has been in effect since 1.1.2009:
What the amendment essentially changes for companies:

Change in the definition of "private final consumer": As before, the Packaging Ordinance contains take-back and recovery obligations for all types of packaging, i.e. transport packaging, secondary packaging and sales packaging.
In the case of sales packaging, a further distinction is made between packaging for "private final consumers" and packaging for "commercial final consumers". The highest requirements apply to so-called "sales packaging supplied to private final consumers".
The definition of the latter was expanded and specified by the amendment as follows:
"Private final consumers are households and comparable sources of packaging, in particular restaurants, hotels, canteens, administrations, barracks, hospitals, educational institutions, charitable institutions, freelancers and typical sources in the cultural sector such as cinemas, operas and museums, as well as in the leisure sector such as holiday resorts, amusement parks, sports stadiums and service areas. Comparable sources of waste are also agricultural enterprises and craft enterprises that have standard household collection containers for paper, cardboard, cartons and light packaging with no more than a maximum of one
1100-litre emptying container per material group in the normal household collection cycle".
(In addition, the restriction in the case of the above-mentioned craft enterprises that printers and paper-processing companies would be exempt has now been deleted).

Transport packaging, secondary packaging and sales packaging for commercial final consumers
The regulations for transport packaging (§ 4) and for secondary packaging (§ 5) have not been changed. The requirements for sales packaging for commercial final consumers also remain unchanged, insofar as these continue to be considered "commercial" according to the above definition. To clarify the existing regulations, these are now combined in a separate new § 7 ("Take-back obligations for sales packaging that does not accrue to private final consumers"). § Section 7 therefore applies to so-called "b2b sales packaging", while Section 6 only applies to "b2c sales packaging".

Changes for sales packaging for private final consumers ("b2c")
For b2c sales packaging, § 6 introduces an obligation to participate in a so-called dual disposal system (with 2 exceptions). The previous alternative of "self-disposal" is thus strongly restricted.
The obligation to participate is now explicitly directed at the first distributors of packaged goods, who are addressed as follows:
"Manufacturers and distributors who place sales packaging filled with goods, which typically accumulates at the private final consumer, on the market for the first time" Only distributors of service packaging filled with goods are given the right to delegate this obligation to manufacturers or pre-distributors of the service packaging.
Since 01.01.2009, according to § 6 of the Packaging Ordinance: Every business that sells packaged goods to private customers is responsible for the disposal of this packaging.

Licensing obligation for service packaging as of 1.1.2009
As of 1.1.2009, the new licensing obligation for sales packaging will come into force. Retailers, as well as bakers, butchers & Co., are no longer allowed to hand over sales packaging to final consumers that is not licensed with a dual system.
All so-called service packaging is affected: Bread roll bags, carrier bags, cardboard trays, coffee mugs, etc.
The new legal obligation includes carrier bags and bags that are only filled at the shop counter.
According to the 5th amendment of the Packaging Ordinance, every retailer is obliged to be licensed as a first distributor.
For this, the packaging no longer needs to be marked with e.g. the Green Dot from the new year. The previously permissible option of taking back used packaging in the shop will no longer apply.
If the manufacturer of the carrier bags and pouches is commissioned by the retailer with the licensing, the manufacturer will carry out the licensing at a disposal company of its choice.
The costs incurred for this are borne by the initial distributor or the retailer. The conditions of the various disposal companies are quite different. If your company sells to private end customers and does not yet belong to a disposal system, you should immediately obtain offers from various disposal companies and conclude an appropriate contract.

New obligation in § 10 to submit a "declaration of completeness
In future, anyone who puts b2c sales packaging into circulation in accordance with § 6 must submit an annual declaration by 1 May on all sales packaging filled with goods that they put into circulation for the first time in the previous year. These "declarations of completeness" must contain the following:
- Quantities of b2c and b2b packaging put into circulation, differentiated according to the
packaging material
- Distribution of b2c packaging among the "dual systems
- Type and quantities of material in sectoral solutions (§ 6 Para. 2) as well as the name of the person submitting proof thereof
submits the evidence
- Information on the recovery of b2b sales packaging
The obligation to submit the declaration is directed analogously to § 6 to the first distributor of the packaged goods.
of the packaged goods.
The only exception is here too: Distributors of service packaging filled with goods are granted the right to delegate the duty to hand over to manufacturers or pre-distributors of the service packaging insofar as they participate in dual systems).
The obligation to surrender applies from the following annual quantities:
- more than 80 t/a glass or
- more than 50 t/a paper/cardboard/cardboard or
- more than 30 t/a of aluminium/tin plate/plastics/composites.
Below the aforementioned b2c quantity thresholds, a levy is only required if requested by the authorities. The quantity thresholds were set in such a way that, on the one hand, approx. 97% of the b2c packaging quantities are covered by the notifications and, on the other hand, only around 4,500 of the 30,000 companies affected have to submit a "declaration of completeness".

Changes with regard to the deposit obligations for beverage packaging
With regard to the deposit obligation according to § 9 on disposable beverage packaging, participation in a nationwide deposit system is now mandatory, which enables the settlement of mutual deposit refund claims.
The exemption for dietary beverages is further restricted to those offered exclusively to infants or young children. (This regulation will not come into force until 1 April 2009).
Non-returnable plastic beverage containers made of biodegradable materials and at least 75% of renewable raw materials will be exempt from the mandatory deposit until the end of 2012, but must instead participate in a dual disposal system.
Deletion of the labelling obligation and option for non-packaging In Annex I, the previous obligation to participate in the system by labelling the packaging or other suitable measures in the case of b2c packaging has been deleted.
packaging by labelling the packaging or other suitable measures.

In the view of the Federal Council, this is intended to remove an obstacle to competition. This could make it easier for licensees to switch between the dual systems. According to the new § 6, public waste management authorities can demand that non-packaging waste of the same material be included in the dual collection system (for an appropriate fee). The reason for this is, on the one hand, the high costs of separate collection and, on the other hand, the high proportion of misthrows in "yellow bins" of up to 50 %. Within the framework of the current 5th amendment of the Packaging Ordinance, a 6th amendment is therefore often called for.
Approved disposal companies (according to the company's own information):

belland-dual.de
gruener-punkt.de
eko-punkt.de
landbell.de
vfw-gmbh.eu
zentek.de
redual.de
interseroh.de
veolia.com
noventis.de