German body publishes minimum standards for recyclable packaging

September 23rd, 2020

The German Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR), the independent body which performs certain monitoring and organisational tasks for the country’s packaging law, has published the 2020 edition of its minimum standards for determining the recyclability of packaging. These guidelines, which update the previous year’s version and were developed in cooperation with the Federal Environment Agency, form the basis for the modulation of the packaging schemes’ licencing fees.Compared to the previous year’s version, most changes were made to Appendix 1, “Types of material, material fractions and recovery routes”. All the amendments are based on experiences from 2018 and 2019 and on corresponding feedback from the stakeholders involved.The German packaging law requires schemes to provide manufacturers with an incentive – through modulation of their licencing fees – to use packaging that is as recyclable as possible.

The guidelines now published by the ZSVR make it possible to precisely determine a packaging’s recyclability and can be downloaded here.

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