Registration requirement – yes or no? Am I affected?

Registration with the LUCID Packaging Register is free and is done online. To register, you must first create a login as a 'producer'. Producers include all kinds of manufacturers of packaged goods, distributors and importers as well as mail order companies and online retailers. Usually, they are the party filling the packaging.

When registering with the LUCID Packaging Register, you are required to enter your company name, the designated person (e.g. the CEO or managing director) and the specific contact person in the company, including their respective e-mail address. You will then receive an e-mail with an activation link that must be accessed within 24 hours.

Once you have created your login, you have seven days to complete your registration: enter your master data, add packaging types and brand names, and submit your application for registration.

Upon completion of registration, the ZSVR will send you an e-mail with your registration number. You will also automatically receive an administrative act by electronic means to officially confirm that you have successfully completed your registration. From that point onwards, you will be visible in the LUCID Packaging Register with your registration number, brand names and packaging details. The LUCID Packaging Register is public.

The following data is required:

• Company address including telephone number

• VAT number or taxpayer reference number

• National identification number (such as commercial register number, business notification/registration or trade membership number)

• Packaging types used by the company to place its goods on the German market

• Brand names under which the company distributes its packaged goods

The ZSVR's LUCID Packaging Register is a public register that includes industrial and retail companies from Germany and abroad that have to fulfil obligations under German packaging law. Its objective is to create a fair market and establish a level playing field by instilling transparency. Publication enables everyone to search through the register and to check who has registered. That makes it easier to detect breaches of the Verpackungsgesetz (Packaging Act).

A level playing field is key if we want to protect our environment. Companies must ensure that their packaging harms the environment as little as possible. This is referred to as assuming 'producer responsibility', which governed by the Verpackungsgesetz (Packaging Act). Where packaging cannot be prevented, all market players that distribute packaged goods must be registered with the LUCID Packaging Register. Another factor is that 'high-quality' recycling of packaging waste is only possible in a financially sound market. That is why you are required to pay for the recycling of your retail, grouped or shipment packaging that is subject to system participation by concluding a 'system participation agreement' with a system operator.