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System participation

Is the packaging you are using to distribute your goods subject to system participation (retail, grouped or shipment packaging)? If the answer is 'yes', then you must pay for that packaging's recycling. This is called 'system participation'. Read on to learn how to fulfil this obligation.

Clicking on the system participation video will start it.


Watch this video to learn what system participation means and what you have to do to fulfil your obligations.

Video about system participation

Watch this video to learn what system participation means and what you have to do to fulfil your obligations.

Clicking on the system participation video will start it.

What is 'system participation'?

  • To pay for the recycling of your packaging that is subject to system participation, you are required to conclude a system participation agreement with a system operator.

  • The costs for participating your packaging with a system depend on different factors such as the volume and material type of your packaging.

  • You can conclude your system participation agreement with the system operator of your choice.

Who are the system operators, and what do they do?

  • Private final consumers dispose of their packaging waste in yellow bags/bins, paper bins and paper/glass containers.

  • System operators ensure that this packaging waste is collected, sorted and recycled across Germany, and that recycling quality is as high as possible.

  • System operators recover six million tons of packaging from private final consumers every year.

You can find an updated list here.

Find out more
Searching for a product in the catalogue

Is your packaging subject to system participation or not? Find out quickly and easily with the system participation requirement catalogue.

Packaging types and categories

System participation – yes or no? What types of packaging are there? What are the obligations that come with each of them?

Declaration of completeness

Companies with high packaging volumes have to submit a declaration of completeness for the previous year, checked by an auditor registered with the ZSVR, by no later than 15 May of each year.

Data reporting

Regularly report the volumes of your packaging subject to system participation to your system operator and the LUCID Packaging Register.

Service packaging typically accumulates as waste with private final consumers. That is why you must pay for that packaging's recycling. However, there is a special provision for service packaging that you can take advantage of. Information about how to fulfil the system participation requirement for your service packaging can be found in our knowledge base.

Find out more
Checklist: How to fulfil your obligations under German packaging law in three steps

Registration, participation, reporting: Find out how to fulfil your obligations that relate to packaging subject to system participation.

pdf, 143 KB

Paying the single-use plastic fee does not replace the system participation requirement

While the system participation requirement pursuant to the Verpackungsgesetz (Packaging Act) and the payment obligation pursuant to the Einwegkunststofffondsgesetz (Single-Use Plastic Fund Act) apply to the same object, they operate independently. Each regulation has its own reference points, content and goals, and they function side by side without affecting one another. 

Specifically, system participation fees are used to fund the kerbside collection and recovery of packaging, while the single-use plastic fee helps cover the costs of recovering single-use plastic products from public spaces. These fees cannot be offset against each other, nor can volumes be deducted from one fee to reduce the other. 

Please refer to the support contact page for more information.

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