FAQ - Definitions and concepts
Producer: Any manufacturer, importer or distributor who, regardless of the sales method used, including by means of distance contracts
a) is established in Denmark and first makes available transport packaging, reusable packaging, primary production packaging or service packaging on the Danish market,
b) is established in Denmark and first makes available packaged product or packaging not mentioned in point a on the Danish market, or
c) is established in another EU member state or in a third country and via distance contracts first makes available transport packaging, reusable packaging, primary production packaging, service packaging or packaged product directly to end users on the Danish market.
Manufacturer: Any natural or legal person who:
a) manufactures packaging or packaged product
b) has packaging or packaged product designed or manufactured under their own name or trademark, regardless of who manufactured the packaging or the packaged product and whether other trademarks are visible on the packaging or the packaged product
c) offers packaging or packaged product to a micro-enterprise that has the packaging designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark, when it concerns transport packaging, reusable packaging, primary production packaging, service packaging, sales packaging, or grouped packaging.
Availability as defined in the statutory order:
Delivery of packaging, or packaged product, with the aim of distribution, consumption, or use in the Danish market as part of a business activity, whether this occurs for remuneration or free of charge. (The Statutory Order On Packaging § 3, subsection 1, No. 44)
The Environment Agency on availability
The availability of packaging requires an offer or an agreement (written or verbal) between two or more legal or physical persons regarding the transfer of ownership, possession, or other rights related to the specific packaging or packaged product, once the production phase has been completed. Transfer does not necessarily require a physical handover of the packaging.
This transfer may occur for payment or free of charge, and can be based on any type of legal instrument. Therefore, packaging is considered to be transferred, for example, in connection with sales, loans, leases, rentals, and gifts. Transfer of ownership thus implies that the packaging is intended to be made available to another legal or physical person.
(Guidance on Extended Producer Responsibility For Packaging - Danish, March 28, 2025)
Dansk Producentansvar on availability
Physical delivery is not necessarily an issue. The decisive point is that an agreement has been entered, or an offer accepted between two or more legal or natural persons about delivery or transfer of ownership, possession, or other right in the packaging or the packaged product after the end of the production stage.
When the ownership is transferred, it means that the packaging is intended for being made available to another legal or natural person.
When does 'making available' happen?
A packaging is considered as made available when:
- An agreement has been entered, or an offer has been accepted about delivery – orally or in writing
- The ownership or the right of use is transferred to another legal or natural person
- This transfer is done against payment or free of charge. This means, for instance, that a packaging is considered being transferred in connection with a sale, lending, lease, or rental, as well as gifts.
- It involves a commercial activity.
For example, this may mean that ‘making available’ happens when an order has been placed (an agreement has been entered) – also when the packaging is still in storage.
By contrast, ‘making available’ has not happened when the packaging or the packaged product has been offered for sale on a website, in a campaign, and/or is still in storage with the producer.
(From DPA's website, October 1, 2025)
If there is doubt about when a packaging is made available, it is Dansk Producentansvar that has the authority to make a decision.
Single-use plastic products
Availability as defined in the clean-up statutory order, which can be accessed here:
Market availability: Delivery of a product for the purpose of distribution, consumption, or use on the Danish market as part of business activities, whether it occurs for a fee or free of charge. (clean-up statutory order, § 2, section 1, no. 20)
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency on availability
Marketing is the first availability of a product on the Danish market. Availability is the delivery of a product for the purpose of distribution, consumption, or use on the Danish market as part of business activities, whether it occurs for a fee or free of charge.
Dansk Producentansvar on availability:
You, as a business, have this when you “make available or put a product into circulation for the first time” in Denmark.
Danish CVR number
Only producers or importers can be regarded as the first link in a national sales chain. In Denmark, this takes the form of a requirement that the business has a Danish CVR number. However, for instance, distance selling from a foreign business directly to end users in Denmark will also trigger producer responsibility. The foreign business must appoint a so-called authorised representative with a Danish CVR number to manage the producer responsibility of the foreign business. The authorised representative must be registered on par with the producer in the Danish producer responsibility register.
Producer responsibility follows the product
When a producer or an importer in Denmark delivers a product to a distributor or an end user for the first time, the product is considered to have been put into circulation. There does not need to be a physical delivery of a product for it to be regarded as having been put into circulation. When entering into an agreement for the delivery of an imported product or a product manufactured or imported in Denmark, the producer responsibility and registration obligation will come into force.
(From DPA’s website, October 1, 2025, which can be accessed here)
If there is any doubt about when a packaging has been made available, it is Dansk Producentansvar that has the authority to make a decision.
The end user is any natural or legal person residing or established in the EU, to whom packaging or packaged product is made available, either as a consumer or as a commercial end user, as part of their industrial or commercial activities, and who does not make the packaging or the packaged product available on the market in the form it was delivered.
Distance sales are direct sales between a business and the end user of a packaging, where the two parties are not physically present, for example, in online sales.
Distance sales also cover B2B, where the end user is a commercial business.
The Register Order: Distance sales are any agreement for the sale or purchase of packaging that is made between the producer and the end user, without the simultaneous physical presence of the producer and the end user, and where, at the time the agreement is made, one or more forms of distance communication techniques are exclusively used, including online sales.
Reuse is when the packaging is collected and used again a number of times. The packaging serves the same purpose for which it is designed. An example is a cup that is washed and used again, still as a cup.