About producer responsibility
In a producer responsibility system, companies are given responsibility for collecting and recycling the products they market on the basis of a "polluter pays principle". This creates economic incentives for companies to take greater responsibility for the environmental consequences that the consumption and management of their products - and packaging - cause.
There are six different producer responsibilities in the EU that the respective member states are obliged to implement - and a new one on textiles has just been approved and expected to come into force during 2027.
Polluter pays principle
The "polluter pays" principle is enshrined in the EU Maastricht Treaty and is an economic principle that companies are responsible for their own pollution.
Producer responsibility for packaging
Producer responsibility on packaging comes into effect on October 1, 2025. This means that approximately 7000 companies that place packaging on the Danish market will be responsible for the packaging throughout its entire life cycle - even after the packaging is empty and waste sorted by the end user.
See, if your company is covered
Read more about the registration obligation
Purpose
The overall purpose of implementing producer responsibility is to reduce the amount of packaging, ensure effective collection and handling of packaging waste, and motivate companies to better and more environmentally friendly design packaging - both for prevention, reuse, and recycling.
Popularly speaking, it’s referred to as closing the loop - 'closing the loop'.
Financial consequences
The total cost is estimated at around 2.35 billion DKK, which will be shifted from citizens' waste fees to the producers.
Producers will not have to cover costs for non-packaging waste and therefore there will still be a citizen-paid fee for the collection and handling of household waste that does not constitute packaging.
Read more about waste treatment
Eco-modulation
Companies must pay the costs of collection, transport and waste treatment of the packaging that they market, minus income from the sale of the recycled raw materials.
One of the basic elements of producer responsibility is that packaging reduction and ecodesign must be beneficial for companies. This means that companies will pay less for packaging that can be reused or recycled. It will therefore be a requirement that fees are eco-modulated.
Producer responsibility for single-use plastic products
Companies that place single-use plastic products on the market have producer responsibility for these products and are therefore responsible for financing the clean-up of waste from these - including municipal and state collection of the waste in public collection systems.
See, whether you have producer responsibility for single-use plastic products
Read more about registration requirement
Purpose
The purpose of the producer responsibility for single-use plastic products is to reduce the amount of single-use plastic that is discarded in nature. Single-use plastic products are made entirely or partially of plastic and are only intended to be used once - meaning that they cannot be returned or reused for the same purpose.
VANA helps you manage your producer responsibility
VANA handles the producer responsibilities for packaging and single-use plastic products, as well as electronics and batteries in collaboration with RECIPO, which is a leader in their field in the Nordic countries.
At VANA, we are also working to be able to take on the remaining producer responsibilities as well as the upcoming producer responsibility for textiles for our members - either directly or through cooperation agreements with other leading producer responsibility organisations (PRO).
Producer responsibility for electronics and batteries
The producer responsibility for electronics and batteries imposes manufacturers and importers with responsibilities for their electrical products from design and production to collection and environmental treatment when the products are no longer usable.
VANA can handle the producer responsibility for electronics and batteries on behalf of our member companies based on a collective agreement with RECIPO, the leading producer responsibility organisation (PRO) in the Nordics.
Read more about our partnership with Recipo
Producer responsibility for textiles
The EU has adopted an agreement on changes to the waste framework directive, which introduces producer responsibility for textiles.
This means that manufacturers and brands selling textiles in the EU must cover the costs associated with the collection, sorting, and recycling of textile waste from their products. As a rule, this applies to all companies that produce, import, or distribute textile, textile-related, or footwear products - except for social enterprises that deliver already used products deemed suitable for reuse.
The agreement is expected to be published in November 2025, after which EU member states will have 20 months to update their national legislation and 30 months to implement a producer responsibility system.
Producer responsibility other Products
Find more information about producer responsibility for eg. cars at Dansk Producentansvar.