About the producer responsibility for packaging
With the introduction of the producer responsibility for packaging, all companies that import or use packaging bear the financial and organisational responsibility for the management of packaging waste - including collection, sorting and treatment.
In other words, the producer and importer who place packaging on the market are responsible for the packaging throughout its life cycle - also after the packaging is empty and sorted by the consumer.
The purpose of the producer responsibility
The overall purpose of the producer responsibility is to reduce the amount of packaging, ensure efficient collection and management of packaging waste and to motivate producers to produce better and more environmentally friendly design of packaging - both for prevention, reuse, and recycling.
In popular terms, they talk about closing the circle - 'close the loop'.
The extended producer responsibility for packaging comes into force on 1 July 2025, but already from April 2024 covered companies are obliged to register and report an estimate of their expected packaging quantities for 2024. Read more abour the registration and the reporting obligation here.
Overall consequences of the producer responsibility for packaging
- Approximately 41,000 companies will be covered in Denmark
- Expenses amounting to at least DKK 2.3 billion per year is moved from the consumers to the producers
- Expected approx. 961,000 tons of packaging/year
Covered companies
All companies that put packaged products on the Danish market are covered by the producer responsibility. Check if your business is covered here.
Covered packaging types
All types of packaging are covered by the producer responsibility for packaging, regardless of industry, profession, and purpose of packaging - however packaging covered by the Danish deposit system is exempted.
This means that you need to keep track of all:
- sales packaging (primary packaging)
- multipack (secondary packaging)
- transport packaging (tertiary packaging).
It is essential to know the exact types of packaging, materials and compositions used - and whether the packaging can be recycled or it is disposable.
Learn more about the different packaging materials and packaging types here.
Learn, how you can prepare your company for the producer responsibility for packaging.