The balance after six weeks of the extended registration obligation for packaging is positive.

The trade magazine Packreport asked Gunda Rachut, director of the ZSVR, how the amendment to the Packaging Act, which has been in force since 1 July 2022, is making itself felt. Since then, an extended registration obligation applies to all types of packaging, and manufacturers must register in the LUCID packaging register. In addition, electronic marketplaces are obliged to check whether online traders are behaving in a legally compliant manner, and the distributors of to-go packaging must also comply with the registration obligation since 1 July. Rachut draws a positive overall balance: "Companies have to assume product responsibility for packaging and ensure compliance. Ignoring the obligation to organise recycling for packaging is no longer an option for manufacturers." Currently, about 580,000 companies are registered in the LUCID packaging register, according to Rachut. The register records about 330,000 new registrations from abroad, more than 100,000 of them from China. The increase was primarily due to the control obligations of electronic marketplaces towards their online traders, he said. The new regulations in to-go consumption are also having a great effect, as Rachut explains: The new registration obligation for distributors of service packaging significantly increases transparency. Free riders are quickly noticed, which makes enforcement possible. Overall, the amendment has significantly increased transparency in the packaging sector.