The 5th amendment to the German Packaging Ordinance (Verpackungsverordnung), which prescribes stricter regulations for the recycling of packaging materials, took effect on January 1, 2009. The country’s trade and industry must now declare all packaging materials put into circulation in a dual system responsible for the disposal and recycling in the raw material cycle.
Previously, the system had always had gaps and points that were unclear. In the future, trade and industry will also be required to submit an annual completeness declaration that documents what packaging materials have gone to private consumers in what quantities.
This is intended to ensure that ‘free riders’ cannot put more packaging into circulation without providing for its disposal and recycling. There is no fundamental change for the end-consumer, who will continue to dispose of packaging in yellow bins, waste paper in blue bins and glass bottles and jars in public and private collection containers, sorted according to white, green and brown.
Anuga FoodTec (March 10-13, 2009, in Cologne) promises visitors ample opportunity to learn about current packaging technologies and see the benefits of packaging materials that can be recycled well.
