New authorisation requirement under the VerpackDG: Does it now affect your B2B packaging too?

The previous approach: System participation only for packaging that becomes waste at end consumers

Under the current VerpackG, packaging is subject to the obligation to participate in a system if, after use, it typically becomes waste at private end consumers or comparable places of waste generation (Section 3(8) VerpackG). Pure B2B transport packaging used, for example, by one retailer to supply another retailer, has therefore generally not been covered to date, as it is usually unpacked at the receiving company and not disposed of in private households.

We advise you on all matters relating to the VerpackDG/PPWR:

What changes under the VerpackDG: Two new authorisation requirements

The key substantive development, which several specialist sources independently identify as one of the most important changes under the VerpackDG, is the introduction of extensive new authorisation requirements. Until now, under Section 18 VerpackG, only dual systems themselves – the organisations that take back and recover packaging waste from private households – have been required to obtain formal authorisation from the Central Agency Packaging Register (Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister, ZSVR).

The VerpackDG extends this requirement to two new groups:

1. Manufacturers of packaging not subject to system participation (Section 19 of the VerpackDG draft). Companies that first make packaging available within Germany which typically arises in the commercial sector – for example, transport or industrial packaging used in B2B business – are expected to require authorisation from the ZSVR in the future.

2. Other producer responsibility organisations, or PROs (Section 22 of the VerpackDG draft). Organisations that collectively fulfil extended producer responsibility obligations for several manufacturers of packaging not subject to system participation – effectively operating a type of dual system for the B2B sector – are also expected to require their own authorisation. Based on the information available to us, the concept of a producer responsibility organisation was first introduced in Germany around the turn of 2025/2026 for battery disposal under the Battery Law Implementation Act (Batteriedurchführungsgesetz, BattDG) and is now being extended to packaging through the VerpackDG.

In addition to the authorisation requirement, these parties are expected to be subject to a further obligation under Section 59 of the VerpackDG draft: financing waste-prevention measures, including measures to promote reusable systems.

Will the obligation to participate in a system itself be extended to B2B packaging?

Precision is important here, as two different issues are sometimes conflated in public discussion:

• The authorisation requirement described above expressly affects manufacturers of packaging that is not subject to system participation – in other words, traditional B2B packaging. This packaging will therefore remain outside the dual systems. However, manufacturers are expected to require authorisation in the future and organise take-back either through a PRO or through an individual solution.

• The obligation to participate in a system itself – the obligation to license packaging through a dual system – is also expected to be extended, according to several consistent specialist sources. However, this will not apply indiscriminately to “everything that is B2B”. Instead, it will specifically cover certain new packaging categories: so-called primary production packaging and, at least in part, transport packaging, where these typically become waste predominantly in private households or comparable places of waste generation.

According to one source, shipping packaging is also expected to be classified as a subcategory of transport packaging in the future and be subject to system participation without exception. However, we expressly point out that this specific statement is based on only one source and could not be confirmed by a second, independent source. Therefore, do not rely solely on this article when classifying your own shipping packaging; instead, consult the final legal text or the ZSVR catalogue referred to below.

The decisive practical factor: The new “VerpackDG Catalogue”

Whether a specific packaging type in your portfolio will be subject to system participation in the future cannot be determined solely from the legal text. To address this, the ZSVR is preparing, together with GVM Gesellschaft für Verpackungsmarktforschung, a catalogue of packaging subject to the obligation to participate in a system (Katalog VerpackDG). It is expected to replace the current catalogue under the former VerpackG. According to available information, it consists of a general section explaining the definitions and a special section containing product sheets for individual types of packaging.

Important for your planning: Based on the information available to us, the ZSVR opened a consultation process on this catalogue on 15 June 2026. This means the catalogue had not yet been published in final form when this article was researched. Only once the catalogue has been published in final form will it be possible to determine with legal certainty whether individual packaging types are covered by the new, extended obligation to participate in a system.

We advise you on all matters relating to the VerpackDG/PPWR:

Points of criticism from the stakeholder consultation

The planned extension was not uncontested during the public hearing of the Environment Committee on 6 May 2026. Several business associations, including the German Chemical Industry Association, called in their statements for a clear exemption for industrial and commercial packaging and for national implementation to be limited to what is mandatorily required under European law. The main points of criticism were:

• that the wording according to which packaging “typically arises predominantly at consumers when considering the overall market for packaging of the same type” is perceived as unclear; and

• that companies fear a form of double burden for packaging that would become newly subject to system participation but, in practice, does not arise at private consumers.

At this point, these objections represent political positions rather than established legal changes. Whether the legislator will make further adjustments was still open at the time this article was published.