Legal basis

Law on the placing on the market, take-back and high-quality recycling of packaging

Take-back obligations for sales packaging containing hazardous substances

§Section 15 - Take-back and recovery obligations of manufacturers and distributors

(1) Manufacturers and downstream distributors in the supply chain of

(...) 4. sales packaging of filling materials containing hazardous substances

shall be obliged to take back, free of charge, used, empty packaging of the same type, shape and size as the packaging they have placed on the market at the place of actual delivery or in the immediate vicinity thereof. For final distributors, the take-back obligation pursuant to sentence 1 shall be limited to packaging that originates from goods that the distributor carries in its product range. In the case of recurring deliveries, packaging may also be taken back with the next delivery. Manufacturers and downstream distributors in the supply chain may reach different agreements with each other and with end consumers, provided these are not private households, on the place of return and the cost arrangements.

(2) If it is not possible for a producer or downstream distributor of packaging pursuant to subsection (1) sentence 1 numbers 3 and 4 to take back packaging in an environmentally sound and healthy manner at the place of actual handover or in its immediate vicinity, it may also be taken back at a central collection point if this is located at a reasonable distance from the place of actual handover for the person entitled to return the packaging and is accessible during the distributor's normal business hours. Final distributors of packaging pursuant to subsection (1) sentence 1 numbers 3 and 4 shall inform final consumers of the return option by means of clearly recognizable and legible signs at the point of sale and by other suitable means in the mail order business.

(3) Manufacturers and downstream distributors in the supply chain who take back packaging pursuant to subsection (1) sentence 1 shall be obliged to reuse or recycle it in accordance with the requirements of section 16 (5).

- Definitions:

Annex 2 (to Section 3 (7))
Contaminant-containing filling goods within the meaning of Section 3 (7)
(Reference: BGBl. I 2017, 2254)
(...)

3. mixtures of diphenylmethane-4,4'-diisocyanate (MDI), insofar as they are classified in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labeling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC, and amending Regulation (EC) No. 1907/2006 (OJ L 353, 31.12.2008, p. 1), as last amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/1221 (OJ L 197, 25.7.2015, p. 10), as respiratory sensitizers of category 1 (Resp. Sens. 1) and to be labelled with the H-phrase H334 and placed on the market in aerosol dispensers, and (...)

Construction foam cans containing more than 0.1% MDI are exempt from the general system participation obligation (with the so-called dual systems) in accordance with §3 Para. 7 in conjunction with § 12 No. 4 VerpackG.

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