License your packaging easily online & become VerpackG-compliant

EPR stands for "Extended Producer Responsibility". The underlying principle makes merchants and manufacturers responsible for the entire life cycle of their products and related components, including their disposal, in the service of environmental protection.

In Germany, packaging, electrical appliances and batteries are covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility of those who put them into circulation in this country.

The current high level of attention on the EPR is essentially due to the amendment of two laws: the Packaging Act (VerpackG) and the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG). In the future, both will oblige marketplaces to check the compliance of their dealers with regard to the requirements. In this context, marketplace operators speak of EPR as a collective term for all three aspects.

Since the marketplaces' obligation to monitor compliance with the Packaging Act will come into effect as early as July 2022, Chrono24 is currently communicating the relevant requirements to its sellers. The control obligation for electrical appliances will follow from January 2023.

The Packaging Act imposes three obligations on sellers who ship packaged products to German end consumers:

1. Licensing of your annual packaging volumes with a dual system (also called system participation). For this purpose, you can use Lizenzero, the online shop of the acknowledged dual system Interzero Recycling Alliance and preferred partner of Chrono24: Enter volumes now
2. Registration in the packaging register LUCID
3. Data reporting to the packaging register LUCID (name of the dual system and licensed packaging volumes)

The Packaging Act was amended in July 2021. One of the changes in the law affects the operators of marketplaces such as Chrono24: In order to create an additional control mechanism, they will have to check from July 2022 whether all traders who ship to Germany comply with the requirements of the Packaging Act.

If the merchant is unable to provide proof of compliance, a sales ban will take effect and the marketplace operators will have to restrict sales to Germany. Violations of this will be punished with high fines for the marketplaces.

Medium-term, you will need to present proof to Chrono24:

1. Licensing/System Participation Certificate: You can download the Lizenzero-Participation-Certificate in your customer account after you have concluded your license agreement. (As your Lizenzero certificate of attendance also receives your registration number, this proof is already sufficient).
2. If applicable: LUCID registration number (sometimes also called EPR number): You will receive this number after successful registration in the LUCID packaging register.  (If you license somewhere else than with Lizenzero and your system certificate does not also contain your registration number, please download the corresponding administrative act in your LUCID account under "Documents" and submit it to Chrono24)

The Packaging Act formulates a total of three obligations for merchants of packaging in Germany (also see question #2). These include the licensing obligation (also known as the system participation obligation) and the registration obligation.

Both obligations must be fulfilled at two different contact points:

1. The licensing obligation refers to the fee-based participation of your packaging and must be carried out by you at a dual system such as Interzero Recycling Alliance (via Lizenzero). In return, Interzero Recycling Alliance takes over the disposal and recycling process of your packaging for you.
2. The registration obligation, on the other hand, is carried out by you at the control authority Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (LUCID).

The catalog of obligations is completed by the data reporting obligation: This simply means that you enter the name of your dual system and your licensed packaging volumes in LUCID.