MOVECO - Cross-country Stakeholder Forum in Ljubljana
29-01-2019
Disclaimer: Most parts of this article were orginally edited and published by The Slovenia Times (see also reference [1]) and complemented with additional information by the MOVECO project.
Slovenian firms yet to grasp Germany's new packaging law
Ljubljana - Some 4,000 Slovenian companies are estimated to be subject to Germany's new packaging rules, yet many are still not even sure whether they have to register before dispatching any goods to Germany. [1]
On January 22nd, 2019, two MOVECO partners, Slovenian Ministry for Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP) and Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS), organised a cross-country Stakeholder Forum titled »Do our countries need a »Clearing house« to improve implementation of extended producer responsibility for packaging (waste), (waste) electrical and electronic equipment, (waste) batteries and accumulators?«
The new German law, which entered into force as of 2019, introduces a special register of companies which dispatch packaging to the German market for the first time and also includes online sales. A special central agency, Zentrale Stelle, monitors the establishment of the public register of producers which sell goods on the German market. [1]
Antonija Božič Cerar from CCIS says large companies which export to Germany on a regular basis are familiar with the rules. But smaller companies have more problems, even if the new German legislation has been debated for more than a year. They are turning to the CCIS[2] with questions such as whether they have to get registered, how they can do it or if there are any other obligations attached to the change. Since the German system is very complex, they are advised to talk to their partners in Germany, Božič Cerar has told the Slovenian newspaper, the Slovenia Times. [1]
Jakob Weißenbacher from consultancy Ramboll says there is also much confusion about the complex new rules in Germany. This can be seen from the fact that only some 130,000 companies are currently in the new register, whereas some 720,000 are estimated to be subject to the new law. The 1,900-page catalogue of products, whose producers or distributors are subject to the new rules, is yet to be finalised, so some companies are not sure whether they should register. But Weißenbacher, who spoke at a recent event in Ljubljana, advises them to register as soon as possible as fines are rather high, up to EUR 200,000. [1]
Germany introduced the central register for packaging to identify the companies which avoid their obligations regarding packaging management. The damage they cause annually is estimated at EUR 200m. [1]
Slovenia is also about to overhaul its system of packaging waste management. Jana Miklavčič from MESP says it is not thinking about introducing one central agency as a supervisor, but rather one organisation for each line of waste. "Both options would be feasible, but we are more in favour of the second one," she says. [1]
Film about the cross-country stakeholder forum
Title: Mednarodni forum projekta MOVECO o razširjeni odgovornosti proizvajalcev
Language: mostly Slovene, Duration: 5 minutes.
Online available on YouTube.
About MOVECO
"Your trash is my treasure" - This is the motto of the EU co-funded project MOVECO. Sixteen partners from ten Danube countries promote transnational cooperation to accelerate the transition to the circular economy.
For more information on the MOVECO project, we invite you to visit our website, our platform (www.danube-goes-circular.eu) and follow us on social media.
If you want to share your thoughts about circular economy or if you are interested in receiving the MOVECO newsletter twice a year, please let us know and send an email to moveco@bayfor.org.
Picture credits: Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia.
Original article in Slovene. Original article in English on website of The Slovenia Times.
[1] This article was orginally published by the Slovenian newspaper, the Slovenia Times. The article "Slovenian firms yet to grasp Germany's new packaging law" was first published on January 25th, 2019 and is available here (last access on January 29th, 2019). Some parts of the article were taken over as direct citations, other parts were adopted. To read the original article, please visit the website of the Slovenia Times.
[2] In the original article from January 25th, 2019, published by the Slovenia Times, the abbreviation "GZS" for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia was used. In order to avoid misunderstandings, in this article, the Slovene abbreviation "GZS" was replaced by the English abbreviation "CCIS" by the MOVECO project.
