German Packaging Act

You may have heard that Germany has updated its Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules to encourage recycling of packaging materials and reduce waste. The updates are part of the German Packaging Act (VerpackG) and impose new requirements for online retailers selling to customers in Germany. The new regulations take effect July 1, 2022.

EPR holds manufacturers and suppliers responsible for the disposal and recycling of some products, including packaging. EPR defines a "producer" as anyone who first offers a product to the market on a commercial basis. We expect more countries to introduce these types of requirements.

The recent changes mean that Biblio as a marketplace is required to verify the compliance of sellers with these regulations.. Beginning on July 1st, Biblio will have to prevent sellers who have not provided proof of compliance from receiving orders from customers in Germany.

In order to meet these requirements, two important tasks have to be fulfilled:

1) registration in the packaging register LUCID 

2) licensing of your packaging with a dual system. 

In order to help booksellers navigate these requirements, we have partnered with Lizenzero, an experienced packaging licensing provider. Lizenzero provides a simple process for licensing your packaging and can help answer questions about the regulations and compliance process.

Next steps:

• If you do not yet comply with these EPR requirements, then, Lizenzero enables you to licence your packaging easily and is offering a ten percent discount to Biblio sellers. Get started here: https://www.lizenzero.de/en/biblio. If you have any questions regarding the requirements, the Lizenzero team will be happy to assist you.

• If you already comply with these requirements, then you just need to give us your LUCID registration number:

Login to your BiblioDirect Seller Tools menu and click on the Account heading. Select Account settings from the drop-down. On the Business Info tab you'll see EU EPR compliance. Enter your German LUCID registration number, check the box to confirm that you are registered with a dual system provider, and be sure to click Save. 

FAQs:

How much will this cost?

The cost will vary depending on the number of packages you ship to Germany and the type of packaging, but for a typical seller using cardboard boxes who ships less than 100 packages a year the cost would be 39€ a year.


What happens if I don’t meet the requirements?

If you don’t do anything, we will assume that you don’t want to make your books available to German customers and will opt you out from selling to Germany automatically.

Do I have to use Lizenzero?

No, you do not have to use Lizenzero. BIBLIO has partnered with Lizenzero to create an easy pathway to compliance for our sellers and to offer discounted pricing, but you can comply with these regulations without using their services. You can get a LUCID registration number here: https://lucid.verpackungsregister.org and then register with any dual system provider you choose. Here is a list of dual system providers: https://www.verpackungsregister.org/en/information-orientation/instructions-further-information/systems-overview

What if I get an order to Germany but I'm not registered?

We will take a number of steps to prevent sellers who have not provided proof of compliance from receiving orders to be shipped to Germany, but we realize the occasional order may slip through. If this happens, let us know and we can cancel the order for you and your fulfillment rate will not be affected.

Are there similar requirements for other countries?

These regulations are based on an EU directive. That means that the different EU countries will create similar systems. However, as of today, there is not a deadline in place to enforce packaging regulations in other countries. We are talking to potential partners to be prepared to make it easier for you to become compliant as new countries put packaging requirements in place.

If I use BIBLIO's consolidated shipping program do I still need to register?

Yes, the requirement covers all orders to Germany regardless of the shipping method. So sellers who use our consolidated shipping program must still register.