Learn about the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging

This means that both the financial and practical responsibility is placed on your company to ensure that your packaging waste is collected and handled as environmentally responsibly as possible and that as much of it as possible is recycled and/or reused.

Currently, the Extended Producer Responsibility exists for electronics, batteries, and cars. The Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging will be in effect in 2025. An Extended Producer Responsibility for textiles is also expected to be introduced in a few years.

Besides managing your packaging waste, the Extended Producer Responsibility also involves requirements to inform and report to the authorities.

As a general rule, it is not the company that manufactures the packaging, but the company that places packaged products on the market that has the producer responsibility.

This can also apply even if you do not have producer responsibility for the product in the primary packaging, but perhaps only in the secondary or tertiary packaging.

The reason importers and producers are subject to producer responsibility for packaging is that the company placing the product on the market has the greatest influence on the choice and purchase of the packaging.

As a general rule, companies subject to producer responsibility can be divided into three main categories:

• Manufacturer
  • For example, a producer of furniture that is packaged.

• Importer
  • For example, an importer of shirts that sells to both retail and private customers has producer responsibility for all packaging.

• Distributor
  • For example, a company that places packaging or packaged products on the Danish market.

The producer responsibility applies to those who place packaging and packaged products on the Danish market regardless of the sales method – including remote sales (online sales).

Special rules apply for micro enterprises

Micro enterprises may be exempt from the producer responsibility. A micro enterprise is any company that employs fewer than ten people and has an annual turnover of less than 15 million DKK.

Micro enterprises are generally exempt from the producer responsibility unless a micro enterprise imports packaging from abroad. If they import from abroad, the micro-enterprise has producer responsibility.

If a micro enterprise instead purchases packaging from Denmark, the packaging producer has the producer responsibility – regardless of whether it is under the micro enterprise’s own brand or not.

The Environmental Protection Agency has provided further examples on its website (in Danish). See examples 8 and 9.

The purpose is to motivate companies to design and/or purchase packaging solutions that are as sustainable as possible.

A financial framework has been set around the financing of waste management in the Extended Producer Responsibility, which includes a discount on the expenses related to managing the Extended Producer Responsibility if the company uses more environmentally friendly types of packaging that are easier to recycle or reuse.

This provides a financial gain for the companies to choose specific types of packaging, the general environmental impact is lowered, the collection and handling of packaging waste is improved, and the circular economy is strengthened.

It is estimated that around 1.1 million tons of packaging will be covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility, and it will cost companies a total of DKK 2.35 billion per year.

Of the calculated DKK 2.35 billion, households account for approximately DKK 1.5 billion, while packaging collected from the industry accounts for the remaining DKK 0.85 billion.

The costs for handling plastic packaging make up almost half of the DKK 2.35 billion.

Because the legislation is yet to be completely drawn up, we cannot confidently make any final conclusions regarding the financial framework for the Extended Producer Responsibility.

However, we know that for the individual producer who registers with a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) such as Emballageretur, the cost will consist of statutory environmentally graduated contributions as well as collection and handling expenses for the packaging quantities put on the market by the producer, and administration expenses such as membership fee for the PRO.

Read more about Emballageretur’s membership price here. 

The final financial framework is not yet in place. However, it is still possible to get an idea of what the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging could cost your company.

At Emballageretur, we have developed the tool Price Indicator to help you better understand the possible financial aspects of the Extended Producer Responsibility for your company.

Learn more about the Price Indicator.

That is all packaging, regardless of the material – plastics, glass, wood, metal, cardboard, paper, etc. – and irrespective of its use – domestic, industrial, office or service sector, etc.

We divide packaging into three types:

This is packaging designed to make up a sales unit for the end user or consumer at the point of sale.

If, for instance, you buy a bag of loose rice, the bag containing the rice is considered the primary packaging.

This is packaging designed to make up a collection of a certain number of sales units, regardless of whether it is sold as such to the end-user or consumer or if it is only used to be put on shelves at the point of sale.

If we stick to the example with the rice bag, this is the cardboard box in which several bags of rice are collected.

Transport packaging, or tertiary packaging, is packaging designed to make handling and transporting a number of sales units or multipacks easier and also ensuresthat damage caused by physical handling or transport is avoided.

In our rice example, this is the pallet on which several boxes with bags of rice are transported.

Transport packaging does not include road, rail, shipping, and air freight containers, and the smallest sales unit determines the packaging category.

EU pallets are also not considered transport packaging as they are part of a return system,  however, regular wooden pallets are included as transport packaging.

Who has producer responsibility for transport packaging?
The rule regarding transport packaging states: “Make the transport packaging available on the market the first time.”

Therefore, the packaging producer generally holds the producer responsibility.

However, if a company designs or manufactures the transport packaging under its own brand (Private label), the company itself holds the producer responsibility and not the packaging supplier.

If additional packaging is added, such as plastic wrap, this wrap is also considered transport packaging or tertiary packaging.

The overall objective of the Extended Producer Responsibility is to give companies a financial incentive to design and/or buy the packaging solutions that are the most sustainable in order to lower the general environmental impact.

As part of this initiative, the EU has set some recycling targets, which you can see in the table below:

Source: Action plan for circular economy (2021) based on the EU packaging directive 2018, Waste statistics 2019, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency 2020

The financial framework for the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging is constructed in a way where your company is rewarded by how easy it is to reuse or recycle your packaging.

We have written a guide that makes it easy for you to get started with a more environmentally friendly packaging design.

The municipalities will continue collecting the packaging as the “first point of collection”.

After this, you as a company get the practical responsibility for the waste processing of your packaging, whether it consists of plastics, cardboard, metal, glass, or some other material.

As a manufacturer or importer, you must cover 100% of the municipalities’ costs for collecting and sorting the packaging into fractions.

By registering with a PRO such as Emballageretur, you can be sure that you meet the requirements and obligations associated with your Extended Producer Responsibility, as we handle it on your behalf.

Companies covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility must be registered in the digital producer registry, Dansk Producentansvar (DPA).

Emballageretur can help you.

Companies covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility must report the amount of packaging you place on the Danish market.

This includes online sales.

Emballageretur can help you.

To make the process of reporting as easy as possible for our members, we have developed a digital tool called the Budget Form.

Read more about it here.

Please be aware: The Ministry of Environment informs that if a company covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging does not fulfill its obligation to report expected packaging quantities for 2024, it may lead to a police report and a fine.

Read more on the timeline here.

The materials to be registered are:

• Paper
• Cardboard
• Metal-containing
• Glass
• Plastic
• Food and beverage cartons
• Wood
• Aluminum
• Ceramics
• Cork
• Porcelain
• Textiles
• Other
• Mixed packaging – this applies only to companies who register under the trivial limit and choose to register their total quantities.

Material quantities must be specified per packaging category (in kilograms) and serve as a baseline to be used for the allocation of collection and treatment of packaging waste quantities in 2025.

Additionally, your company must also report the proportion of materials that are recycled, identify the end user of your packaging (households and/or businesses), and report if your packaging needs to be sorted as hazardous waste.

The Ministry of Environment informs that if a company covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging does not fulfill its obligation to report expected packaging quantities for 2024, it may lead to a police report and a fine.

Read more about your registration and reporting obligations here.

We have also developed the digital tool, the Budget Form, which makes it easy for you to report and send your quantities directly to us.

Learn about the tool here.

Does your company want another VAT number to report your data?

Read more in our FAQ.

Remember!

Emballageretur is ready to help you report your data, and you can confidently lean on our nearly 20 years of experience in handling the Extended Producer Responsibility.

Emballageretur will keep our members updated on the development of the rules for reporting packaging quantities, etc., which will be applicable from 2025.

Are you a foreign producer?

Please be aware that if you are a foreing producer operating in Denmark, other rules apply for registering and reporting data. Please contact us at info@emballageretur.dk and we will help you.

An important part of the producer responsibility is ensuring that it is financially beneficial for businesses to use fewer, better, and smaller packaging solutions that benefit the environment and recycling. Therefore, we as a PRO must modulate the contributions you pay to cover the costs associated with waste management in Denmark.

Eco-modulated fees are structured around a bonus/malus system.

This means that your company receives a discount (bonus) on the fee you pay to Emballageretur if your packaging meets the requirements, such as being easier to recycle. On the other hand, your company must pay an additional fee (malus) if your packaging is less environmentally friendly.

The mechanism behind eco-modulated fees is that your company receives a tangible financial benefit from choosing more environmentally sound packaging solutions with a focus on recycling and effective reuse.

Expect that internal resources will need to be allocated within your company to report and document that the packaging meets the requirements that trigger a bonus. The time spent will depend on:

• How many different types of packaging you have,
• How complex the material composition of your packaging is,
• How easy it is to obtain the necessary information from the packaging supplier.

It is likely that the same information can be reused year after year, so the time spent will be greatest in the first year.

Categorization of Packaging

Packaging is divided into material subcategories, which indicate the materials covered by the modulation. The material subcategories are defined based on the material type and the recycling stream the packaging is reused in.

• Flexible plastic
• Rigid plastic
• Rigid PET
• Foam plastic
• Glass
• Paperboard
• Paper
• Food and beverage cartons
• Ferrous metals
• Aluminum

The packaging’s categorization in the various material subcategories indicates the design requirements by which the packaging should be evaluated.

The packaging is divided into three levels based on the environmental impact of the packaging waste under each material subcategory. The levels are: green (low environmental impact), yellow (medium environmental impact), and red (high environmental impact).

If a design requirement cannot be documented, the packaging is placed in the red level.

Percentages

The bonus/malus system creates a financial incentive for producers to design or demand more environmentally friendly packaging. Producers who choose the less environmentally impactful solutions (green level) can have part of the costs covered by the additional funds paid by producers with packaging in the red levels.

Malus
Each company that places one or more packaging types in the red level on the market will, as a starting point, incur an additional cost of 35% of the operational costs.

Bonus
The extra costs collected as malus are used to cover the operational costs of waste management for packaging categorized in the green level within the same material category (e.g., paperboard).

For the material categories that are assessed to be in the yellow level, each company pays the calculated operational costs for waste management of the packaging falling under this category.

MORE INFORMATION:

The Danish Environmental Protection Agency has prepared a guide explaining the determination and calculation of graduated contributions.

On January 28th, 2025, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency published an updated version of the guide to ensure better alignment with the new edition of the Packaging Regulation and the Packaging Ordinance.

Read the revised version of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency’s guide here:

Guidance on the determination and calculation of graduated contributions following the executive order on packaging and packaging waste

First and foremost, it is crucial to emphasize that the trivial limit does not exempt any companies from being subject to the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging.

However, the trivial limit does make it somewhat easier to manage the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging in certain respects.

Specifically, the trivial limit means that companies placing less than 8 tons of packaging on the market per year are required to report fewer details about their packaging and are subject to fewer administrative fees.

For example, companies with packaging quantities below the trivial limit are not required to report their tonnage for each packaging category individually but can report them as a total quantity.

They are also not obligated to report based on environmentally graded contributions.

As a company covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility, you are still obligated to cover the costs associated with collecting and treatment of packaging waste corresponding to the quantities you place on the Danish market in the form of packaged products.

The fee you pay when covered by the trivial limit will be a “flat fee” – an average price per ton of packaging placed on the market.

Even if you have less than 8 tons of packaging annually, your company is obligated to join a PRO like Emballageretur.

We assist you with registration, reporting, advice and guidance. As a mamber you also get access to highly specialized knowledge, relevant tools, ESG data, etc.

NOTE: In the summer of 2024, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency stated in a letter adressed to companies in Denmark that membership in a PRO is expected to become a legal requirement from 2025.

As a PRO we act on behalf of our members – companies operating in Denmark – and the primary tasks typically performed by Emballageretur are:

As a PRO, we organize and finance the collection of products covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility when they reach the end of their life cycle on behalf of the companies that are our members.

Specifically, we collect waste from recycling centers, businesses, and waste that is sorted in Danish households.

As part of this task, we purchase and set up collection equipment (containers, cages etc.) throughout Denmark.

Additionally, we negotiate and enter into agreements with municipalities and private waste management companies regarding the collection and handling of the waste.

As a PRO, we ensure that waste is treated in an environmentally responsible manner.

This includes the sorting, reuse, and recycling of materials, as well as the proper disposal of hazardous substances. The goal is to maximize recycling and minimize the environmental impact as much as possible.

PROs must ensure that detailed records are kept on the quantities of collected, recycled, and disposed waste.

It is our task to ensure the quality of these data and report them to the authorities to document compliance with legislation and ensure transparency.

Additionally, we monitor the waste stream to ensure that treatment processes are transparent and that member companies meet their obligations under producer responsibility legislation. This can include inspections and audits at treatment facilities operated by our partners.

We also offer our members ESG data, and we develop IT systems that can assist our members with their reporting obligations.

When a company is subject to the Extended Producer Responsibility, it is obligated to cover the costs incurred by municipalities for collecting, transporting, treating, and managing the company’s waste.

Fees are typically based on the quantity and type of products each producer markets.

As a PRO, we collect fees from our member companies, provide guarantees, and ensure payment to stakeholders and partners. Additionally, Retur’s PROs operate on a non-profit basis.

An important part of the Extended Producer Responsibility is informing both producers and consumers about their roles and responsibilities.

As a PRO, we conduct awareness campaigns, provide information on proper disposal methods, and collaborate with other stakeholders to promote correct waste management.

We can also provide ESG data to our members.

New laws and updates to existing producer responsibility legislation are continually being introduced. As a PRO, we ensure that our members are kept up to date with the latest regulations and updates.

We also represent our members by participating in negotiation committees and submitting consultation responses to the authorities.

At Emballageretur we also see a significant value in contributing to the green transition, and as a PRO, we work to promote innovation in waste management and recycling.

This can include researching new technologies and methods to improve recycling rates and reduce environmental impact. For example, Elretur has recently established two recycling facilities for electronics in Denmark, to significantly increase the amount of recycled electronics over the coming years.

When municipalities have collected packaging waste in containers placed near single-family houses or multi-story buildings, the waste is transferred to designated locations by PROs such as Emballageretur.

Subsequently, organizations such as Emballageretur take responsibility for further sorting and processing of the packaging waste, ensuring that our members meet the recycling goals and demands established by the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging.

Specifically, we competitively tender this task in the private market and enter agreements with Danish and foreign companies that meet our environmental requirements and ensure a low cost.

The Extended Producer Responsibility brings about more consistency and scale in sorting and recycling, as the responsibility for treatment is shifted from the Danish municipalities, which have varied approaches to waste handling.

The mechanism of Extended Producer Responsibility is that the companies producing/using the packaging compensate municipalities for the collection of their portion of packaging waste.

This means, in practice, that citizens in a municipality get a portion of their waste fee covered by manufacturers. In principle, municipalities should ensure that municipal waste fees decrease accordingly when they now have their costs covered by manufacturers.

How commercial waste is collected does not change as a result of the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging.

The current method, where individual businesses freely make agreements with private collection companies, continues as is for now.

The only introduced difference is that the waste-generating business will be compensated for the costs it incurs in the collection and treatment of the portion of its waste which is packaging waste.

In practice, this means that waste collectors seek compensation from a PRO for the packaging waste they have collected and processed for the individual waste-generating business.

It is still unclear how the specific compensation framework will be, as the final financial model has not yet been established.

Once the framework is in place, Emballageretur will inform our members.

Reusable packaging is packaging that is returned and used several times—such as through a take-back system and/or return system.

As a producer, you must establish your own take-back system for your reusable packaging. With a take-back system, the packaging can be returned by you or passed through several stages.

Examples include a pallet that is used multiple times, a take-away cup that can be collected, washed, and used again and again, industrial containers, IBC tanks, etc.

If your company decides to cut up cardboard boxes and use them as packing material, this does not count as reusable packaging. In that case, the packaging has become waste, and it is no longer considered packaging. It must be packaging used in its original form and for the same purpose repeatedly to qualify as reusable packaging.

How to Report Reusable Packaging

It is important to emphasize that only companies that place new reusable packaging on the market are required to report it. This means that if your company is just one part of the packaging’s journey, you do not need to report it – for example, if you receive goods on a pallet and send the pallet back.

The amount of reusable packaging your company has placed on the market must be reported along with your other packaging quantities.

Here, you must indicate what portion of your total packaging amounts is reusable packaging.

You report your packaging amounts in the Packaging Return member system, the Retur Portal.

Reusable packaging is subject to reporting requirements the first time it is made available to undergo a number of trips or cycles by being refilled or reused for the same purpose.

Registration of Business

Companies that make new reusable packaging available must be registered in the Producer Responsibility Register (DPA). This applies to both companies already registered for single-use packaging and those that only make reusable packaging available.

Reporting by June 1, 2025 (Batch Reporting)

Before June 1st, 2025, actual quantities made available in the previous year must be reported. The report must be in kilograms, distributed across the following material categories:

• Paper
• Cardboard
• Ferrous metals
• Aluminum
• Glass
• Plastic
• Food and beverage cartons
• Wood
• Textiles
• Porcelain
• Cork
• Ceramics
• Other

You must report in kilograms for the amounts of both commercial packaging and household packaging. This means practically that you need to indicate whether the packaging you place on the market ends up as household or commercial waste – that is, whether it ends up with a private consumer (B2C) or with a business (B2B). Read more about waste treatment for household and commercial waste here.

You must also provide information if you know whether the packaging is to be sorted as residual waste or hazardous waste – for example, pizza boxes (residual waste) or hairspray (hazardous waste).

For packaging consisting of multiple materials that cannot easily be separated and do not fall under one of the listed material categories, you must report information on the total weight of the reusable packaging for the material that the packaging mainly consists of.

Administrative De Minimis Limit:

Companies that make less than 8 tons of reusable packaging available in a calendar year can choose to only report the total weight of the reusable packaging made available in that calendar year, divided between household and commercial packaging. That means you do not have to break down the amount by types of packaging.

The Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging follows the packaging waste. Specifically, this means that if your company places packaging on the market in countries other than Denmark, and the packaging you use ends up as waste in the respective country, then you have a producer responsibility in that country.

If so, your company must comply with the respective country’s regulations for the Extended Producer Responsibility on packaging.

Although the Extened Producer Responsibility is established by the EU, the rules and handling of waste can vary greatly from country to country. For example, there may be different deadlines and differences in the materials that need to be registered depending on the country.

Through our membership and co-ownership of weee-Europe, we collaborate with the leading European collective schemes in recycling, reuse, and the circular economy to manage the Producer Responsibility across borders.

Through this collaboration, we can connect you with relevant stakeholders who can assist you in managing producer responsibility for packaging in the EU, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK.

The ECO Badge signals that you support responsible development based on circular principles of increased reuse and recycling.

It strengthens your profile and can be used in your communication when attracting customers, talented employees, and valuable partners.

Until the Extended Producer Responsibility is implemented in 2025,  you can use the “blue” packaging badge, indicating that your company is preparing for the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and is a member of Emballageretur.

The green packaging badge can be obtained when transitioning to a full membership, where both reporting and payment are involved.

Our partner, BeCause, ensures that you receive the badge and can display it on your company’s website.

You will automatically receive information on how to set up the badge when you join Emballageretur.

Denmark is one of the last EU countries to introduce the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging, which, according to the parties, is a significant step in the transition towards a circular economy, which will contribute to a CO2 reduction in the waste sector of approx. 0.12 million tonnes in 2030.

The agreement is based on a series of recommendations from the industry, the municipalities, and the municipal waste organisations to outline the upcoming new producer responsibilities. The political agreement is available in Danish here.

It is a revision of the Environmental Protection Act, which establishes the overall framework for the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. Read more here (in Danish).

The law will implement the EU packaging directive (EU 2018/852),  available here.

The Danish Environmental Protection Agency has published several background reports on the upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging in Denmark:

• Neighbour country check regarding extended producer responsibility for packaging and packaging waste (Danish)
• Economics of packaging waste management in 2025 (Danish)

Emballageretur is ready to help you clarify specific questions and challenges.

The original timeline for the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging was changed in October 2023 and again in July 2024. Read more here.

2023

In Q3 2023 the first part of the regulations for the upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility was issued.

The regulations set the framework for the Extended Producer Responsibility, and issuing the regulations is a prerequisite for Emballageretur as a PRO to organize the collection and treatment of packaging waste when the Extended Producer Responsibility comes into full effect in 2025.

2024

In Q1, the second part of the regulations for the upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility will be issued.

It is also in 2024 that the affected companies must register their company and their expected packaging quantities with the authorities.

Emballageretur is ready to help with these tasks.

In Q3, it is expected that the third part of the regulations will be issued.

2025

Q4: Producer responsibility for packaging will come into full effect on October 1st, 2025.

Please note – previously, the plan was for the Extened Producer Responsibility for Packaging to come into full effect in Q3 on July 1st, 2025. However, at the beginning of July 2024, the Ministry of Environment announced that this date was changed to October 1st, 2025.

The implementation date is being moved to allow for a transition period during which municipalities and producers will have the opportunity to learn to adapt to the rules of the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging. This means that the transfer of waste, payments, etc., will take place from October 1st, 2025.

Emballageretur is ready to help you with you company’s Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. Call us at +45 3336 9198 and email us at info@emballageretur.dk.

The Price Indicator is an online tool that can give you an idea of how much your company might potentially have to pay when taking on the Extended Producer Responsibility for your packaging.

The Price Indicator can also help you and your colleagues see how much a transition to more sustainable types of packaging, such as moving from plastic to paper, can impact your costs.

Only members of Emballageretur have access to the Price Indicator.

The first version of the Price Indicator was launched in September 2023, and we regularly conduct webinars in Danish to provide an introduction on how to use it.

Read about targets for packaging designs.

The Budget Form is designed to make it as easy as possible for you to report and submit your packaging data to us.

You can check relevant information and enter your packaging quantities in the Budget Form, and when you’re ready, you upload the information directly from the Budget Form to us at Emballageretur.

Afterward, we ensure that your data is reported correctly to the national producer responsibility register, Dansk Producentansvar (DPA).

The tool also allows you to download the information into an Excel sheet, giving you an overview of your packaging data.

We launched the Budget Form in December 2023 and released the tool in January 2024.

As of right now the tool os only available in Danish, but in January 2024, we will have an English version ready.

We will also provide a webinar with an introduction on how to use the Budget Form and information as to what data needs to be registered as part of the reporting.