Free guide + calculator · English
Selling to Germany? Do you have a packaging obligation?
Every company shipping packaged goods to Germany can fall under the German Packaging Act (VerpackG): LUCID registration, licence fees, two reports a year and, since 12 August 2026, an authorised representative. Three questions show where you stand and the calculator shows your yearly kilograms.
Updated for the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40): EPR provisions apply from 12 August 2026.
Three steps
See where you stand in three minutes.
01 · THREE QUESTIONS
Is the obligation yours or your buyer's?
02 · KILOGRAM CALCULATOR
Your yearly kilograms and estimated licence fee.
Average packaging per shipment, grams
example values, weigh your own packaging
YEARLY PACKAGING, KG
- Cardboard / paper
- 125.0
- Plastic, film, tape
- 20.0
- Other
- 0.0
- TOTAL
- 145.0
You are under 10 tonnes: simplified regime, one consolidated report a year (by 1 June).
Estimated yearly licence fee: ~70–80 €
2026 market band (cardboard ≈ 0.40–0.45 €/kg, plastics ≈ 1.00–1.20 €/kg, minimum 39–79 €/year); varies by scheme and material detail. LUCID registration is free. Other materials are not included.
verpackungslizenz24.de 2026 price table · Reclay May 2026 example · Lizenzero / PreZero minimum fees
03 · WRITE TO US
You do the LUCID registration. Write to us for the rest.
LUCID registration is free and made in your own name; we do not take it on. For a company in Germany, a German website or marketplace content, message us on WhatsApp; the kilograms you calculated are added to the message.
What you need to do
If the obligation is yours, there are four tasks.
Registration in the LUCID portal of the central register ZSVR. Free, personal, cannot be delegated; be wary of any provider offering to “register for you”.
A contract with a recycling scheme (Lizenzero, Reclay, Landbell and others), priced per kilogram. Selling without one is prohibited; fines up to 200,000 €.
Planned kilograms for the coming year by 31 December, actual kilograms for the past year by 1 June; first to the scheme, then to LUCID, both figures identical.
A producer without an establishment in Germany that sells to end consumers must appoint an authorised representative (Bevollmächtigter) based in Germany. METSE+ does not offer this service; if your own German company makes the sales, no representative is needed.
Calendar
Two dates, the same every year.
31 December
Planned kilograms for the coming year; if missed, an intra-year report catches up.
1 June
Actual kilograms of the past year; for producers under 10 tonnes this is the single consolidated report of the year.
When something changes
New packaging type, a jump in volume, a change of address or representative: first the scheme, then LUCID.
PPWR 2026
What changes for sellers outside Germany
EPR duties are set out EU-wide in a single regulation instead of one national law per country. Germany keeps LUCID as its register, so your registration and your two yearly reports still run through it.
A producer not established in the member state where the packaging is first placed on the market needs an authorised representative in that state. For a seller shipping into Germany without a German entity, that is a German mandate.
The responsible person under the product safety regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/988) is a separate mandate covering the product, not the packaging. One company may hold both, but the packaging mandate has to say so in writing.
Placing the goods on the market through a German company of your own removes the representative requirement altogether: the German entity is the producer. How a GmbH is set up →
Frequently asked
Five questions, five short answers.
01Can someone else register me in LUCID?
02I only sell to German companies. Do I need a licence?
03What changes if I am under 10 tonnes?
04What is the authorised representative, and is it mandatory?
05What happens if I miss a report?
Next step
Selling more in Germany, not just staying compliant.
Most EU sellers we hear from do not need a German company; they need a German front office: a returns address in Germany, customer service in German, marketplace listings and a website that read like a German brand, and someone who keeps the LUCID calendar. METSE+ GmbH does this from Munich.
Ask about the Germany front officeCompany formation in GermanyThis page is for information only and is not legal advice. Sources: Verpackungsgesetz / VerpackDG, ZSVR (verpackungsregister.org), 2026 dual-scheme price lists.
Direct contact
Call us or write to us.
A thirty-minute first conversation, free. English, German or Turkish.
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81737 München · Germany