FAQ - Producer Responsibility
In 2025, all businesses that place packaging on the Danish market will be responsible for financing and organising the collection, sorting, and treatment of their packaging when it becomes waste.
The producer responsibility on packaging is defined in the EU directive on packaging and packaging waste.
The aim is to promote a circular economy where:
- no unnecessary packaging is used
- greater use is made of reusable packaging
- there is real recycling of packaging waste
- recycled materials are used to manufacture new packaging
- it is significantly more expensive to use environmentally harmful packaging compared to environmentally friendly packaging
- the solutions are cost-effective
The extended producer responsibility for packaging will come into effect on October 1, 2025. Affected companies have registration and reporting obligations already now.
Read more about the registration of companies and membership of VANA
In relation to the registration and reporting obligation, it is a good idea to investigate which packaging the company makes available on the market - what materials are the packaging made of, and how much do they weigh, for example?
Read more about the requirements for registration and reporting
With the implementation of producer responsibility comes an obligation to inform about the proper handling of packaging and packaging waste and to avoid litter (obligation regarding awareness raising measures).
This obligation will lie with the municipalities and the Environmental Protection Agency, but companies must contribute financially through their producer responsibility organisation (PRO).
The producer responsibility for single-use plastic products is a separate producer responsibility. It is also referred to as SUP (Single Used Plastic). The producer responsibility entails that the covered companies must pay for the costs of collection, clean-up, and waste treatment of littered waste and emptying of public trash bins.
There are two different regulations for single-use plastic products and packaging respectively.
Read more about the obligations regarding single-use plastic
OR
Yes, it is a requirement that companies covered by producer responsibility must conduct self-control, which must be available to the Environmental Protection Agency during any inspections.
The self-control can be arranged freely to fit into the company's other control and data systems.
Read more about self-control and find VANA's templates here:
The EU directive on packaging and packaging waste sets a broad overall framework for member countries: It is up to each individual member state how they will implement the legislation in practice. This means that there are national differences in the legislation of producer responsibility for packaging across Europe.
If your company places packaging on the market in countries other than Denmark, you must comply with the respective countries' rules for producer responsibility on packaging.
Read more about international obligations
Read more about VANAs partnerships regarding data management and international compliance
In the upcoming EU packaging regulation, there are plans to harmonise the rules across Europe, making it easier for companies to meet producer responsibility across the EU.