The guide for eco-modulated contributions is ready – find it here
With the producer responsibility for packaging comes a requirement that companies must pay less for packaging that can be reused or recycled. The calculation will be based on so-called eco-modulated contributions. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just issued a guide explaining the economic model, where the specific design requirements are elaborated.
The eco-modulation will be based on a so-called bonus/malus model, which means that the companies that market packaging with low recyclability will have to pay a larger share of the costs (35%). Packaging volumes are categorised into one, two or three levels depending on the type of material (red, yellow, or green respectively), depending on the environmental impact of the packaging waste.
Read more about how the bonus/malus model works in practice here.
The Danish EPA's guide contain an overview of the specific design requirements under each category, which provides insight into what packaging data the companies must collect for their packaging volumes to be placed in either red, yellow, or green level when the producer responsibility comes into force in October 2025. This includes e.g. requirements for packaging material, colour, amount of colour and additives, adhesives, labels, and surface treatment.
There are no requirements for the companies' process for data collection or how data should be structured, but it is the companies' responsibility to collect all the necessary packaging data and report it to their PRO (Producer Responsibility Organisation) - and it is the design requirements in the eco-modulated contributions that set the level of detail for the data to be collected.
Find the guide here – The Danish EPA states that the guide is a first draft, which will be adjusted and expanded as needs arise when companies and other stakeholders use it.