The EPR systems for packaging in Germany (“Duale Systeme”) are currently informing their customers of upcoming price adjustments for 2025. According to the EPR systems, these price increases are driven by multiple factors across the categories of plastic, paper, and glass, as well as by new regulatory requirements.
For plastic packaging, a decrease in the volumes reported to the systems is observed, while the collection volumes continue to rise. This growing gap between the quantities reported by companies and the actual quantities in recycling circulation has significantly increased procurement costs for collection and sorting.
A similar trend can be seen in paper packaging (PPK). Costs for the collection and processing of paper are rising due to stricter quality assurance and requirements for clean, source-separated collection.
Additionally, new regulatory guidelines have been implemented for the EPR take back systems. The German packaging authority “Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR)” has raised its standards for volume audits to a new level. This has led to added complexity and additional costs for the EPR systems.
If you have any questions about packaging regulations in Germany, please feel free to contact the Go4Recycling team at any time.