What is a packaging licence?

It is the registration and scheme arrangement that makes you compliant with a country's packaging Extended Producer Responsibility rules. You register as a packaging producer, contract a recycling scheme, and report and pay for the packaging you place on that market.

Do I need a packaging licence if I only ship in plain boxes?

Often yes. Shipping boxes, void fill, tape and labels generally count as packaging you place on the market, so even sellers who simply repackage and ship goods can be obligated producers under packaging EPR.

What is LUCID and do I need it?

LUCID is Germany's packaging register under the Verpackungsgesetz. If you sell packaged goods to consumers in Germany you must register in LUCID and contract a dual system. Marketplaces enforce this by requiring your LUCID registration number.

Is one packaging licence valid across the whole EU?

No. Packaging EPR is organised country by country. Germany's LUCID, France's AGEC and other national schemes each require their own registration, and some add labelling rules such as France's Triman, so you typically need a separate packaging registration in each market.

Glossary

Packaging Licence

Packaging EPR registration · Packaging registration

A packaging licence is the registration and ongoing arrangement that makes you compliant with a country's packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules. It means you have registered as a producer of packaging, joined or contracted a scheme that funds its recycling, and report the packaging you place on that market — for example via Germany's LUCID register under the Verpackungsgesetz or France's AGEC framework with Triman labelling.

Last updated: June 2026

Key facts

A packaging licence is packaging-specific EPR: it covers the boxes, fillers, labels and other packaging you put on a market, not the product itself.
It is organised per country — Germany uses the LUCID register under the Verpackungsgesetz; France requires registration and Triman sorting information under its AGEC framework.
You usually register in the national packaging register and contract a scheme or producer responsibility organisation, then report packaging volumes and pay fees.
Marketplaces such as Amazon require valid packaging registration numbers for countries like Germany and France before they let you sell there.

What a packaging licence covers

Packaging EPR makes whoever first places packaged goods on a market responsible for funding the collection and recycling of that packaging. A "packaging licence" is the shorthand for being properly registered and paying into that system: you declare the volume and material of the packaging you put on the market and pay fees that fund its recycling.

It applies broadly. Sales packaging around the product, shipping boxes, void fill, tape and labels can all count as packaging you are responsible for. Even sellers who only repackage or ship goods can become obligated, because adding shipping packaging counts as placing packaging on the market.

Because the obligation is per country, a seller active across the EU may need separate packaging registrations in each market it sells into, each with its own register, reporting format and fees.

Germany (LUCID) and France (AGEC) examples

Germany's packaging law, the Verpackungsgesetz, requires producers to register in the LUCID packaging register and to contract a dual system that organises recycling. Selling packaged goods to German consumers without a LUCID registration is non-compliant, and marketplaces enforce this by requiring your LUCID number.

France handles packaging under its broader AGEC anti-waste framework. Producers must register and join a scheme, and consumer packaging generally has to carry the Triman logo together with sorting information that tells consumers how to dispose of each component. The labelling and registration requirements are distinct from Germany's, which is why one EU-wide packaging licence does not exist.

Other EU countries operate their own packaging EPR schemes too, so as you expand you accumulate separate packaging registrations and obligations market by market.

Example

A seller shipping packaged goods to both Germany and France must register for packaging EPR in each. In Germany that means a LUCID registration under the Verpackungsgesetz and a contract with a dual system; in France it means registering under the AGEC framework and applying the Triman logo with sorting information on consumer packaging. The seller then provides the resulting registration numbers to the marketplace.

Why it matters for marketplace sellers

Marketplaces require valid packaging registration numbers for markets like Germany (LUCID) and France before they let you sell there, so a packaging licence is a gate to those markets.
You are likely obligated even if you only add shipping boxes and void fill, because that counts as placing packaging on the market.
Expect separate packaging registrations per country, each with its own register, fees and sometimes labelling rules such as France's Triman, rather than a single EU registration.
Packaging fees and periodic volume reporting are ongoing costs, so factor them into the margins for each EU market you enter.