What is the Verpackungsgesetz?

The Verpackungsgesetz (VerpackG) is Germany’s Packaging Act. It applies the producer-pays principle to packaging waste, requiring those who place packaging on the German market to register in LUCID, license with a dual system and report their volumes.

Does the VerpackG apply to foreign sellers?

Yes. The obligation is based on placing packaged goods on the German market, not on where your business is established. Cross-border sellers shipping into Germany must comply, including for the shipping packaging they add.

What is the difference between LUCID and a dual system under the VerpackG?

LUCID is the official register where you obtain a registration number. A dual system is the private scheme that actually collects and recycles packaging and that you pay licensing fees to. The VerpackG requires both: register in LUCID and license with a dual system.

What happens if I do not comply with the VerpackG?

Non-registered sellers can have their offers blocked by marketplaces, which are obliged to check LUCID registration, and authorities can impose penalties under German enforcement rules. The most immediate effect is usually that your German listings cannot go live.

Glossary

Verpackungsgesetz (VerpackG)

VerpackG · German Packaging Act

The Verpackungsgesetz (VerpackG), or German Packaging Act, is the law that governs packaging waste in Germany. It requires anyone who first places packaged goods on the German market to register in the LUCID packaging register, license their packaging with a dual system, and report their volumes — making it a core compliance step for selling into Germany.

Last updated: June 2026

Key facts

The VerpackG is Germany’s national Packaging Act and implements the producer-pays principle for packaging waste.
It requires registration in LUCID (the official register run by the ZSVR) and a licensing contract with a dual system that funds recycling.
It covers product (sales) packaging, outer packaging and the shipping packaging added during fulfilment.
Online marketplaces must verify a seller’s LUCID registration, so VerpackG compliance directly affects whether your German listings can go live.

What the VerpackG requires

The Verpackungsgesetz makes the company that first places packaging on the German market responsible for the cost of collecting and recycling that packaging once it becomes waste. This is the producer-pays principle applied to packaging: if you put it on the market, you fund its end-of-life handling. The law replaced an earlier packaging ordinance and tightened enforcement, notably by creating the public LUCID register.

In practice the VerpackG imposes three linked duties. You register in LUCID and obtain a registration number. You sign a contract with a dual system (duales System) that organises collection and recycling, and you license the weight of packaging you expect to place on the market. Then you keep your reported volumes accurate, reporting the same brand names and quantities to both LUCID and your dual system.

Which packaging is covered

The VerpackG covers packaging that typically ends up as waste with private end consumers. That includes the retail or sales packaging around a product, any secondary or outer packaging, and — importantly for e-commerce — the shipping packaging you add when you dispatch an order. The cardboard box, tape and void fill in a parcel are all obligated packaging under the law.

For a cross-border marketplace seller, this is easy to underestimate. Even if a product’s retail box is licensed by the brand owner, the shipping carton you add as the seller-of-record can create your own obligation. Working out which packaging is yours to license is part of getting VerpackG compliance right.

Enforcement and the marketplace gate

The VerpackG is enforced by the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR) and the LUCID register makes registrations publicly checkable. Because the law also obliges online marketplaces to verify that their sellers are registered, compliance is enforced at the point of sale: a marketplace can block offers from a seller who is not in LUCID.

This makes the VerpackG one of the first hurdles when entering the German market. Alongside German VAT registration, registering under the VerpackG — getting a LUCID number and a dual-system contract — is typically a prerequisite for going live on German channels rather than something to sort out later.

Example

A French electronics accessory seller expanding to Germany registers in LUCID to obtain a registration number, then licenses the weight of its product blister packs and shipping boxes with a dual system. It reports the same brand names and tonnages to both. Only once the LUCID number is in place will German marketplaces allow its listings, because they are required to check VerpackG registration.

Why it matters for marketplace sellers

If you ship packaged goods to German buyers, VerpackG compliance — LUCID registration plus a dual-system licence — is usually a prerequisite for listing on German marketplaces.
Your shipping packaging counts under the law, so the obligation can apply even when the product’s retail box is licensed by someone else.
You must keep reported volumes accurate and aligned between LUCID and your dual system, not just register once and forget it.
The VerpackG is Germany-specific; selling into France, Spain or other EU markets means meeting those countries’ own packaging rules separately.