PUNTOITALY N°1 -January - June 2012

64 GERMANY, SANCTIONS ON PACKAGING Almost three years have passed since the introduction of the German reform that obliged producers and distributors to take away the packaging around items of sale, yet many companies are not yet operating in accordance with the law. Info On the basis of rigorous laws that came into force in Germany on 1st January 2009 (5th reform of the German decree), producers and distributors of products contained in packaging (not only sales items destined for individual final users, but also those delivered to categories such as restaurants, institutions, small business...) are obliged to take away this packaging once it has been opened, in order to reuse it or recycle it. To comply with this law, companies must join up to a dual system of collection that is structured to re- cycle or reuse packaging material at a national level. Despite the fact that the reform has now been in force for almost three years, there are still many companies that have not joined up to a dual system. The sanctions that will be imposed if they do not respect the new law are particularly severe: companies run the risk of having to pay a 50,000 euro fine per product. In Germany, some sanctions have already been imposed, and the authorities have an- nounced that they will also carry out checks abroad. One dual system that is well known today is the Grüner Punkt of the company DSD (Duales System Deutschland). For some years now this company has held a monopoly position in the German market, leading many Italian companies to join up to its dual system. However, the CGIG - the Ital- ian Chamber of Commerce for Germany - notifies companies that there are other operators with prices that are even more favourable. After a careful analysis of the various German entities that are offering this service, the CCIG has identified Landbell as a reliable and suitable partner for Italian companies. • Source: Italienische Handelskammer für Deutschland Camera di Commercio Italiana per la Germania