Extended Producer Responsibility: Deadlines and Pitfalls 2026

A heated vest with a USB connector and an external power bank. Sounds like a simple product. In regulatory reality, the garment turns into a textbook in four acts. Electrical equipment, battery, packaging, and depending on the country also textile. Four registers, four sets of obligations, one single vest. Anyone selling such a vest in Germany registers with three authorities and files at least three quantity reports. Anyone shipping it on to France adds three more identification numbers and a Visible Fee on the invoice.

That is extended producer responsibility in practice, EPR for short, and it has long stopped being a large-corporation issue only. If you sell a custom battery in a build, if you ship a small kit with electronics, if you regularly offer model-making products with a lighting module on eBay, you are a manufacturer in the legal sense. What that means in practice, which deadlines define 2026, and where the typical pitfalls sit, is what this article maps out. Legal status as of 24 May 2026, not legal advice.

What EPR is and why it exists

EPR stands for Extended Producer Responsibility. The underlying idea is old and simple. Whoever places a product on the market should also make sure that, at the end of its life, the product does not turn into a municipal waste problem. Manufacturers and importers fund the take-back and recycling infrastructure, not the taxpayer. At EU level, this is organised through three pillars. The WEEE Directive covers waste electrical and electronic equipment, the EU Batteries Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 covers batteries, and a body of packaging rules covers packaging.

These European rules do not always take direct effect in a Member State. Some require national transposition, which is why the duties differ from country to country. In Germany, the transpositions are called Elektro- und Elektronikgerätegesetz (ElektroG), Batterierecht-Durchführungsgesetz (BattDG, the German Battery Act) and Verpackungsgesetz (VerpackG, the German Packaging Act). Each of these laws has its own registration authority, its own reporting channels and its own sanctions.

Who counts as a manufacturer

The term “manufacturer” in the legal sense is broader than everyday usage. A manufacturer is not just someone who produces the product themselves. Under section 3 no. 9 ElektroG, a manufacturer is also anyone who has the product made under their own name or brand and places it on the market, anyone who first offers goods from another country in Germany, anyone without a German address who sells directly to end customers in Germany, and anyone who offers equipment from manufacturers that are not, or not properly, registered.

The last link in that chain matters. If you distribute somebody else’s goods as a retailer and that other party is not cleanly registered, you become the manufacturer yourself. This is exactly where the verification duties of online marketplaces and fulfilment providers kick in, in force since 1 July 2022 for packaging and since 1 July 2023 for electrical equipment. Amazon and eBay now demand a registration number when you create the seller profile. No number, no listing.

For DIY shippers and self-distribution in model making, that translates into two practical things. First, your own registration becomes unavoidable as soon as a product with electronics, with a battery, or with relevant packaging volumes leaves your hands. Second, clean documentation is not optional. A missing Stiftung EAR number is already enough to get listings pulled by the platforms.

Germany in detail

Electrical equipment: ElektroG and Stiftung EAR

Registration runs under section 6 ElektroG with Stiftung EAR, the German national WEEE/battery register, by brand and equipment category, including evidence of an insolvency-proof guarantee. The equipment category is defined among other criteria by the device dimensions. Equipment with no outer dimension above 50 centimetres counts as small equipment. Quantity reporting follows the equipment category, monthly for B2C products.

The labelling rules under section 9 ElektroG require two things on the device itself. First, an unambiguous and durable manufacturer identification through the brand name. Second, the durable crossed-out wheelie bin symbol. Both must be physically on the product, not just on the packaging.

Under section 18 ElektroG, the information duties include showing the registration number when offering the product and on invoices. In distance selling, the number has to appear visibly in the display medium used, or be enclosed with the shipment in written form.

The retailer take-back duty under section 17 ElektroG applies as soon as the sales area for electrical equipment reaches at least 400 square metres, or 800 square metres of total sales area for food retailers. In distance selling, all storage and dispatch areas count as the relevant footprint. Whether foreign storage and dispatch areas are explicitly included as of early 2026 is something both association practice and the consulting world affirm. An explicit new clause in the statutory text does not actually exist. The wording simply says “all storage and dispatch areas”. The interpretation of that general formula is what fuels the foreign-storage debate.

With the ElektroG4 amendment, published in the Federal Law Gazette on 27 November 2025 and in force as of 1 January 2026, several operational changes arrived. The counter model at municipal recycling centres has been mandatory since 1 January 2026. Single-use e-cigarettes have to be taken back free of charge at every point of sale as of 1 July 2026. Extended information duties on lithium-bearing batteries and on the removability of lamps apply as of 1 July 2026.

Batteries: BattDG and EU Batteries Regulation

The battery world changed its legal foundation in 2025. The Batterierecht-Durchführungsgesetz (BattDG, German Battery Act) entered into force on 7 October 2025 and replaces the previous BattG. Registration still runs with Stiftung EAR, by brand and battery category. Quantity reporting is by battery category and electrochemical system, monthly.

At EU level, the Batteries Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 applies. It has been in force since 18 February 2024 and replaces the old Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC. The Regulation applies directly in all Member States. The national BattDG transposition mainly governs the organisational matters such as take-back systems, financial guarantees and competent authorities.

The time-critical deadline is 18 August 2026. From that date, the new labelling requirements under Article 13 BattVO take effect. On the battery itself, visibly, legibly and indelibly, you have to show the general manufacturer information, the capacity rating, the minimum operating duration and, for non-rechargeable portable batteries, the indication “non-rechargeable”.

If you sell custom batteries or power banks through self-distribution, you have a hard deadline on your hands. A capacity label on a sticker that rubs off is not enough. Engraved, printed or otherwise durable marking is mandatory. With own builds and kits, this is exactly where compliance tends to break down, because the battery cell is often a bought-in part without clean labelling of its own.

In addition, a CE marking obligation for batteries newly placed on the EU market has existed since 18 August 2024. The marking has to be applied directly to the battery wherever its size allows.

Packaging: VerpackG and ZSVR

Registration follows section 9 VerpackG with the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister, the central German packaging register known as ZSVR. The register itself is called LUCID. Registration covers brand and packaging type, together with the declaration that the system participation obligation has been met.

The system participation obligation under section 7 VerpackG applies to filled sales and grouped packaging, including shipping and service packaging. In other words, all the packaging that typically ends up as waste at the private end customer. If you run an online shipping operation with cardboard, padding, tape and address labels, you are almost certainly inside this scope.

Quantity reporting runs to the take-back systems and, without delay, also to ZSVR. Planned volume at year end, forecast volume mid-year, actual volume at the start of the following year. The declaration of completeness (Vollständigkeitserklärung) under section 11 VerpackG has to be filed by 15 May each year for the previous year, audited by a registered expert, certified auditor, tax adviser or sworn examiner.

Exempt from the declaration of completeness is anyone who, in the previous year, stayed below the following thresholds: glass below 80,000 kilograms, paper, cardboard and carton below 50,000 kilograms, other material types below 30,000 kilograms each. For DIY and model-making self-distribution, these thresholds are very far off. The registration and quantity reporting themselves are not.

The brief EU comparison

There is no EU-wide registration. If you ship to France, the Netherlands or Austria, you register there separately. A rough overview of the most striking differences:

Waste stream	France	Netherlands	Austria
Electrical	UIN per waste stream, mandatory Visible Fee on B2C invoices	WEEE if the electrical share cannot be separated (then the entire product counts as electrical equipment)	Clothing with electronics is not in scope of the Austrian WEEE regulation
Batteries	Reporting by piece and weight	Stichting OPEN bundles WEEE and batteries since 2025	Authorised representative with notarised mandate required
Packaging	Eco-Modulation categories, shipping packaging reported separately	Threshold 50 tonnes, reduction under PPWR expected after 2026	Reporting from 1.5 tonnes by GVM distribution
Textile	Own category with piece-count reporting, if electrical share is separable	Will also cover shoes and home textiles in the future	Not relevant for clothing with electronics

France deserves a separate note on two counts. First, the Unique Identification Number, UIN, has to appear per waste stream on the website and in the general terms of business, or in other contractual documents made available to the buyer if the terms do not exist. Second, for certain waste streams, including B2C WEEE, the disposal costs to be paid have to appear on the sales invoice as a Visible Fee. Anyone ignoring this risks complaints from ADEME and downstream authorities.

Spain and Denmark have a particularity that rarely gets discussed. In Spain, a non-Spanish company is also subject to packaging registration when selling to a Spanish importer. In Denmark, a Danish company that disposes of transport packaging received from a foreign supplier becomes the end user of that packaging. The foreign supplier then falls under producer responsibility. Both constructions break with the intuitive end-customer logic.

Practical pitfalls

Four points where self-distribution operators regularly run aground.

Multiple reporting duties for combination products. A kit with a built-in cell and a shipping carton triggers three registrations. Electrical, battery, packaging. If you have only one of them, you are not in the clear, you are halfway in the risk zone.

Labelling directly on the product. The wheelie bin, the brand name, and from 18 August 2026 the battery capacity. All of it has to be physically and durably on the product. A label that peels off after three weeks is not labelling.

Make the registration number visible. Online shop imprint, product page, invoice footer. In France additionally the UIN on the website and in the general terms of business. If you have the number and you do not show it, half the compliance work was for nothing.

Do not ignore the Visible Fee when shipping to France. The duty to display disposal costs on the invoice is, in practice, still routinely skipped by many German shippers. It is, however, French law, and the regulators are starting to pay attention.

Deadline overview

Date	Requirement
7 October 2025	BattDG in force, replacing the previous BattG
1 January 2026	ElektroG4 amendment in force, counter model at recycling centres
15 May annually	Declaration of completeness under section 11 VerpackG due for the previous year
1 July 2026	Extended information duties under ElektroG, mandatory free take-back of single-use e-cigarettes at all points of sale
18 August 2026	New BattVO labelling mandatory: general information, capacity, “non-rechargeable” indication
February 2027	Removability of batteries from electrical equipment without special tools, BattVO

A closer look

Extended producer responsibility has long stopped being a niche for large corporations. The system increasingly covers small and medium players, and the platforms enforce it. If you sell electronics, batteries or packaging, you cannot stay outside it any longer. The actual lever is mundane. Register early, label cleanly, report on the record.

Three open questions remain. First, the collection rate. Germany has not reached the 40 percent mark for electrical recycling for years, and the EU target is 65. Adding obligations apparently does not solve it. Direct imports from third countries and a hard-to-track grey recycling stream make the problem worse. Where this is heading is not clear.

Second, the foreign-storage clause in section 17 ElektroG. The wording says “all storage and dispatch areas”. The interpretation by Stiftung EAR and by the consulting practice extends this general formula to foreign locations. Whether that holds up in court if a retailer actually litigates is open. If you choose to read it narrowly, you are taking a calculable but real risk.

Third, the deposit on batteries. In spring 2023, a deposit was on the table as a remedy for the fire risk of lithium cells in household waste, and it appeared in the ministerial draft. It was pulled out, never came back, and is still being demanded by municipal waste operators. The next political round on this will come when fire incidents at sorting and waste plants keep pushing the pressure up.

In the meantime, the rule for everyone selling something that contains electronics, that has a battery, or that ships in packaging is the same: three authorities, three registrations, three sets of quantity reports, one deadline in August 2026. If you take this seriously early, summer will be quiet. If you ignore it, you will get to know the system either through the platform pulling your listing or through the regulator sending you a letter.

If you want to dive deeper

The statutes are freely available on gesetze-im-internet.de and EUR-Lex. If you want to work through the topic systematically and do not feel like researching every interpretation question yourself, you cannot really avoid consulting and training services. In the EPR world, take-e-way has become a fixed reference point. The company offers regular workshops on “EPR in Germany and Europe: Registration and Reporting”, with current deadlines and concrete practical examples. If you are a mid-sized company, an online retailer or a compliance officer trying to cover the ground between ElektroG4, BattVO and national specifics in a reliable way, you get a compact and well-structured introduction there.

This text is an editorial overview, not legal advice. For concrete cases, the statutory text itself, or expert advice, is indispensable.