Companies that fall under the Single-Use Plastics Fund Act (EWKFondsG) must register with the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) by the end of 2024 and are expected to pay levies for the affected single-use plastic articles from 2025. The DIVID registration platform has been available for this purpose since the beginning of April.
Anyone who wants to know whether their single-use plastic product is subject to the levy can carry out a non-binding and free "self-check" on DIVID. Alternatively, those who prefer binding information can submit a so-called "Designation” for a fee. There are three categories:
Designation producer status
► Anyone who is a producer within the meaning of the EWKFondsG is subject to registration, notification and payment.
Designation single-use plastic product
Here, the UBA checks whether a product is a single-use plastic product, i.e. whether a product
consists wholly or partly of plastic and
is not designed, developed and placed on the market in order to pass through several product cycles during its service life by being returned to a producer or distributor for refilling or being reused for the same purpose for which it was manufactured.
► It is not determined here whether a product falls within the scope of the EWKFondsG.
Designation type of single-use plastic product
Here, the UBA determines whether a product falls within the scope of the EWKFondsG (i.e. whether it is one of the products in Annex 1 of the EWKFondsG).
Anyone wishing to determine whether their product is, for example, a flexible bag or film packaging or a plastic food container that falls within the scope of the EWKFondsG would have to submit an designation for a single-use plastic product type. In any case, you should allow for a certain processing time on the part of the UBA and not submit your applications too close to the end of the registration obligation.
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