With a few exceptions, one-way drinks packaging is subject to a mandatory deposit in Germany. This is regulated in § 31 of the German Packaging Act (VerpackG). Manufacturers of the corresponding products must participate in a system for processing deposit refund claims. DPG Deutsche Pfandsystem GmbH is the only system of its kind in Germany.
The background to this is, of course, consumer protection: it must be possible to return one-way deposit containers wherever they are sold. A clearing system is therefore necessary so that retail companies that pay out a deposit amount that they have not collected themselves are reimbursed.
Der Grüne Punkt helps you with the deposit refund process. As an experienced and DPG-approved deposit account service provider, we stand by your side, take on the tasks of deposit settlement and ensure that only justified deposit refund claims are settled by you. On this page you can find out whether you are affected by the deposit obligation at all and how we can help you to fulfill the associated tasks.
Am I affected?
Answer our simple questions and find out whether your one-way drinks packaging is subject to the mandatory deposit. If you answer “yes” to one question, move on to the next. If the answer is “No”, your packaging is probably subject to mandatory participation. Then you can easily receive an offer to participate in our dual system.
As the distributor (manufacturer, importer), you collect the deposit of 25 cents per container each time you dispense your product. This is why your function is referred to as the deposit account manager. As your deposit account service provider, we take care of all claims from return recipients for payment of these deposits. We use the term “external clearing” when we refer to the relationship between you and the recipient (claimant) and “internal clearing” when we refer to the services we provide directly for you.
DPG clearing (external clearing)
The DPG specifies rules according to which a pledge claim must be made. We provide the corresponding communication procedures, accept the deposit refund claims reported by the recipients, check and validate them and finally archive them in a certified document management system. Such a valid deposit claim is referred to as “accepted”.
Settlement of claims (internal clearing)
You must now settle the accepted pledge claims. For this purpose, we compile the due pledge claims in payment runs and prepare the payment of the pledged funds for you. Payment is always made directly by you as the pledge account holder to the debtor (claimant) and thus in line with the pledge invoice. A detour via escrow or third-party accounts is not necessary. We will provide you with all information relevant to posting and, of course, copies of the deposit statements. This means you can easily claim the input tax contained in the deposit invoice. All data can be transmitted by e-mail and/or secure sFTP data transfer.
- X.400 Business Mail Box: Provision of the default communication method required by the DPG, including any necessary forwarding.
- Receipt archive: Der Grüne Punkt transfers the deposit statements (receipts and performance records) to its document management system in compliance with the GoBD (“principles for the proper management and storage of books, records and documents in electronic form, as well as data access”) and ensures that they are stored for the legally required periods.
- Migration services: Takeover or transfer of document archives in the event of a change of service provider and/or transfer of articles (GTIN-change).
- Advice and evaluations: We support you with questions about DPG registration and the DPG master database (maintenance of your item data), we create needs-based evaluations of your item returns or the recipients (debtors) and are also at your side in other ways.
The preparation phase:
Unlike the system participation of sales packaging, the deposit contract (deposit account service) is required before registering with the DPG. Only then can you apply for DPG membership. Once you have been approved by the DPG, you become a member, can register your articles (GTIN/EAN) in the central DPG master database and start selling them.
You are already a DPG member and would like to change your service provider? We will take care of the transfer of your deposit archive and support you with the necessary changes in the DPG master database.
The sales phase (active phase):
You collect the one-way deposit every time you sell your products and manage it yourself. The consumer returns your empty packaging to a participating retailer and is paid the deposit by the retailer. The retailer would like to be reimbursed for the deposit paid out and will issue a deposit invoice for this purpose. We take care of the deposit invoices resulting from the return and support you with the deposit refund (deposit clearing).
This allows you to concentrate fully on selling your products.
The follow-up phase:
Would you like to stop selling your products and leave the DPG system? We will of course also accompany you through the so-called winding-up phase (follow-up phase). During this period, which usually lasts three years*, you are no longer a DPG member, but you must continue to pay out justified deposit claims.
If you wish to switch to another service provider, we will be at your side during the switch phase and transfer your pledge archive to the new service provider.
* starting at the end of the year in which you leave the DPG
