Producer responsibility is a key element of the circular economy
In societies based on a circular economy all materials and substances are valuable and have a genuine value. This also applies when products have become waste. The transition to a more circular economy not only holds a huge potential for the environment, but also for the competitiveness of Danish businesses.
Producer responsibility pays off
Circular economy is about creating sustainable growth. It is about using our natural resources and designing products in a way that extracted raw materials are used in a respectful manner and as many times as possible. They should not end up in a landfill, but in a new product. Therefore, an efficient organisation of your producer responsibility may be profitable from a resource point of view, and thereby also from an economic angle.
The idea behind passing on the responsibility for certain product streams – also at the end of their useful life – to those businesses that produce or sell the products is to establish an incentive to develop more environment-friendly and recyclable products, allowing the contained materials to enter into new production cycles.
Take-back of your products
Producer responsibility gives the opportunity to all end-users to discard their end-of-life products free of charge, be it electronics, batteries, or vehicles. Thereby, producers and importers can retrieve the material resources from the products to incorporate them into new production or sell them to the recycling or raw materials industries.
Two key elements
If you are not familiar with the above terms you may start here.
National register
First, all businesses that wish legally to sell electronics, batteries, or vehicles must register in the national producer register of the relevant country. In Denmark the producer register is found in DPA.
Reporting
Another key element of the producer responsibility system is the duty to report. Two aspects decide who has the duty to register and report annually – thereby having the producer responsibility in the Member State:
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- Type of product
- Business’s role in the market
Identify your business
Producer, importer, and distance selling
Legislation covers:
- All producers and importers who wish to sell electronics, batteries, or vehicles in Denmark.
- All producers, importers and other commercial enterprises selling in-scope products in their own name or brand.
- All businesses in other EU Member States or in non-EU countries that sell directly to end-users in Denmark through distance selling or on the internet.
Dealer or distributor
If you buy your electronic products, batteries, or vehicles from a Danish supplier, your business does NOT have producer responsibility and you must not make a registration. In return, you must make sure that the supplier you deal with has taken on their responsibility in Denmark, since otherwise it is not legal to buy their products.
Producer register
Approved businesses
In the public part of the producer register you can search out businesses assuming their producer responsibility and thereby approved for placing electronics, batteries, or vehicles on the market in Denmark.
Search out approved businessesShortcuts
Products
See which products are covered by producer responsibility
Registration
See why a registration is necessary and how to proceed
Reporting
See the purpose of the annual reporting 1 January – 31 March
Economy and fees
See information about fees and fee rates etc.
Compliance schemes
See information about Authorised representative and collective vs individual compliance schemes
Municipalities and collection sites
See more about the municipalities’ role in the producer responsibility system
Allocation
See more about allocation of waste collected by the municipalities and collection sites
Other players
See the large number of other players that are involved in the producer responsibility system in various ways
European registers
See other EU registers and European exchange of experience and harmonisation (EWRN)
Legislation
See EU legislation and Danish implementation as well as product-specific regulation
History and purpose
See the background of the establishment of the producer register and DPA