“We are delighted to have reached a milestone for the digital enforcement of the Single-Use Plastics Fund Act with the DIVID platform," said UBA President Dirk Messner. "We have succeeded in providing users with a modern, user-friendly and secure IT solution that helps to reduce environmental pollution caused by plastic waste, just over a year after the Single-Use Plastics Fund Act was passed.”

DIVID enables the UBA to digitally process all registrations and future payments from the estimated 56,000 manufacturers subject to the levy, as well as the annual distribution to an estimated 6,400 beneficiaries.

Manufacturers who started their activities before 1 January 2024 must register with DIVID by 31 December 2024; for all others, this obligation applies from the start of their activities. Violations may result in administrative offence proceedings. Those entitled to payments from the fund should also register in good time in order to receive reimbursements for cleaning services. In 2025, manufacturers must for the first time report via DIVID the single-use plastic products they made available and sold on the market in 2024.

About the Single-Use Plastics Act:
For manufacturers of to-go food containers or tobacco filters (products) and other single-use plastic articles, extended producer responsibility will apply from 2024. This means that they are obliged to contribute to the costs of collection, cleaning and disposal in public areas as well as for waste advisory services. Details of this cost sharing are regulated by the Single-Use Plastics Fund Act. The obligation to contribute will apply by law from 2024, regardless of whether and when registration takes place.

Links:
General and up-to-date information can be found on the homepage http://www.einwegkunststofffonds.de and on our topic page at http://www.umweltbundesamt.de/ewkf . The German Environment Agency will provide information on the gradual activation of new functionalities as soon as possible via DIVID and on the homepage www.ewkf.de.