What are the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations in Austria and what do I need to do?

The Austrian government has enforced new versions of the Austrian Waste Management Act (Abfallwirtschaftsgesetz, AWG) and set up a mandatory compliance system that operates as follows: 

Every operator of a digital marketplace/platform is responsible for contractually ensuring that their partner who sells on the platform complies with their EPR obligations as a manufacturer (“Hersteller”) or primary obligated party (“Primärverpflichteter”) with regard to household packaging, electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), batteries and accumulators. 

Manufacturers or primary obligated parties who do not comply with their obligations may no longer use the digital marketplace of Zalando SE to sell their products from 1 January 2023. For that reason this is a mandatory requirement of selling on our platform as outlined in the Platform rules.

Partners are therefore responsible for registering with the approved collection and recovery systems and ensuring that you are compliant to be able to continue selling on Zalando. More information follows below.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a concept where manufacturers, importers or distributors of products (such as Zalando and its partners) will bear a significant degree of responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products throughout the product life-cycle. 

This means that the distributor (in this case, our partners) has to make sure that their products are part of a recycling program. Typically, partners delegate this responsibility to a third party, a so-called Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) or an “approved collection and recovery system”, which is paid to look after used-product management. 

In order to ensure that their products are part of a recycling program, partners therefore register with a PRO/approved collection and recovery system, report the quantity of products sold, and pay the respective fee to the PRO/approved collection and recovery system. 

A producer refers to "any natural or legal person who develops, manufactures, handles, processes, sells or imports waste-generating products or the elements and materials used to manufacture them”. Please note that a producer is not the equivalent of a manufacturer.

With regards to EEE and batteries, you are considered a producer if:

• You manufacture a product subject to EPR requirements in Austria and sell domestically; 

and / or

• You import a product subject to EPR requirements into Austria

and / or

• You sell a product subject to EPR requirements in Austria and you do not have a registered company address in Austria.

In the case of a company selling its products directly to Austrian end-users, it is the distant seller i.e. the company selling online. For Zalando and our partners, this therefore refers to brand partners as well as most retailers. 

Please be aware of the following requirements specific to packaging: 

The primary obligated party for packaging in Austria is the party that:

• Has a registered office/branch in Austria, and: 

• Acts as importer, meaning that you import packaged goods into Austria with the purpose of passing them on in Austria

and / or

• Acts as importers for own use, meaning that you import packaged goods into Austria for the operation of your own company, whereby the packaging is produced at your own operating site

and / or

• Packs goods in packaging (i.e. packers)

• Does not have a registered office / branch in Austria and acts as distant seller, meaning that you transfer goods to private end consumers by means of distance selling / mail-order business, and sell (i.e. places on the market) this packaging or packaged goods commercially regardless of the distribution method.

If the classification between producer / non-producer / primary obliged party raises questions, please reach out to the approved collection and recovery system that you are registered with, or from the list below.

The EPR schemes in Austria are applicable to products that belong to any of the following categories:

EEE / Batteries: 

It is mandatory for producers of EEE and / or batteries to participate in an approved collection and recovery system. Online or distant sellers (within Austria) must provide additional take-back options of two take-back points per district. 

Online or distant sellers from outside Austria that distribute EEE / batteries to end consumers in Austria must use an authorised representative. 

Your approved collection and recovery systems can assist you with the further requirements of take-back points and authorised representatives as well. 

Packaging: 

As a primary obligated party, it is currently only necessary to register by concluding a contract with an approved collection and recovery system. 

Here, the respective packaging quantities must be reported monthly, quarterly or annually, depending on the size of the company, and paid for accordingly.

Furthermore, as of 01.01.2023, the appointment of an authorised representative is required. The authorised representative, who must have a registered office in Austria, then assumes the obligations towards the EPR organisations and the local authorities on your behalf.

Yes. For partners selling in the Austrian market you must register for every EPR product category that applies to your assortment on Zalando. 

All partners should register for their packaging. If you sell EEE and / or batteries you should also be registered for these.

If you are a ZFS partner, then ZFS takes care of the shipment, meaning the secondary (shipping) packaging is the responsibility of ZFS. You don’t need to report the secondary shipping packaging to the approved collection and recovery system. 

However, though the shipping packaging is not your responsibility, the product packaging still is. This means that you must register your primary packaging with an approved collection and recovery system.

We recommend the following contact:

Reclay Systems GmbH

Renée Marat

Telefon: +43 1 994 99 69 76

E-Mail: r.marat@reclay-group.com

Website: Reclay Group: Kontakt Österreich

No. There is no need to share information with Zalando. However, please note that your compliance with the Austrian EPR requirements is a contractual obligation as outlined in the Platform rules and this may lead to checks by Zalando.

Not all companies have registered with an approved collection and recovery system. As a result, Austrian regulators have begun to place increased responsibility onto marketplaces to better control whether the sellers on the marketplace in question are registered or not. 

Yes. The process outlined above is specifically for the Austrian market and applies to partners selling in Austria. 

For EPR schemes in other markets that you sell in, for example, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, you will need to register with them separately. 

Failure to be compliant with the Austrian EPR legislation has the potential to suspend you from selling in Austria since 1 January 2023. It is a mandatory requirement of selling on our platform as outlined in the Platform rules.