With a view to promoting prevention, reuse, reutilization, recycling and all other forms of recovery with regard to waste, the entity responsible for packaging (i.e. the one that places packaged products on the market) is subject to the extended producer responsibility scheme.

Consequently, entities responsible for packaging are required to fulfil a series of obligations.

Who is concerned

Entities responsible for packaging

An entity responsible for packaging is defined as a natural or legal person:

• established in Luxembourg who, in a professional capacity is filling or directly selling packaged products in Luxembourg, irrespective of the selling technique used, and who is placing packaged products on the Luxembourg market; or
• who is the first recipient, in a professional capacity, of packaged products imported into Luxembourg by a natural or legal person whether or not said person is established in Luxembourg, irrespective of the selling technique used, and who places packaged products on the Luxembourg market; or
• established outside Luxembourg who, in a professional capacity, sells packaged products in Luxembourg directly to households or to users other than households, irrespective of the selling technique used.

An entity responsible for service packaging (also subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility) is defined as any person who, in a professional capacity, produces or imports service packaging with a view to placing these on the Luxembourg market.

Products concerned

The principle of extended responsibility applies to all packaging placed on the Luxembourg market and to all packaging waste, whether used or disposed of by industries, retailers, offices, shops, services, households or at any other level, regardless of the material used for the packaging.

Additional obligations apply to the following single-use plastic packaging:

• food containers;
• packets and wrappers made from flexible material;
• beverage containers with a capacity of up to 3 litres,
• cups for beverages, including their covers and lids; and
• lightweight plastic carrier bags.

How to proceed

The entity responsible for packaging is subject to the extended producer responsibility scheme.

In certain cases, depending on the type of packaging, it may delegate all or part of the obligations deriving from that responsibility to a specific body.

Household packaging

Entities responsible for household packaging must contractually entrust to an accredited organisation the performance of all the obligations incumbent upon them.

The only organisation accredited by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development is Valorlux ASBL.

All parties responsible for household packaging are required to become members of Valorlux.

Valorlux registers its members with the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development.

Reusable household packaging

In the case of reusable household packaging for which a take-back system exists, the entity responsible for packaging can decide to delegate this task to an accredited organisation.

Where the entity responsible for packaging decides to assume the obligations itself (either wholly or in part), it must apply to the Ministry of the Environment for an individual accreditation in respect of the obligations in question.

The application for individual accreditation must be made online on the website of the Environment Agency (Administration de l’Environnement).

Non-household packaging

Entities responsible for non-household packaging must contractually entrust to an accredited organisation the performance of all or part of the obligations incumbent upon them.

Who to contact