There is already quite a bit to note in 2018. The new packaging law is replacing the Packaging Ordinance from 1 January 2019. This doesn’t just demand considerably higher recycling quotas but a new single national authority is also going to be established. It is then mandatory for anyone launching a product onto the market, such as manufacturers, retailers or even importers, to be registered with the newly created national authority. These registered initial distributors are published on the Internet. As a result, both private and commercial customers can see whether suppliers or competitors are meeting their legal obligations and participating in a dual system. It goes without saying that registration has to be completed in 2018 to be able to launch packaged goods onto the German market from 1 January 2019. All distributors have to register their quantities with the national authority. The declaration of completeness for 2018 has to already be submitted to the national authority where the dual systems also have to report the quantities. The check will be significantly simplified with this merging of data.