According to the ZSVR, the Cologne Administrative Court has rejected an appeal against the classification as packaging in the first instance.
 

The court of first instance would have thus confirmed that permanent carrier bags are to be classified as packaging subject to system participation, according to the Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister (ZSVR). The materials used to make the bags, which are offered by many retail stores, are not relevant, nor is the company selling them, where they are sold, or how buyers use them aside from carrying the purchased goods. The Administrative Court ruled that anyone who offers permanent carrier bags is obliged to finance the recycling of this packaging. According to the ZSVR, the court thereby confirmed the classification by the ZSVR, which had categorised the permanent carrier bag as service packaging within the meaning of the Packaging Act and thus as subject to system participation. According to the law, the classification of a packaging depended on what it is typically used for, explains the ZSVR. The competent court would have classified the bag as packaging because it is typically, i.e. mostly, purchased at the checkout, where it is filled with goods by the customer and then used to take the purchase home. In the court's view, it is also irrelevant for the classification as packaging whether the permanent carrier bags are sold empty, given away free of charge or filled with goods in the shop. It was equally irrelevant whether the bags are offered at the checkout or elsewhere in the shop.
 
The ZSVR also points out that the appeal proceedings are already pending and that the first-instance ruling therefore will be reviewed by the Federal Administrative Court of last instance. If the ruling is upheld, it would be legally binding and clarify that permanent carrier bags are packaging subject to system participation.
 
Sources:

• Press release ZSVR (18.3.2025)
• Photo: © Tingey Injury / Unsplash