Checked: 7 November 2026 — the date every statement on this page was checked against the sources below.
Single-use drinks cans carry a deposit of at least €0.25 including VAT per container in Germany. Whoever first places them on the German market charges it, marks the cans as deposit-bearing, joins the single nationwide deposit system and, when selling at a distance, provides return points within reasonable distance of the customer (§ 46 VerpackDG). Sources (2)
VerpackDG § 46VerpackDG § 46VerpackDG § 6VerpackDG § 6
Illustrative example. This is not one of our clients: the business is invented, while the law and our published prices are real.
The situation
A small brewery in Austria makes a sparkling lemonade in 0.33-litre cans and wants to sell six-packs through its own web shop to German consumers.
What applies
| Duty | Where |
|---|---|
| Deposit of at least €0.25 per can, including VAT | § 46(1) |
| Visible deposit marking before the cans are made available | § 46(1) |
| Membership of the nationwide deposit system | § 46(1) |
| Return points within reasonable distance, in distance selling | § 46(2) |
| Deposit containers declared separately in LUCID | § 6(2) |
The shipping carton and filling around the cans are ordinary packaging and are licensed with a dual system. See the deposit for online sellers.
VerpackDG § 46 VerpackDG § 6 
ZSVR
Check the exemptions first
Some drinks and containers are outside the deposit, for example fruit juices, wine and containers over 3 litres. See which drinks are exempt.
Where we help
We act as your representative for the packaging and set up the dual-system licence for the shipping packaging at €149 a year. Membership of the deposit system is a separate contract at its own price.
Razvan Toma is the founder of EPR Germany Rep and of EPR France Rep, the French sister service. He has worked in waste management and recycling since 2009, running waste-separation programmes inside large B2B organisations in France for clients including Chanel, Microsoft, Decathlon, Pirelli, IKEA, Vinci, Capgemini and E.Leclerc. He reads the statutes and the regulator's own guidance directly, and publishes what they say — including when it means telling a visitor they do not need to buy anything.
Razvan on LinkedIn ↗