Anyone who places packaging on the Dutch market and thus falls under producer responsibility will sooner or later face the question: what will this cost. The short answer is that registration with Verpact itself is usually not a major cost item, but the annual waste management contribution determines the amount you really need to account for. This contribution is not a fixed rate but a result of two things: what material you use and how many kilograms of it you place on the Dutch market annually.
So it is not the case that there is one price tag for a Verpact registration that is the same for every business. A webshop that ships mostly cardboard pays a different contribution than an importer placing plastic packaging on the market, even if both businesses are comparable in terms of turnover. The way the amount is structured is precisely why it makes sense to first determine whether, and in what role, your business falls under this obligation before you look at costs.
Where the contribution comes from
Verpact publishes rates per material category, expressed as an amount per kilogram. These rates differ per material type because the costs of collection, sorting and recycling vary per material. Cardboard typically has different processing costs than plastic or metal, and this difference is reflected in the rates that manufacturers pay. For your business, this means that the contribution is calculated by multiplying the weight per material category by the applicable rate for that category.
The exact rates and how they are determined are published on Verpact's own source; these figures change periodically and therefore should not be stated as fixed data in an article, but should be looked up at the source when you make the calculation.
What determines the amount
In addition to material and weight, a few other factors play a role. First, volume: the more packaging material you place on the Dutch market annually, the higher the total contribution, regardless of the rate per kilogram. Second, the mix of materials: a package made of multiple materials, such as a box with plastic cushioning material, counts separately for each component. Third, the question of whether you are classified as a manufacturer under the regulations, as this determines whether the obligation rests with you or with another party in the supply chain.
That last question is precisely where many entrepreneurs get stuck, because the role does not always coincide with who physically ships the packaging. Whether you pack yourself with your own boxes, outsource fulfilment, or resell packaged product to another business, you may have a different role in different situations. With a few questions you can see what applies to your packaging it first becomes clear whether, and in what capacity, the registration obligation applies to your business, before you delve into rates.
The threshold is removed: relevant for small volumes
For small webshops, a threshold value played a role for a long time, below which registration was not required. This threshold is subject to change and directly affects the question of whether, and for what volume, you will soon be making a contribution. Businesses that have remained below the threshold until now should re-assess this for the current year, as the removal of a threshold changes not only whether you must register, but also from what weight the contribution will apply.
Costs of registration versus costs of support
It is important to distinguish between two things: the waste management contribution you pay to Verpact, and any costs for assistance with setting up the registration itself. The latter is not mandatory; anyone who has their material flows, weights and correct role determination in order can complete the registration independently. For those who prefer guidance when compiling the packaging file and registering in each country, you will find an overview of what assistance with registration costs separately from what you pay to the national registers themselves.
More background on how roles, registers and contributions per country relate to each other is collected in the knowledge base with explanation per topic. There you will also find how the setup of a file differs between packaging types and what documents a register specifically requests.
The amount of a Verpact contribution is therefore not fixed but a calculation that differs per company. If you want to quickly know where your company stands before diving into rates, the free quick-scan provides an initial indication, and the answers to frequently asked questions help with the details that were not covered in this article.