Do you manufacture or import fishing gear containing plastic? Since 1 January 2025, producers have been required to ensure take-back and proper management of end-of-life gear. Fiskeriretur handles the practical scheme obligations, so you can focus on your business.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for fishing gear containing plastic took effect on 1 January 2025. This means that companies placing such gear on the market must ensure that end-of-life gear can be taken back and managed responsibly when it becomes waste.
For commercial fishing gear such as trawls, seines and Danish seines, this is handled through port allocation. For other fishing gear – including much of the gear sold to recreational and sport fishers – it is handled through a take-back scheme where end users can return the gear free of charge.
We provide guidance on what needs to be in place before you register with Danish Producer Responsibility (DPA). As a member, we report to DPA on your behalf based on the quantity data you provide.
We organise the take-back schemes required to allow end users to return end-of-life gear free of charge. For commercial fishing gear, we coordinate management through the allocated ports.
For producers of commercial fishing gear, the requirements for financial guarantee and port handling can be difficult to manage individually. Fiskeriretur handles this part of the scheme on behalf of the members for whom it is relevant.
The executive order distinguishes between two types of fishing gear, and the requirements are not the same.
Commercial fishing gear – such as trawls, seines, dredges and Danish seines – is handled through a port track. Producers with these products may be allocated one or more of the 16 ports listed in Annex 2 and are responsible for collecting and managing end-of-life gear from those ports. This is linked to financial guarantee requirements.
Other fishing gear – including much of the gear used for recreational and sport fishing – is handled through a take-back scheme. Here, the producer must ensure that end users can return end-of-life gear free of charge at a suitable location.
Fiskeriretur can handle both tracks as a collective solution.
Fishing gear is not managed like other waste. The scheme needs to work in ports, at gear storage sites and in a system where collection and treatment can actually function in practice. That is the reality our solution is built for.
If you are already a member of another scheme in the Retur family, your fishing gear obligations can be handled in the same place. You pay one combined membership fee and have one point of contact for all your EPR obligations.
For fishing gear, membership of a PRO is not a legal requirement. But the alternative is to establish and operate take-back, handle the port track and meet documentation requirements on your own. Most companies quickly find that this is a heavy task to manage alone.
As a general rule, EPR applies to the company that first makes fishing gear containing plastic available on the Danish market.
This typically means companies that:
Fishers and other end users of the gear are generally not considered producers in the legal sense and therefore do not have EPR obligations.
Each year, this is the deadline for reporting the quantities of fishing gear containing plastic that you placed on the market in the previous calendar year. You report directly to DPA – but as a member, Fiskeriretur guides you through the process.
Denmark has set a national collection target of 20% for end-of-life fishing gear containing plastic. Producers and PROs are responsible for contributing to the achievement of this target.
There is no minimum quantity that exempts you from EPR. If you place fishing gear containing plastic on the Danish market – regardless of quantity – you are generally covered.
Fiskeriretur is part of Retur – Denmark’s largest family of Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs), also covering electronics, batteries, packaging and textiles. If you are already a member of Retur, Fiskeriretur is included in the same membership fee. One combined Retur membership costs DKK 1,500 per year.
Rules on producer responsibility change constantly. The EU regulates, Denmark implements, and suddenly new requirements apply to your business.
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