The EPR obligation includes registration, reporting, take-back and financing the management of end-of-life gear.
If your company is covered by EPR for fishing gear containing plastic, you must register, report quantities and ensure that end-of-life gear can be taken back and treated correctly.
For most companies, the practical part is the most demanding: the port scheme, take-back solutions, financial guarantee and documentation. Fiskeriretur organises the practical scheme tasks on behalf of its members.
You must register with Danish Producer Responsibility (DPA) no later than 14 days before your first marketing, and each year you must report the quantities you have placed on the market by 31 March.
You must ensure that end-of-life gear is collected and treated correctly. How this is handled in practice depends on whether the gear is commercial fishing gear or other fishing gear.
You must pay relevant authority fees and finance the collection and treatment of the gear for which you are responsible. For some gear, financial guarantee requirements and eco-modulated fees also apply.
For commercial fishing gear such as trawls, seines, dredges and Danish seines, a special port scheme applies. Each year, Danish Producer Responsibility (DPA) allocates producers to specific ports from which they must collect end-of-life gear.
The allocation is based on the reported quantities placed on the market. The allocation is published no later than 1 July and applies from 1 October to 30 September the following year.
Companies that are not allocated a port are still responsible for taking back the allocated quantities through a take-back scheme.
Producers of commercial fishing gear must provide a financial guarantee once a year for the expected costs of managing the allocated quantities of end-of-life gear. The purpose is to ensure that the management obligation is financially covered.
As a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO), Fiskeriretur can apply to Danish Producer Responsibility (DPA) for exemption from individual financial guarantee requirements on behalf of our members. This is a significant advantage of choosing a PRO rather than handling the obligation individually.
For other fishing gear — for example gear for recreational fishing, aquaculture and other purposes — producers must establish a scheme where end users can return end-of-life gear free of charge.
This can, in principle, be done individually, but for most companies it is a substantial practical task to build and operate themselves. As a PRO, Fiskeriretur establishes and operates this scheme for our members.
For many companies, registration itself is not the major task. The work lies in take-back, management and the ongoing processes that follow from EPR.
Fiskeriretur organises port collection, the take-back solution and practical operation for its members. Your company remains responsible for registration, data and documentation for the quantities you place on the market.
Your company registers with Danish Producer Responsibility and provides the data on which the reporting is based. Danish Producer Responsibility administers the register, port allocation and formal decisions. Fiskeriretur handles the practical scheme tasks on behalf of its members.