The new law, which entered into force as of 2019, introduces a special register of companies which dispatch packaging to the German market for the first time.

A special central agency, Zentrale Stelle, monitors the establishment of the public register of producers which sell goods on the German market.

Antonija Božič Cerar from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) says large companies which export to Germany on a regular basis are familiar with the rules.

But smaller companies have more problems, even if the new German legislation has been debated for more than a year.

They are turning to the GZS with questions such as whether they have to get registered, how they can do it or if there are any other obligations attached to the change.

Since the German system is very complex, they are advised to talk to their partners in Germany, Božič Cerar has told the STA.

Jakob Weissenbacher from consultancy Ramboll says there is also much confusion about the complex new rules in Germany.

This can be seen from the fact that only some 130,000 companies are currently in the new register, whereas some 720,000 are estimated to be subject to the new law.

The 1,900-page catalogue of products whose producers or distributors are subject to the new rules, is yet to be finalised, so some companies are not sure whether they should register.

But Weissenbacher, who spoke at a recent event in Ljubljana, advises them to register as soon as possible as fines are rather high, up to EUR 200,000.

Germany introduced the central register for packaging to identify the companies which avoid their obligations regarding packaging management. The damage they cause annually is estimated at EUR 200m.

Slovenia is also about to overhaul its system of packaging waste management.

Jana Miklavčič from the Environment Ministry says it is not thinking about introducing one central agency as a supervisor, but rather one organisation for each line of waste. "Both options would be feasible, but we are more in favour of the second one," she says.