The law firm offers comprehensive legal advice regarding sustainability and environmental provisions that are relevant for your business activities. It considers of European and German laws that stipulate an eco-friendly design and production of goods and packaging and an environmentally compatible waste management in particular.
The legal consulting services include ESG-criteria that guide enterprises to assume social and ecological responsibility in their services, operations and goods. Stakeholders are thereby obliged to reduce the risks of environmental degradation and human rights abuses in global supply chains by implementation of control-measures and risk-management systems. The law firm offers comprehensive support by a detailed review of business agreements and the development of tailor-made contractual solutions to achieve a successful contract implementation with legal certainty.
In addition, the law firm informs you about current legal changes of sustainability and environmental laws in Germany and in the European Union that might affect your business model and product portfolio. This comprises new legislative proposals for reducing the administrative burden on companies and to promote competitiveness, such as European Omnibus packages that contain simplified arrangements and regulatory exemptions. The business law firm offers legal assistance to implement the new rules, so you achieve a timely adjustment of contractual frameworks, services and manufacturing processes. Thereby, you can effectively avoid economic disadvantages and mitigate liability and compliance risks.
The law firm provides legal advice on German and European laws stipulating an environmentally sustainable production and design of packaging, for example the EU packaging regulation (PPWR). Producers, importers and retailers of packaging and packaged products are thereby subject of sustainability, information and labelling requirements. They are obliged to make recyclable packaging available on the market, minimize packaging and phase out substances of concern in packaging materials. Notably, plastic packaging must consist of bio-based, biodegradable or compostable materials. In addition, it has to contain minimum recycled content and biobased feedstocks.
Manufacturers of packaging have to carry out conformity assessment procedures, draw up an EU declaration of conformity, provide technical documentation and display harmonised sorting labels for material composition. As part of the extended producer responsibility, they have to join deposit and return systems and are obliged to pay financial contributions to the separate collection and sorting of packaging waste for reuse and recycling purposes. Moreover, they have to comply with information, documentation and registration obligations on which the law firm offers legal advice.
The legal consultation refers to German or European provisions regarding a sustainable product design, notably the European Ecodesign regulation. Based on the Green Deal, it establishes Ecodesign requirements for physical goods and fosters an eco-friendly design of new physical items to improve certain product aspects, such as circularity, energy efficiency, repairability and carbon footprint. According to the rules, manufacturers have to take special information and performance requirements into consideration when developing new products. Furthermore, they have to affix CE-markings on compounds, whereas distributors, importers and dealers have to comply with information obligations along the value chain.
Furthermore, the lawyer offers legal advice regarding economic operator´s reporting and disclosure obligations on unsold consumer goods, and also consults on the statutory prohibition of the destruction of unsold consumer products, such as apparels and home appliances.
The legal services also refer to product-specific rules that obligate economic players to develop a sustainable design of new products for enhancing a dismantling of compensable parts, in particular to simplify the removal, exchange, refurbishment and replacement of parts, components and materials at the end of their life-cycle. This includes, inter alia, statutory provisions that enable the removability and replaceability of vehicle batteries and portable batteries to extend the lifetime of the commodities and to reduce waste. You also receive legal counsel on national law and EU law that stipulates circularity requirements for the product design of new articles, for example vehicles, to facilitate the reusability, recyclability and recoverability of materials as part of an end-of-life management.
Additionally, the law firm advises on legal prohibitions and restrictions on the use of certain substances, in goods, components and packaging, notably hazardous and harmful substances. This refers to legal restrictions of single-use plastic, microparticles, CMR and PFAS in particular. The consultation also comprises mandatory provisions that prevent plastic pellet losses to reduce environmental pollution.
The legal consultancy also pertains to German and European laws that facilitate the extraction and use of secondary raw materials and climate-friendly basic materials to foster the industrial transition towards a circular economy and climate neutrality. The legal services relate to recycling laws stipulating the recovery of critical and strategic raw materials, such as rare earths, in particular by recycling end-of-life-products, consumer waste and scrap. In addition, the use of recycled content and recycling materials shall be increased in manufacturing processes. Additionally, basic materials shall be marked with a label pointing out climate neutrality.
If required, you receive legal advice regarding the extended producer responsibility which is based on European and German eco-design regulations and waste management laws. The EPR-Regime obligates manufacturers to take back and dispose used items as part of a sustainable end-of-life management. They have to cover costs for collecting, sorting and preparation of waste and used products for reuse and recovery purposes. Therefore, they have to comply with registration requirements. The product compliance particularly refers to packaging, waste batteries, waste electronic equipment, used textiles or ELVs.
The legal consulting services also refer to sustainable consumer rights such as the right to repair that particularly promotes the reuse of certain household appliances to minimise the amounts of electronic product waste. The warranty rules imply, in particular for electrical products, repair obligations, repairability requirements and an extended warranty period for manufacturers and sellers. The law firm offers legal assistance on adjusting contractual agreements and Terms and Conditions to mitigate liability and warranty risks.
Additionally, the law firm clarifies European legal framework for the decarbonisation of industrial production processes and materials. This refers to statutory provisions of EU-Law that enhance the demand for low-carbon products, establish Union-origin requirements and accelerate the European production capacities of net-zero-technologies.
Besides, you receive legal consulting with regard to German and European bioeconomy standards that sets out legal requirements for industrial biomanufacturing activities. They foster, inter alia, the sustainable production of biomass and a higher industrial use of bio-based materials, technologies and products such as plastics, fibres, fabrics or chemicals.
The law firm´s consulting includes environment-related marking and labelling requirements for specific product categories, such as batteries, devices, tyres, raw materials, packaging and equipment. This includes energy labelling and EU harmonised labels such as recycling symbols, logos, seals, etiquettes, pictograms and QR-Codes that refer to the separate collection and take-back services for end-of-life products and waste products.
In addition, you receive legal support for the implementation of the digital product passport (DPP). According to some product-specific law provisions, it applies on certain product groups, notably on construction products, batteries and toys. Manufacturers of those items are obliged to make product information on the entire life cycle available to actors along the value chains. The product parameters refer to the repairability, upgradability and the environmental footprint of items and semi-products.
The counselling services also refer to marking rules and information obligations for sellers, merchants and manufacturers according to the EU EmpCo Directive. It stipulates mandatory labelling obligations regarding a commercial guarantee of durability and a legal guarantee of conformity for goods.
The law firm provides legal assistance to comply with German and EU regulations and standards that refer to the environmental responsibility, social responsibility and corporate governance of enterprises involved in international distribution and supply chains. The legal counselling refers, in particular, to the duty to establish risk management systems, notification mechanisms and complaints procedures, conduct a risk analysis, lay down prevention measures and comply with sustainability reporting obligations.
If required, the law firm offers the legal drafting and review of company policies and business contracts to obtain legal compliance with applicable laws, environmental and social standards and to mitigate the risk of an economic and legal disadvantage such as sanctions, damages and penalties. It presents advantageous contract arrangements and risk control measures towards business partners, for example assurances, assessments, manuals, self-declarations or a code of conduct
In addition, you receive legal information on the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) which applies on relevant products and commodities associated with deforestation and forest degradation. Entrepreneurs, notably producers, traders and manufacturers, are thereby obligated to place deforestation-free products on the market and to comply with due diligence requirements regarding their supply and activity chains. In particular, they have the duty to report, establish due diligence systems, conduct risk-assessment procedures, adopt risk mitigation measures and submit due diligence statements as proof of conformity.
The law firm also supports market participants to adhere to the rules laid down in the European Forced Labour Regulation (FLR). It prohibits the sale, import and export of goods made using forced labour on the European Market. Products concerned must be withdrawn and disposed from the Union market.
For more information, please get in contact with the business law firm.