The Green Dot is the most widely used internationally protected trademark in the world, registered in over 170 countries. Over 170,000 companies label their products with the Green Dot. Around 300 million people have access to separate collection of packaging waste funded by PRO Europe members. Approximately 460 billion packaging units are labeled with the Green Dot each year. The Green Dot system for managing packaging waste was first introduced in Germany in the 1980s. It quickly became popular among consumers and soon spread across much of Europe and beyond.

Due to its growing popularity, the trademark owner, the German company Duales System Deutschland AG (DSD), decided to transfer management and coordination of the Green Dot’s use outside Germany to PRO Europe, the European umbrella organization based in Brussels. Since 1995, PRO Europe has held the rights to grant the use of the Green Dot. Today, the Green Dot is the most widely used protected trademark and has become a proven concept in many countries as a model for implementing extended producer responsibility.

Green Dot systems support the effective implementation of producer responsibility by obligated companies, i.e., manufacturers and retailers. When you see the Green Dot on packaging, it means that a financial contribution has been paid to the national packaging waste management company, and the producer participates in establishing and developing the recycling system.

The main role of PRO Europe members, including Ekopak, is to organize appropriate national systems for managing packaging and packaging waste. This relieves industrial and commercial companies from the individual obligation to take back used packaging, as Ekopak fulfills these legal responsibilities on their behalf.