Development of a concept addressing the third-country free-rider problem within the EPR-framework, using the e-commerce with electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and packaging as an example The research project examines changes to waste-management legislation which would ensure that producers with registered office outside the EU also meet their extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations when selling electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and packaging via electronic marketplaces in Germany. Up to now, third-country free-riders take advantage of a ‘legal loophole’, which allows electronic marketplace operators and fulfilment service providers to accept producers without ensuring that these have complied with waste-law registration and notification obligations. The existing enforcement rules are inadequate for German authorities to take effective action against third-country free-riders. As a consequence, these have little incentive to contribute to their share of costs for collecting and dis-posing of waste electrical and electronic equipment or batteries and packaging. The project developed various proposals for addressing the free-rider problem in German legislation and examined their compatibility with constitutional, European and world-trade law. To introduce compulsory verification for electronic marketplace operators and fulfilment