On Thursday, the Sejm passed an amendment to the act postponing the start of the deposit system in Poland by nine months – to October 1, 2025. The amendment – apart from changing the start date of the system – also introduces a number of changes to improve its operation.
240 MPs voted for the adoption of the act, 19 were against and 184 abstained. Now the bill will go to the Senate.
The deposit system will start working later
The amendment to the Act on Packaging and Packaging Waste Management and certain other acts primarily postpones the start of the deposit system in Poland to October 1, 2025. According to the applicable regulations, it was supposed to start at the beginning of the new year. As Paulina Hennig-Kloska, the Minister of Climate and Environment, pointed out earlier, the adoption of the amendment before the end of this year is crucial to prevent the deposit system from starting in January, which – as she said – entrepreneurs are not ready.
In addition to postponing the date of entry into force of the deposit system, the draft amendment introduces a number of other changes. It assumes, among other things, that in each commune in Poland there will have to be at least one stationary collection point for packaging and packaging waste under the deposit system. Another solution included in the project is the creation of the so-called a closed deposit circulation system, i.e. collecting it throughout the entire distribution chain. This is intended to help tighten the system, eliminate the possibility of deposit embezzlement and ensure monitoring of deposit flows.
The amendment also excludes the collection of packaging for milk and dairy products from the deposit-refund system and introduces harmonization of labeling of packaging with the logo of the deposit-refund system. The amendment also adds a provision guaranteeing that the operator collecting packaging from stores must return to these stores the deposit actually paid by them.
A three-month transitional period has also been introduced for stocks of products not marked with the deposit symbol. Therefore, beverage packaging without markings indicating that they are covered by the deposit-refund system and specifying the amount of the deposit, placed on the market within three months from the date of joining the deposit-refund system, but no later than December 31, 2025, may be used until they are used up. , returns or while stocks last.
Purpose of the Act
The aim of the deposit system is to reduce the amount of mixed municipal waste collected by municipalities and to increase the level of recycling. Large stores with an area of over 200 square meters will have to collect empty packaging and return the deposit. Smaller stores, on the other hand, will collect a deposit, but joining the packaging collection system will be voluntary.
After the deposit system is created, the deposit will be charged for each packaged beverage covered by this system introduced to the market. This deposit will also be returned to the end user via the system, without the need to present a receipt for the drink.
Unclaimed deposit will be used to finance the deposit system. The deposit is intended to encourage the return of packaging and increase the amount of reused and processed raw materials used to produce packaging. The system will ultimately cover three types of packaging: plastic bottles up to 3 liters, reusable glass bottles up to 1.5 liters and metal cans up to 1 liter.
Work on the bail law lasted several years. The regulations on this matter were adopted by the parliament and signed by the president in 2023. However, some of the industry and stakeholders of the deposit system pointed out that the regulations were full of holes and needed to be supplemented with key elements. After the parliamentary elections, the new management of the Ministry of Climate and Environment started work on the amendment.
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