Polish MPs yesterday voted to adopt legislation that would create a deposit system for bottles and cans as part of efforts to meet EU targets for reducing waste and increasing recycling.
The system, under which a deposit of 50 groszy (11 euro cents) will be added to the price of a bottle or can, is due to come into force at the beginning of 2025. Customers will be able to reclaim the deposit upon returning the packaging.
The legislation received almost universal support in the lower-house Sejm, with the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) party being the only one to vote against it.
If passed by the upper-house Senate and signed into law by President Andrzej Duda – as appears likely – the new rules will oblige shops with more than 200 square metres of floor space to collect empty packaging. Smaller shops will be able to join the scheme on a voluntary basis.
A deposit will be added to single-use plastic bottles of up to 3 litres capacity, glass bottles of between 200 millilitres and 1.5 litres, and metal cans up to 1 litre. According to a draft regulation published in April, the deposit will amount to 50 groszy.
The Sejm, however, did not adopt amendments calling for the deposit system to also cover small alcohol bottles of up to 200 ml of alcohol, known as małpki, and cardboard boxes. An amendment excluding milk bottles, which businesses argue can pose a sanitary risk to workers, was also rejected.
Deposits will be refunded when the packaging is returned to a shop, even without showing a receipt. Unclaimed deposits will go towards funding the scheme itself.
Poland has recorded the EU's second-largest increase in recycling rates over the last decade.
It recycled 40% of municipal waste in 2021, which was over three times higher than in 2012 though still below the EU-wide figure of 50% https://t.co/h7qLc1CMTn
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 11, 2023
The system is intended to help Poland meet EU targets, including a directive that requires member states to ensure separate collection for recycling of 77% of single-use plastics by 2025 and 90% by 2029.
The relevant law was first outlined in 2021 and was supposed to enter force this year, but industry representatives have argued that even the currently planned launch date of 1 January 2025 is unrealistic and have called for an additional year to implement the scheme.
However, the campaign groups have warned that delays in the government’s introduction of the system would cause a billion zloty in costs each year for the state budget and for beverage and recycling firms due to the failure to meet EU targets.
Delays in a new deposit system to encourage recycling will cost Poland billions in EU charges, industry figures and campaign groups have warned.
The government pledged to introduce the system this year but has still not approved the legislation https://t.co/oIb3zpMb6K
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 11, 2023
Main image credit: Polina Tankilevitch / Pexels
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
