- In most countries, there is one operator of the deposit system. However, Poland adopted a different model.
- Lidl and Kaufland became the deposit operator, operating under the company OK Operator Kauacyjny. The company was registered in April this year. and now it has obtained permission from the Ministry of Climate.
An application to the Ministry of Climate regarding the status of the operator was submitted in June by OK Operator Kauczny, a company belonging to the Schwarz Group, whose management board includes representatives of the Schwarz Group (Edyta Urbaniak – PreZero, Mateusz Staniszewski – Kaufland, Tomasz Suligowski – Lidl).
Let us remind you that the companies Zwrotka and PolKa, founded by the Odzyskaj Środowisko Foundation, already have the consent of the ministry.
Moreover, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection recently issued two consents for the establishment of deposit system operators by producers of non-alcoholic beverages and beer. The first decision concerns transactions involving producers of non-alcoholic beverages: Coca-Cola HBC, Colian, Żywiec-Zdrój, Maspex Group, Nestle Polska, Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Poland, Red Bull, Oshee Polska, Zbyszko Company, Orangina Schweppes Polska, Nałęczów Zdrój and Van Pur. The second decision is the consent to establish a joint venture between beer producers: Carlsberg Polska, Kompania Piwowarska and Grupa Żywiec.
Operators will have their hands full. As imposed by the legislator, in the first year of operation of the deposit system it will be necessary to collect 77% of approximately PLN 13 billion of packaging and packaging waste introduced to the market. If this target is not achieved, producers and operators will be obliged to pay a product fee. Penalties will also apply to points of sale that do not comply with the legal requirements, i.e., for example, do not start collecting deposits on January 1 next year or, in the case of stores with an area of over 200 sq m, will not be ready to collect all packaging covered by the system. Administrative penalties for failure to fulfill obligations will range from PLN 10,000. up to 500 thousand zloty.
