- Poland plans to introduce a deposit system from January 1, 2025, becoming the 17th country in the European Union to decide on such a solution.
- At the end of last year, Romania introduced such a system, achieving impressive results – over 20 million packages were collected within the first months of its implementation. Will Poland, with the second largest packaging market in the EU, repeat this success?
Deposit system in Romania – how does it work?
The system is mandatory for all companies producing, importing or selling drinks in single-use bottles and covers nearly 80,000. collection points – on average one point per 240 inhabitants. Up to 7 billion beverage containers are to be disposed of there annually. In Romania, the deposit is 0.50 Romanian lei (approximately 44 cents). The Romanian system is managed by the RetuRO consortium and integrates solutions for intelligent waste management, which enables effective data collection, reporting and document management. Thanks to this, Romania achieved very good results in a short time – in January 2024, 2.2 million packages were collected, and in February, 18 million.
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– The system covers a wide range of packaging materials and products, including bottles of spirits. This means that the Romanian solution is one of the largest implementations in the area of circular economy in Europe – says Marek Nowakowski, General Director of Exorigo-Upos SRL Romania.
Romania used Sensoneo software for intelligent waste management to integrate its deposit system. It allows, among other things, for entity registration, data collection, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, reporting and document management. Sensoneo currently operates in five European countries – in addition to Romania, also in Slovakia, Malta, Ireland and Hungary.
How will this work in Poland?
The deposit system in Poland will cover PET bottles up to 3 liters and glass bottles up to 1.5 liters, as well as metal cans up to 1 liter. A deposit of 50 cents will be added to the price of these products, which the consumer will get back when returning the packaging.
The new regulations will oblige producers, importers and brand owners to collect them and achieve minimum levels of selective collection. These indicators will increase: from 77 percent. in 2025 to 90 percent in 2029. If these limits are not met, a product fee will be imposed on companies.
– The introduction of this system will enable the collection of at least 90%. packaging introduced to the market, which will significantly reduce pressure on the environment and limit littering. Currently, only 43% is collected in municipal systems. PET bottles, of which only 20 percent is reused to produce beverage packaging. The deposit system in our country may, like in Romania, revolutionize these statistics – adds Marek Nowakowski.
In Poland, there should be one collection point for approximately 1,033 inhabitants – 4 times less than in Romania. This may affect the motivation of people to return empty packaging and mean that the result in the first months will not be as high as it was before. However, unlike the Romanian system, there will be two system operators in Poland – Zwrotka, established by the Biosystem Group and the Polish Chamber of Commerce for Environmental Protection, and PolKa, established by the Odzyskaj Środowisko Foundation .
Stores with a deposit system
Retail stores will be obliged to collect packaging. Those with an area of over 200 sq m. will be obliged to accept bottles and cans, while smaller retail outlets will be able to join the system voluntarily. Importantly, each entrepreneur introducing products to the market will have the opportunity to establish their own packaging collection entity. The new regulations do not specify the method of their collection – each entity collecting them will be free to choose the method. It is worth emphasizing that the consumer will not have to show proof of purchase when returning the bottle or can.
The first stores in Poland have already introduced collection machines. The largest number was created in the Lidl chain, where 21 bottle dispensers were created at the turn of 2023 and 2024 . For returning the bottle, the customer receives five cents in the form of a discount coupon. The company reported that in the first month customers received 100,000 in this way. PLN, exchanging two million bottles for coupons. The Carrefour chain launched devices for collecting cans and plastic bottles under the name PETfur in 10 locations. Vending machines were also introduced in Biedronka in four stores . They give back five groszy in the form of a voucher, but not more than PLN 50, which means that up to a thousand bottles can be returned. The voucher can only be used in the store where it was issued.
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An abundance of bottle dispensers in popular stores. Kaufland talks about big expenses
Currently, discussions are still ongoing on various aspects of the deposit system. It is not yet fully determined whether and on what basis VAT will be added to the deposit amount and how it will be settled throughout the supply chain. In addition, companies will have to allocate appropriate rooms and organize staff for collecting deposit packaging, which requires appropriate preparation from them. Some entrepreneurs even called for delaying the implementation of the system by one year – to January 1, 2026.
