Collection levels and product fee in a deposit system
With the launch of the deposit system, a number of new obligations will fall on its participants and operators. One of these is the need to achieve minimum collection rates for packaging and packaging waste. Failure to meet the statutory targets will mean severe consequences not only for the introducer, but also for the representing entity.
Why do we need a deposit system? Minimum levels of separate collection of packaging
One of the main objectives of introducing a bail system in Poland is to achieving very high collection targets for packaging of beverages and the waste generated from these packages. According to experts, their achievement would not have been possible without the bail system. Its introduction was therefore a necessity, not an option.
The minimum levels of separate collection of packaging and packaging waste are set out in Annex 1a to the amended Act of 13 June 2013 on Packaging and Packaging Waste Management and amount to:
| Type of packaging | Level of separate collection | |
| between 2025 and 2028 | in 2029 and beyond | |
| single-use plastic beverage bottles up to 3 l | 77% | 90% |
| metal cans up to 1 l | 77% | 90% |
| Reusable glass bottles up to 1.5 litres | 77% | 90% |
Due to Postponement of the launch of the deposit scheme until 1 October 2025., the recycling levels for 2025 will be calculated on the basis of the weight of packaging placed on the market between 1 October and 31 December 2025.
Collection levels and deposit system implications of the SUP Directive
The need to set minimum collection levels in the Polish bail law arose from the need to the transposition into national law of Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on reducing the environmental impact of certain plastic products, abbreviated as follows SUP Directive.
Article 9 of the Directive committed all Member States to take measures to ensure by 2025. 77% the level of separate collection single-use plastic products. It also proposed measures that could help achieve this goal, i.e. the establishment of a deposit return system and the setting of targets for separate collection. As is not difficult to guess, Poland has implemented both of these proposals.
What if collection rates are not achieved? Product fee rates under the deposit system
The consequence of failing to achieve minimum collection rates under the deposit system is to the need to bring product levy. It shall be calculated separately for each type of packaging covered by the bail system.
In the initial period of the Polish deposit system, the rates of the product fee were set at a relatively low level, much lower than that provided for other types of packaging. However, they will gradually increase in 2026 and 2027.
|
Type of packaging |
Product fee rate in PLN/kg |
||
|
in 2025 |
in 2026. |
from 2027 |
|
| single-use plastic beverage bottles up to 3 l | 0,10 | 1,00 | 5,00 |
| metal cans up to 1 l | 0,10 | 1,00 | 5,00 |
| Reusable glass bottles up to 1.5 litres | 0,01 | 0,05 | 0,25 |
According to the legislator's original assumptions, the amount of the product fee for all types of packaging covered by the deposit system was to be identical. However, due to the significantly higher weight of glass bottles (compared to other packaging in the deposit system), it was decided to a reduction in the product fee for reusable glass bottles.
Responsibility for failing to achieve the required collection levels under the deposit system will lie with the introducer of packaged products and the representative entity operating the deposit system that the introducer has joined. Each of them will be obliged to pay 50% the amount of the product fee due.