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Brewers and other producers of beverages in reusable glass bottles will not be compulsorily covered by the deposit system, or at least not until the end of 2028, as the Senate adopted an amendment to the Packaging and Packaging Waste Management Act on 21 January 2026, which allows private bottle return systems to continue.

The latest Eurostat figures show that in 2023, a total of 79.7 million tonnes of packaging waste was generated in all EU Member States, of which 67.5% was recycled. Thus, the recycling rate increased to the level recorded before the pandemic, while the mass of waste generated continued its downward trend. Let us look at the detailed data on packaging waste in Poland and the EU.

On 1 January 2026, eco-modulation will be introduced in the French EPR system with a bonus-malus model. The financial burden on producers will be modulated due to the recyclate content of packaging and products, but not all of them - as the new rules only apply to 8 of the 22 product categories covered by the EPR rules in France.

From 1 January 2026, all applications for DPRs and EDPRs must be submitted electronically. The Ministry of Climate and Environment has launched the Confirmation Module, which allows not only the application, but also the electronic issuing of DPRs and EDPRs.

The shortage of post-consumer plastic recyclate is no longer a forecast, but is becoming a real threat to the European packaging market. The latest Interzero report shows that by 2030, the gap between demand and supply of PCR will exceed 1 million tonnes - even if EU recycling targets are fully met. The effects of this shortfall are already being felt by producers today: recyclate prices are rising, delivery times are lengthening and access to high-quality PCR is becoming increasingly limited.

Many municipalities will not achieve the EU-required levels of preparing for re-use and recycling of municipal waste in force between 2023 and 2025. Local authorities are already protecting themselves against the financial consequences of failing to meet their obligations, and industry representatives are saying straightforwardly: residents should prepare for increases in waste collection fees of up to 10-20 per cent.

In September 2025, the legislative bodies of the European Union adopted an amendment to the Waste Directive, which requires member states to significantly reduce the amount of food waste generated. Community countries have until mid-2027 to implement the new legislation and until 31 December 2030 to meet the exacting standards.

From 1 July 2026, the European Union will impose new temporary customs duties on all parcels worth less than EUR 150 from third countries. In this way, the Community wants to curb the massive influx of cheap goods and balance the competition between local distributors and Asian e-commerce platforms. In parallel, the EU is working on a larger reform package that will comprehensively regulate customs duties on small parcels.

The carbon footprint of a PET bottle collected under the deposit system will be several times higher than the carbon footprint of the same bottle collected under the municipal system. Depending on the efficiency of the system and other factors, emissions will increase from 4 g CO2/unit to 11 g CO2/unit and even 22 g CO2/unit. On an annual basis, this will mean an increase in total carbon emissions of 96,000 tonnes.

On 1 January 2025, the new EU Wastewater Directive (2024/3019) entered into force, which introduces a system of extended producer responsibility (ROP) for micropollutants discharged into wastewater. Member States have until the end of July 2027 to implement the legislation and establish national ROP systems. National systems will become operational by 31 December 2028 at the latest, when most of the costs of the so-called fourth-tier treatment will be covered by cosmetics and medical device manufacturers.

The Ministry of Climate and Environment is working on a document that will identify scarce raw materials for the Polish economy. It also aims to develop a methodology for identifying scarce raw materials and then prepare new lists of strategic and critical raw materials.

In response to growing climate challenges, scarcity of raw materials and the move towards a more sustainable production model, the European Parliament has adopted a proposal for new regulations to cover the entire life cycle of vehicles - from design, production and use to disposal.

The European Commission has confirmed that stretch films and PET/PP strapping tapes will be fully exempted from the 100 per cent reuse obligation introduced by the PPWR. The EC's decision was announced by the European Film Producers' Association (EuPF), which has long sought an exemption for certain types of transport packaging from the objectives of Article 29(1), (2) and (3) of the PPWR.

The European plastics recycling industry is on the brink of collapse, alarms Plastics Recyclers Europe. Declining competitiveness, rising energy costs, low prices for imported raw material and significant administrative burdens are causing more facilities to reduce or even close down production. This situation threatens not only the plastics recycling industry itself. The lack of local raw material puts the EU's ambitious targets for a circular economy into question.

On 31 December 2025, existing administrative decisions for waste collection, treatment and generation will expire by law. This means that with the start of the new year, many waste management companies will lose their ability to operate. However, the government is working on legislation that will extend the validity of the decisions and prevent paralysis of the waste industry.