News

Amendments to the law on the bail system in Poland

On 7 March, a press conference was held at which Anita Sowinska, Deputy Minister for Climate and Environment, spoke about the proposed changes to the bail system.

What will change?

1. VAT-free deposit. Both single-use and reusable packaging will be exempt from VAT.
2. The bail will 'follow' the packaging. As in other countries with a bail system.
3. Deposit amount - 50 gr for plastic packaging and for metal cans and £1 for glass bottles.
4. Obligation for small shops that sell such beverages to accept reusable glass packaging.
5. Inclusion of dairy packaging from 2026.
6. Inclusion of standard reusable glass packaging.
7. Harmonised labelling system for returnable packaging - common returnable packaging symbol and barcode.

View a transcript of the conference HERE

As Interzero, we are ready for the upcoming statutory changes. You can already familiarise yourself with our offer Bottle machinesthat will make it easier for you to collect returnable packaging in your retail network.

We also offer expert advice to companies setting up and participating in a deposit system: to manufacturers and distributors and to representative entities. We provide a comprehensive service for deposit systems with regard to, among other things, the collection and logistics of packaging and packaging waste and its management. You can join a system set up by us and PIOIRO in order to be guaranteed to meet your statutory obligations. More information HERE 

Summary of the 9th European Congress of Local Governments Economic Forum

On 4-5 March 2024, Mikolajki hosted the IX European Congress of Local Governments. The event, on behalf of Interzero, was attended by Pawel Lesiak, Vice President of the Management Board. The theme of this year's edition was 'The future of the idea of decentralisation in a changing world'.

Technological development, social change and challenges

Local government reforms have brought decades of successful economic growth and regional development to Europe. The self-government reform in the Third Republic is considered one of the best, enabling the effective absorption of EU funds, participation in cross-border programmes and the implementation of strategic regional projects.

Responsible as a producer or in anticipation of a revolution - MyCompany Poland debate

Why is Extended Producer Responsibility an important topic for bail scheme participants? What role will municipalities play in the system? What will the PPWR directive change? These and other questions were answered by participants in the MyCompany Poland debate, in which Interzero was represented by Przemysław Kuna, Managing Director at Interzero.

Last week, the debate 'Responsible as a Producer, or Awaiting a Revolution' took place, featuring Przemysław Kuna, Managing Director at Interzero, Krzysztof Baczynski, President of the Board of the Association of Employers of the Packaging and Products in Packaging Industry EKO-PAK and Artur Lobocki, Board Member of the RECAL Aluminium Packaging Recovery Foundation.

Participants in the debate leaned into issues related to the enactment of a deposit system in Poland from 2025, as well as the new packaging collection levels dictated by the transposition of the PPWR Directive. It was noted that the new deposit fees pose a high risk to the market in view of the low level of secondary material recovery in Poland. Attention was also drawn to the low awareness of waste recycling among Poles. The experts stressed the important role of municipalities in the system and about the legitimacy of penalties and product fees.

We encourage you to read the entire material HERE.

Interzero Poland and the Polish Chamber of Packaging Recovery and Recycling will create a representative entity for companies in the deposit system - find out more here: https://systemkaucyjny.pioiro.pl/.

Environmental education and public education campaigns - Interzero report 2023

As Interzero Organizacja Odzysku Opakowań S.A. and Interzero Organizacja Odzysku Sprzętu Elektrycznego i Elektronicznego S.A., we carry out educational campaigns for entrepreneurs who have transferred their packaging recovery obligation to us as part of their statutory obligation. We invite you to read the report on our educational activities in 2023.

In 2023, we have been active in the area of implementing educational projects and campaigns aimed at both children and young people and adults, including businesses and consumers.

• As part of the project Eco-friendly without the frills, we educate Poles about ecology, environmental protection and waste segregation. We have realised 7 episodes of the podcast (also available in Apple Podcasts, YouTube i Spotify), and we were able to gather a wide reach on our social media profiles on Facebook i Instagram.
• EcoPakThe educational materials for schools, including lesson plans, colouring books, games and art materials related to raw materials, were distributed to the 120 nursery schools that were most active in the local authority campaign. Cycling in May.
• We have also developed our own educational game 'Action-fraction!which teaches young and old about correct waste segregation in an accessible way. The game was available at events supported by Interzero.
• As part of our collaboration with the Mamy Projekt collective, we became the content patron for one of the rooms of the newly opened education centre Turning point at 88 Jagiellońska Street in Warsaw, where children and young people learn the secrets of fast fashion and learn about packaging. We also support the travelling exhibition EcoExperimentarium, which was visited live by more than 13,000 visitors last year alone; and 499,000 online players.
• Together with the Museum of Photography in Krakow we realised The project "Closed Circuit. Waste in Photography", based on journalism and photography workshops, while with UNEP/GRID-Warsaw - the a series of workshops in the Royal Baths Park and an exhibition of 10 collages encouraging waste reduction. The exhibition can be hired via the Cooperative.
• We also organised many activities during the next edition of Zero Waste Fair, and we also provided content support for three themed days in the Kindergarten Calendar programme, run by the It's Simple Foundation and Intersnack in the 'Don't Throw Away, Use' programme.
• Once again, together with UNEP/GRID-Warszawa and the Czepczyński Family Foundation, we have become a partner in the educational program implemented by the Maspex Group. Winnie the Pooh friends of nature, which has been in operation for 16 years and has reached 10 million children.

As part of its business education activities, Interzero prepared 8 online training courses on reporting, changes dictated by the transposition of the SUP Directive or waste management, and other training courses available on the Interzero Academy platform. We also held the 10th Anniversary Edition of the Interzero Environmental Conference, for the first time in an open format, where we focused mainly on the topics of SUP and the establishment of a deposit system. Our experts appeared in debates and other publications from titles such as Forbes, MyCompany and Rzeczpospolita, as well as in trade magazines (Now Environment).

We encourage you to read the details of the report HERE.

Eco-friendly retail space in Janki Shopping Centre

Taking care of green urban spaces is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, such places attract huge numbers of people every day, which means that even small changes can have a big impact on the environment. Implementing modern solutions in a shopping centre, for example, can improve the level of waste segregation, increase the environmental awareness of visitors to the place, or save and reduce the costs of operating the building and its surroundings.

Education of the public plays a key role in promoting green practices. Shopping centres are an excellent place to communicate environmental awareness and the benefits of a green lifestyle. Through information campaigns, educational events or practical examples, people can be effectively made aware and visitors can be encouraged to make more informed consumer decisions.

ESG, or Environmental, Social, and Governance, is not just about declarations on social and environmental responsibility, but finally concrete and measurable actions. Increased pro-environmental measures can be seen in various sectors of the economy, including larger retailers such as Janki Shopping Centre.

The facility incorporates a range of solutions and investments that ultimately contribute to reducing the carbon footprint, saving resources and educating the public.

The commercial space has been designed in the spirit of #zerowaste - various eco-equipment can be used in the building, such as bicycle-loaders or solutions provided by Interzero - bottle machine, self-segregating bin i solar basket. The centre authorities also took care of the green areas around the building - insect houses and composters were used to preserve the biosystem.

As Interzero, we very much welcome initiatives that have a positive impact on the planet. We hope that other facilities of this kind in our country will also work on ecological retail space.

You can read more about the sustainable solutions used in Janki Shopping Centre in the article at the link: HERE

Check which eco-equipment can be useful in your commercial space!

New Interzero report "Between plus and minus"

On the occasion of Battery Day, we are publishing a research report as part of the Eco Without Cuts campaign "Between plus and minus - what do Poles know about batteries and how do they deal with their segregation?". The results are surprising. Despite being aware of the obligation to separate waste collection, many of us still fail to comply. Poles perceive batteries as harmful both during production and during storage. They also considered recycling to be dangerous to the environment. Despite many fears about batteries, we do not give much thought to the power source in our devices. 

Never before in history have we produced and consumed so many batteries. According to forecasts by McKinsey & Company, their market will grow at 25% per year and, in the case of lithium-ion cells, could reach 30% of annual growth by 2030. This demand is being driven by the development of portable digital technologies, energy banks or electromobility, among other things. With this rapid progress of the battery industry, the question arises about the future of managing this new waste.  

In our latest study entitled "Between plus and minus" We asked about Poles' habits regarding separate collection of waste, including hazardous waste. We also wanted to know their motivations and beliefs regarding battery recycling. The fact that a significant proportion of the respondents know how to handle used batteries correctly in their declarations is a positive sign. However, serious doubts arise when it comes to more specific questions. The lack of knowledge regarding the benefits of recycling batteries and concerns about the harmfulness of this process are particularly noteworthy. The fragility of supply chains and the limited deposits of raw materials in the European Union mean that we should treat used batteries and accumulators as a strategic resource. In fact, the lithium, nickel, manganese and graphite present in the cells are of critical importance. Obtaining these elements, regardless of the source, is expensive and risky, and substituting them in technologies at this stage of development seems simply impossible. The importance of recycling in this context is therefore both a measure to protect the environment and to ensure the security of Europe's raw materials. 

What is also surprising in the "Between plus and minus" report is the group of young adults who were found to be less inclined towards ecological behaviour than older adults. Respondents under the age of 35 are not only less likely to separate waste, but are also more likely to doubt the sense of recycling. It is the responses of this group that should particularly stimulate reflection on the effectiveness of educational and legislative measures to date. 

You can find out more from the press release HERE.

How do we perceive ... waste? A few words about the project "Closed circuit. Waste in photography".

Waste is substances or objects that people dispose of because they consider them unnecessary, used or hazardous. It can be, for example, food scraps, packaging, used batteries, chemicals or used electronic equipment. The emotions that they arouse in people can be varied and depend on many factors, such as environmental awareness, level of education or culture.

Today we are talking about the inevitable need for transformation and the impact of human activity in the areas of energy, agriculture, production, consumption and waste management. Each of these topics is pressing and our time is becoming increasingly limited.

As environmental educators, we face major challenges. We must not only impart knowledge, but also affect the emotions of our audience. This requires reflection, understanding and taking care of the participants in the educational process. Our work must be effective. Building public awareness is a process in which it is worth experimenting and involving different groups of people and a variety of topics.

As Interzero, representing the business sector, we decided to carry out a project with Museum of Photography in Krakow "Closed Circuit. Waste in Photography". The project envisaged a series of meetings that would result in photographs and texts freely referring to the theme of waste.

We would like to thank Maria Masternak and Anna Sidorska from the Museum of Photography in Krakow, workshop leaders Rafał Siderski and Krzysztof Story, all participants and our Project Manager Monika Krysztofińska.

We are very impressed with the results of this project. We are pleased that the subject of waste, is not only important to us, but also to the wider community, who believe that by acting together, much good can be achieved.

More information about the project can be found in a publication on Eco Without Borders: HERE

Fot. Mateusz Woźniak, Magdalena Niezabitowska Krogulec, Tomasz Orłowski, Marta Wróblewska

Take part in the Made4Loop training - mugs and boxes that stay in circulation! Interzero's response to the obligations imposed by the SUP directive

We would like to invite you to a webinar entitled "The world's most important events". "Made4Loop - cups and boxes that stay in circulation! Interzero's response to the obligations imposed by the SUP directive"which will already take place 22 February 2024 (Thursday).

The online training will be led by: Zbigniew Skowronek, Board Agent for New Solutions at the Interzero

Scope of the webinar:

1. New obligations for businesses under the SUP Directive,
2. Consumer charge for cups and boxes,
3. Obligation to provide alternatives to single-use packaging from 1 July 2024,
4. What is looping? Definition, target groups,
5. Made4Loop

More details and the registration page can be found at HERE

Registration for the webinar runs until: 22 February 2024 at 8:00 am.

You are welcome!

Interzero among the winners of Forbes Monthly Diamonds 2024!

We are pleased to announce that the ranking of Forbes Diamonds 2024: revenues from PLN 5 to 50 million The company of the Interzero Group in Poland - Interzero Advisory sp. z o. o. - was ranked 77th in the Mazowieckie Voivodship and 311th on the national list!

Forbes' Diamonds is one of the leading rankings among private companies operating in Poland, which aims to identify the most dynamic companies in a given region that have achieved the highest average annual growth in value. The ranking is based on the Swiss method of company valuation, which takes into account, among other things, financial results or asset values.

We would like to thank you for this prestigious award; it is proof of our continued growth and the result of the hard work of our employees, as well as an important indicator of our strengthening position in the market.

The full summary is available at the project's official website.

Could lack of waste become a problem? Statement by Anna Grom and Paweł Lesiak for the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily

Without effective recycling, we will not meet our obligations to close the recycling loop, with the threat of heavy fines. However, we can take action today instead of waiting idly for change.

On this subject in Dziennik Gazeta Prawna Interzero Board Representatives spoke: Anna Grom and Paweł Lesiak.

"The suspension or closure of treatment plants is an increasingly common scenario also in Germany or Italy, i.e. countries where the financial outlay for the collection, sorting, transport and treatment system has been for years, and still is, much higher than in Poland". - says Anna Grom.

"The situation has clearly got out of hand, as no one seems to have assumed that the EU would import recyclate en masse from the other side of the world, about whose composition and quality we know nothing. It is high time to restrict imports of untested and often falsely labelled secondary raw materials. This is because they displace better-quality but more expensive locally processed material from the market. Closing the borders in this way could be good for everyone." - says Paweł Lesiak.

"I would suggest conducting an up-to-date and meticulous environmental auditThis year's experience has shown that even large operators, due to the lack of reliable verification, can overstate the weight of packaging by up to 40 per cent. This year's experience has shown that even large entities, due to the lack of reliable verification, are able to overstate the weight of packaging by up to 40 per cent." - Paweł Lesiak adds.

We encourage you to read the entire material "When lack of waste becomes a problem - are we facing millions in fines?" at the link: HERE