Amendment of the Packaging Act: pharmacies and HoReCa outside the deposit system

The deposit system in Poland has raised many questions and controversies from the outset, especially among industries that found themselves in it „by the way”, so to speak. One of these was pharmacies and the HoReCa sector, which - although not typical beverage outlets - were covered by the obligations under the legislation. However, the draft amendment to the Packaging Act shows that the legislator is beginning to recognise the specificity of these entities and respond to their demands.

Pharmacies excluded from deposit scheme - latest change in bill

The appeals of the Supreme Pharmaceutical Chamber and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry have finally had an effect - it seems that the soon large pharmacies will no longer have to collect empty drinks containers. On 20 March 2026, the following was published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre an updated version of the draft amendment to the Packaging and Packaging Waste Act (UC100), which meets the expectations of pharmacists. In fact, Article 133(8) states excluding pharmacies, pharmacy outlets and pharmaceutical wholesalers from the obligation to participate in the deposit scheme in terms of:

• collection of packaging and packaging waste,
• return of deposits,
• to conclude contracts with any representative entity that wishes to do so.

If the aforementioned provision of the law is passed unchanged, all pharmacies will be officially excluded from the deposit scheme, including those with a sales area of more than 200 m². Pharmacies will, however, retain the right to participate voluntarily in the system and to run collection points.

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How did pharmacies get into the bail system and how will they leave it?

With the launch of the deposit system in Poland, all pharmacies with a retail area of more than 200 m² have automatically become collection points for deposit packaging. Why? The assortment of each of them contained products recognised by the Act as packaged beverages, i.e. liquid food for special medical purposes, liquid dietary supplements or mineral water, thus making large pharmacies and pharmaceutical wholesalers meet the statutory definition of a retail and wholesale unit.

The original version of the bail law did not provide exemptions for pharmacies - As the Ministry of the Environment argued, the obligation to run a collection point covered a small number (maximum 20) of outlets across Poland. In addition, most of them were located in shopping centres, so, according to the ministry, pharmacists did not have to collect the bottles directly - they could use, for example, bottle machines. However, these explanations did not satisfy the pharmaceutical community. Industry representatives stressed that a pharmacy is a public health facility, not a shop. Furthermore, pharmacies contribute to the environment anyway by collecting unwanted and out-of-date medicines.

The Ministry of Climate and Environment remained adamant, justifying its position with the need to keep the bail-in system watertight. This only changed with the publication of the draft amendment, which responded not only to the needs of the pharmaceutical industry, but also of HoReCa.

HoReCa outside the bail system, but under certain conditions

The amendment to the bail law is also expected to simplify bail settlement operations in the HoReCa sector. Hoteliers, restaurateurs and catering owners selling beverages in containers covered by the deposit system will be able to waive the collection of security deposits, if they fulfil all of the following conditions:

• packaging will be opened on the premises,
• the drink will be consumed on the premises,
• empty packaging or packaging waste will be returned to the premises.

Ministerial the bill is currently in the early stages of legislative work - has already been submitted to the Joint Committee of the Government and Local Self-Government for its opinion, and will then go to the Committee of the Council of Ministers for Digitalisation. The course of the legislative process can be followed on the website of the Government Legislation Centre.

Read also: Glass bottles, however, outside the deposit system >>