Recycling fee 2025 - who and when must pay the fee for plastic bags?
Shop owners and wholesalers who offer plastic bags to their customers are required to pay a recycling fee. How much is the fee for plastic bags in 2025 and when does it have to be paid? Learn the most important information about the recycling fee.
What is subject to the recycling fee?
The recycling fee applies to all plastic shopping bags . with the exception of the so-called break-ins , i.e. very light bags made of material less than 15 micrometers thick, which are:
- necessary for hygiene reasons,
- used as primary packaging for loose foods (as long as they prevent food waste).
This means that the recycling fee is not charged, for example, for shopping bags on a roll or plastic bags used for packing fresh bread, fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, etc.
Entrepreneur's obligations related to the recycling fee
Every entrepreneur running a shop or wholesale store (retail or wholesale trade entity) where plastic shopping bags are offered to customers is obliged to :
- collecting a recycling fee from buyers (customers),
- transferring the collected recycling fee to the appropriate bank account within the set deadlines,
- keeping records of the number of bags purchased and issued (light, i.e. from 15 to 40 microns and others, i.e. 50 microns and more) in paper or electronic form. Owners of several sales outlets must keep separate records for each of them,
- submitting an annual report on the number of plastic bags purchased and issued to customers (so-called packaging and product reports ).
Recycling fee rate 2025 - how much is the fee for plastic bags?
From 1 September 2019, the recycling fee rate is 20 PLN for each plastic shopping bag, regardless of its thickness.
The recycling fee may be included in the total purchase cost of such a bag or may be added to the price of the bag set by the seller.
Until when is the recycling fee due in 2025?
The recycling fee is settled quarterly. It is paid by the 15th day of the month following the quarter in which the fee was collected.
In 2025 the recycling fee must be paid:
- for the first quarter - until April 15, 2025,
- for the second quarter - until July 15, 2025,
- for the third quarter - until October 15, 2025,
- for the fourth quarter - until January 15, 2026
Do you charge a recycling fee? You are required to register with BDO!
Owners of shops and wholesalers obliged to collect the recycling fee are also obliged to obtain an entry in the BDO register. An application for entry must be submitted before starting commercial activity . For selling plastic bags to customers without the required entry in the BDO, the entrepreneur can receive a fine from PLN 5,000 to PLN 1 million!
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After registering with BDO , you will receive a registration number , and the province marshal will create an individual account for your company in the system and send you a login and password. An account in the BDO register is necessary to submit an annual report on the number of bags purchased and issued to customers with a thickness of 15 to 49 micrometers and 50 and more micrometers - this obligation can only be fulfilled electronically!
FAQ
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the recycling fee for plastic bags.
The recycling fee is paid by the buyer (usually the consumer) of the plastic bag. The entrepreneur selling the bag only collects the recycling fee and transfers it to the province marshal.
The recycling fee applies to all plastic bags, except for very lightweight bags (material thickness less than 15 micrometres) used for hygiene reasons or as primary packaging for loose food products (provided they prevent food waste).
Yes, provided they are made available to buyers for hygiene reasons or as primary packaging for loose food . In other cases, e.g. when the so-called tear-offs are used to pack products in packages or products other than food, a recycling fee must be paid for them.
Yes . The buyer of a plastic bag is required to pay a recycling fee, and the entrepreneur selling the bag is required to collect it and then transfer it to the bank account of the voivodeship marshal within a specified period. The exception are bags with a material thickness of less than 15 micrometers , provided they are used for hygiene reasons or as primary packaging for loose food, which prevents its waste.
The recycling fee collected from customers is paid into the account kept by the marshal of the voivodeship appropriate to the place of business activity .
NO . The recycling fee regulations only apply to plastic bags.
Want to offer your customers more sustainable alternatives to plastic bags? Check out what to use to replace tear-offs and disposable plastic bags!