Starting October 1 this year, Poland will implement a nationwide deposit-return system aimed at increasing collection and recycling rates while reducing the amount of packaging waste ending up in landfills or the environment. However, concerns have been raised that the system may not significantly improve collection levels compared to current municipal schemes, and that the loss of valuable raw materials—currently sold by municipalities to recyclers—could drive up household waste management costs.
“I want to dispel this myth by explaining how the system will actually work. The deposit system requires each operator, each company, to establish at least one collection point in every municipality. This means that in every municipality in Poland, there will be at least one collection point, making it fairly easy for residents and consumers to return packaging,” said Piotr Okurowski, CEO of Kaucja.pl – the National Deposit System, in an interview with Newseria.
Deposit-return systems are designed to achieve much higher levels of selective collection. Currently, municipal (communal) systems reach a maximum of 50%. By contrast, well-developed deposit systems achieve 70–90% collection rates, providing significantly more material for recycling. These levels also align with EU Directive targets, which mandate a 77% collection rate by 2025 and 90% by 2029.
“In municipal systems, much of the material is lost, as statistics show that no more than 50% of packaging waste is collected through yellow bins. The rest ends up elsewhere—in forests or burned in stoves. The deposit system will capture that additional 30% and automatically channel it into recycling. That’s why we are confident that recycling rates will rise substantially once the deposit system is fully operational,” Okurowski explained.
The legal basis for Poland’s system comes from the European Parliament and Council Directive 2019/904 (the so-called SUP Directive), which obliges member states to ensure selective collection for recycling. Under the principle of extended producer responsibility, companies placing beverages in deposit-covered packaging must finance the system. This means they will bear the costs of collection, transportation, record-keeping, and deposit settlement.
The Chamber of Municipal Services warns that the new rules will have significant financial and organizational implications for local governments and municipal enterprises, as they will lose access to valuable materials they currently sell to recyclers. The Chamber estimates the system could add 1–2 billion PLN in annual costs, potentially leading to a 20–30% increase in waste collection fees for residents.
“There is no reason for municipal waste management companies to raise prices,” Okurowski countered. “It’s true that some of the material currently collected via yellow bins will instead be collected through the deposit system. However, deposit systems will still rely on sorting facilities and waste companies to process, bale, and deliver the material for recycling. The tasks and revenue streams may look different, but these companies will remain integral to the waste management flow. We encourage all entities with sorting infrastructure to actively participate in the deposit system.”
The system will cover three types of packaging: plastic bottles up to 3 liters, metal cans up to 1 liter, and reusable glass bottles up to 1.5 liters. All deposit-covered packaging will carry a special logo. Consumers will pay a deposit at checkout, added to the beverage price, which can be refunded when the packaging is returned to a collection point. All retailers selling beverages in covered packaging, regardless of size or business profile, will be required to charge the deposit. Refunds will only be available for properly marked packaging.
“There will be a very large number of collection points across Poland—tens of thousands. Yes, consumers will need to make the small effort of storing packaging at home and returning it, but the deposit—whether in cash or electronically—will be easy to reclaim,” said the Kaucja.pl CEO.
Currently, beverage packaging is often treated as waste rather than as a valuable raw material. The deposit system aims to change that.
“Operators of the deposit system will ensure packaging is collected from return points, transported through sorting facilities, and delivered to recyclers, where it will be processed into raw material—granules or rPET—that can be used to make new bottles. There is no reason to produce new bottles from virgin PET. Our partners are already producing bottles with up to 100% recycled content from collected and processed packaging,” Okurowski concluded.
