There is progress toward the introduction of a deposit return scheme (DRS) for beverage containers in Poland, even if the process is advancing more slowly than its advocates wish. In the first week of June, the country's council of ministers voted to adopt amendments to the national Act on packaging management, setting a system start-up date of 1 January 2025.
According to a statement from the Polish environment ministry, the text adopted by the council of ministers would have the deposit system cover single-use plastic bottles up to 3 litres, refillable glass bottles up to 1.5 litres and metal drinks cans with a capacity of up to 1 litre. These containers are currently collected via municipal waste collections. The level of the deposit has yet to be set and will be specified in a separate regulation.
The implementation timeline is tight, and both industry assocations and non-governmental organisations doubt whether the system will be able to be launched as planned at the beginning of 2025....
