Extended producer responsibility (EPR) in Poland: the legal position in 2025

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is the principle that whoever places a product on the market is also responsible for financing and organising the management of the waste that will arise from it. In May 2025 Poland has no single EPR act: the obligations follow from sectoral acts, and the common denominator is a BDO register entry, recovery and recycling levels, recovery organisations, the product fee and reporting.

Legal bases by product group

Entry in the BDO register is required for most of these groups: those placing on the market products and products in packaging, those carrying out recycling and recovery, recovery organisations, and since 2023 also entities representing the deposit return system.

How EPR works for packaging

1. Levels. Those placing products in packaging on the market must achieve the recycling levels set in the Act (overall and for individual materials).
2. Independently or through an organisation. The obligations can be performed independently or through a packaging recovery organisation; there is also the role of the economic self-government organisation.
3. Documenting recycling. A business carrying out recycling prepares a recycling confirmation document (DPR) through its BDO account, at the request of the producer or the organisation.
4. Product fee. If the level has not been achieved, a product fee is paid, calculated by the mass of packaging; the rates are set by regulation, and settlement takes place at the end of the calendar year.
5. Control and sanctions. The voivodeship marshal may determine arrears in the fee and impose an additional fee of 50% of the unpaid amount if the decision is not complied with.

The deposit return system as an element of EPR

The amendment of 13 July 2023 and the following one of 21 November 2024 implement a deposit return system for selected beverage packaging (implementing Directive 2019/904, the SUP Directive). The operators are representing entities, which are financed by those placing beverages on the market; this makes it possible to achieve high separate collection levels. The 2024 Act provides for the launch of the system no earlier than 1 October 2025 and — from 1 January 2026 — a triple product fee rate for those placing beverages on the market who have not concluded an agreement with a representing entity and have not achieved the required levels.

The EU framework

Directive 2008/98/EC, as amended in 2018, sets out in Articles 8 and 8a the minimum requirements for EPR systems: clearly defined roles, targets, a reporting system, equal treatment of producers and cost coverage. Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR) will apply as a rule from 12 August 2026 and will rebuild EPR for packaging across the EU. National provisions will have to be adapted to these regulations.

Who does what in packaging EPR

Reporting takes place in BDO: annual reports on products, packaging and waste management are submitted by 15 March for the previous year to the voivodeship marshal competent for the business’s registered office.

Why this matters for the waste and biogas industry

• EPR finances the collection and recycling of packaging streams, which changes the composition of municipal waste and of waste going to sorting plants.
• Food and beverage producers care about accountable packaging recycling, which favours installations with precise records in BDO.
• For installations that unpack and process packaged food (depackaging), how the mass of packaging is accounted for matters.

Common producer mistakes

• no BDO entry before placing a product on the market;
• underestimating the mass of packaging in reports;
• no agreements with a recovery organisation or with recyclers;
• missing the deadlines for the product fee and reports (including 15 March);
• not knowing that beverages in packaging covered by the deposit have their own obligations.

What to do first

1. Establish which sectoral act applies to your product.
2. Check your BDO entry and types of activity.
3. Decide: performing the obligations independently or through a recovery organisation.
4. Follow the PPWR and national legislative work, because the transitional period is sometimes short.

This text is for information only and does not constitute legal advice; before an investment or formal decision, check the current wording of the regulations and consult a lawyer or the competent authority.