- 13 lutego 2023
- Category: Advocacy & Legal Updates
AmCham remains active in activities aimed at adopting the deposit system to the Polish legal system, which is intended to reduce the amount of waste generated in Poland, ensure high-quality waste for recycling, and use recycled waste as an important source of raw materials.
Due to the protracted legislative process and still no submission of the legal act to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, AmCham submitted (on February 14, 2023) a position with an appeal to Minister Łukasz Schreiber to proceed and submit the act as soon as possible (draft act amending the act on the management of packaging and packaging waste and the act on waste)
Further delay in passing the act pushes the deadline for the creation of the deposit system and the start of the actual collection of packaging covered by it beyond 2025. This poses a real threat to many AmCham member companies in meeting both the required levels of collection of beverage packaging and the required from 2025, 25 % level of use in new packaging of secondary raw material, which is a PET recyclate.
In our position, AmCham argues the following points:
- The introduction of the deposit system will result in creating an access to Polish raw materials for reprocessing and will offer a significant reduction of the plastic tax for Poland.
A well-designed deposit system will contribute significantly to the increasing of the level of packaging collection and reducing the carbon footprint of the FMCG industry.
Due to insufficient recycling of plastic packaging, the Polish budget was burdened, last year, with a tax on plastics amounting to PLN 1.69 billion and is expected to reach PLN 1.75 billion this year. The assumed 105,000 tons of plastic recycled amounts to the savings of approximately EUR 84 million, which translates into almost PLN 400 million more per year in the Polish budget.
- The deposit system is crucial for the implementation of the requirements of the Single Use Plastic Directive from the EU, and other obligations for municipalities.
The deposit system should also ensure the compliance with the requirements of the EU Single Use Plastic Directive regarding the levels of use of secondary raw materials (recyclate) in new packaging. Already in 2025, each new PET bottle will have to contain a minimum of 25% recyclate, and from 2030 on, the share of recycled material will increase to 30%. Without a deposit system, it will be practically impossible to achieve the collection levels of beverage packaging required by EU regulations and ensure an access to secondary raw materials produced from them.
Also, the deposit system will significantly contribute to the fulfillment of the obligation to reuse and recycle municipal waste imposed on municipalities by the Act on maintaining cleanliness and order in municipalities.
- The expected increase in the present low levels of recycling of packaging waste in Poland.
The report from the Institute of Environmental Protection—National Research Institute assessing the effectiveness of packaging and packaging waste management in Poland shows that in 2020 only 45% of packaging waste from municipal systems was recycled. Despite selective collection, less than 29% plastics, 49% glass, 54% metals and 60% of paper and cardboard packaging is reused.
- Polling shows that 88% of Poles want the introduction of the deposit system (according to research conducted by ARC Rynek i Opinia)
AmCham believes that an effective waste management system including a deposit system will impact the Polish economy’s competitiveness. Its creation should be perceived as an investment in Poland’s economic development. We hope that the processing of the bill will be accelerated and AmCham will continue to work towards achieving this goal.
Our position paper is available here.