A project to implement a deposit system in Poland has been in the works for over a year. It is to cover plastic beverage packaging of up to 3 litres, reusable glass beverage packaging of up to 1.5 litres and now, following the latest change, metal cans of up to 1 litre.

According to Konrad Robak, Country & Business Development Manager of TOMRA Collection Poland, 2022 was a landmark year in terms of legislative action regarding waste management projects in Poland. The deposit system that is being designed by the Ministry of Climate and Environment will use a ‘return-to-retail’ model. It means that shops selling beverages will become legally responsible for accepting used beverage containers for recycling. 

‘With this method, in the best markets, a return rate of almost 100 % is achieved,’ emphasised Robak, according to whom one of the key benefits of the deposit system for the shop could be the fact that consumers who return beverage containers at a particular outlet are likely to use the returned deposit amount as part of their purchases at that particular shop. 

According to the draft, it will be compulsory for shops with a surface area of more than 200 square metres to join the system. For smaller establishments, it will be voluntary, although they will still have to collect the deposit from covered products.

“Data from other countries with such a system show that it can increase the number of customer visits to the shop. It turns out that 93 % of Swedish users of the deposit system shopped when returning empty packaging, and 44 % then did a full week’s shopping.

TOMRA is a company that has been active in the recycling market for more than 40 years. It is dedicated to providing intelligent solutions for the optimisation of resources – for their acquisition, use, conservation, recovery, recycling and revitalisation. 

Arkadiusz Słomczyński