Half a year of the deposit system. This is how many packages Poles returned
The deposit system has been in operation for half a year. It is estimated that so far Poles have returned over 1 billion returnable packaging.
A deposit system has been in place in Poland since October last year. Under this scheme, a deposit of PLN 50 is added for drinks in plastic bottles and metal cans. For drinks in reusable glass bottles, there is a deposit of PLN 1. After drinking the drink, we can collect the deposit by returning the package to the store (without a receipt and to any store).
The six-month operation of the system is summarized by Anita Sowińska, deputy minister of climate and environment, responsible for the deposit system in the ministry. It turns out that so far Poles have already returned over 1 billion returnable packaging, most of which were bottles (650 million pieces, the remaining 350 million are cans). It is estimated that 100 million packages return to the system in one week. The vast majority, 81 percent. all packaging was returned via deposit machines.
Data presented by the deputy head of the Ministry of Climate and Environment show that there are currently 57,000. collection points, of which 12.5 thousand they’re automatons. It is noteworthy that 56 percent points are available in stores under 200 sq m, which are not obliged to collect packaging.
“There is no room for the so-called retroactive return”
As the Local Government Portal notes, opinions have recently appeared in the media comparing the deposit system to “VAT carousels”. They suggest the possibility of deposit fraud by selling and charging a deposit instead of declared export, or mechanisms resulting from the retrospective refund of the deposit upon export. Such comparisons are, according to the deputy minister of climate and environment, “completely unjustified”.
– There is no place in the deposit system for the so-called gray zone and there is no room for the so-called reverse refund. (…) In 2024, when we amended the Deposit Act, we made sure that the deposit ran behind the packaging. And in fact, this mechanism means that all stakeholders, all entities involved in this system, each have their own interest in ensuring that the deposit is returned. – emphasizes Sowińska.
A recent survey by SW Research for “Wprost” shows that as many as three quarters of Poles (75.1%) return bottles or cans under the deposit system. Every fourth respondent (24.9%) does not return the packaging.
Women use the deposit system slightly more often (77.5%), but also among men the percentage of “yes” responses exceeded 70%. (72.6%). However, such declarations were most often submitted by people from cities with a population of 100,000 to 200,000. inhabitants (85%). Lack of interest in the deposit system was most often declared by respondents with primary/lower secondary education (32.8%).
