The Ministry of Climate and Environment (MKiŚ) is preparing a revolution in the waste management system. The fresh packaging fee, known as the Extended maker work (ROP), is expected to radically change the distribution of recycling costs in Poland. The aim is to transfer the financial burden from local governments and residents straight to producers. The hotel ensures that this is simply a step towards more ecological packaging and possibly lower bills for the removal of garbage for Poles. However, the manufacture has a different opinion, informing against a hidden taxation that will yet incriminate consumers. Is this the end of an era of costly exports of waste or the beginning of fresh burdens in product prices?
What is Extended maker work (ROP)?
The key to change is the concept of Extended maker work (ROP). According to it, manufacturers are to bear full work for the packaging of their product throughout its life cycle, from the minute of its placing on the marketplace to its processing after consumption. It is now primarily the inhabitants, through waste export charges, who finance the recycling system. Deputy Minister of Climate Anita Sowińska emphasises that the ROP aims to discourage producers from creating packaging that is hard to process, as well as to rise funds for efficient recycling for municipalities. As Sowińska pointed out, the maker will be able to reduce the costs incurred by selecting easier-to-recyclable packaging and even reduce it to zero erstwhile utilizing multiple packaging. The hotel firmly ensures that the ROP will not be another taxation but a tool for changing industrial habits.
Schedule and Estimated Rates: erstwhile will the changes come into force?
The draft ROP Act is presently in the process of public consultation and interministerial arrangements. The Ministry of Climate and Environment assumes that the legislative process will be completed by the end of the year, and the bill will enter into force with the beginning 2026. A two-year transitional period is foreseen, which means that the full implementation of the ROP strategy for packaging will take place from January 1, 2028. In the first year of operation of the program, i.e. in 2026, the fee for 1 pack is not to exceed half a penny. The gross from the packaging fee is estimated to be around PLN 513 million in 2026 and above PLN 1.27 billion in 2027. At the end of the transitional period, in 2028, erstwhile the rates will be set at a level covering the full costs of the system, the receipts may scope more than PLN 5.06 billion. For example, in 2028 the fee per kilogram of plastic waste will be 1.76 zł, for glass will be this 17 Cents, for paper and paperboard 63 Cents.
Cost dispute: Who will truly pay for fresh packaging?
Despite the assurances of the Ministry of Climate and Environment that the ROP is not a taxation and is intended to relieve the population, the manufacturing manufacture looks at these changes with a large amount of criticism. The manufacture fears that the eventual burden of the fresh charge will fall on consumers anyway. Krzysztof Baczyński, president of the Board of the EKO-PAK Employers' Association, describes the task as a ‘new paratax’ and warns against ‘centralisation and bureaucracy of the full waste management sector’. In his opinion, producers will be forced to include the cost of the charge in the price of their products, which will translate into an increase in prices on the store shelves. This is the key point of the dispute, which raises the top concerns among Poles. The government argues that force on producers will force them to innovate and choose cheaper, greener packaging solutions, which will benefit everyone in the long term.
What does this mean for Poles? applicable consequences of the fresh charge
For the average Pole the introduction of Extended maker work may have 2 consequences. On the 1 hand, there is simply a chance reduction of waste-export bills, since part of the costs of financing the recycling strategy will be transferred from the municipalities to producers. That would be a real relief for home budgets. On the another hand, there is simply a hazard that producers may be able to compensate for fresh burdens, increase the prices of products. This would mean that alternatively of paying little for garbage, Poles will pay more for food, beverages or cosmetics. Regardless of the direct impact on the portfolio, the fresh law is intended to encourage the wider usage of multiple packaging and easier recycling, which in the long word will reduce waste and improve the environment. This is simply a change that will surely affect our regular purchasing and consumption habits.
Read more:
No more advanced billing for garbage? The government introduces a fresh packaging fee.
