Europe v. Polish ROP experiment

45 manufacture organisations from all over Europe – including the Confederation of Leviathan – call on Polish authorities to withdrawal from the plans to introduce a state-owned extended maker work model (ROP) for packaging. This is another global initiative informing against the effects of the strategy proposed in Poland, which, according to experts, is more like an additional taxation than a real tool supporting recycling and the closed-loop economy.

The proposed ROP mechanics threatens bureaucratic paralysis and cost increases

Draft law – which assumes that the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW) will be the sole managing entity of the ROP strategy – in practice, the impact on the way recycling is financed by producers. Companies would only pay fees and municipalities and waste companies would search reimbursement. This mechanism, requiring complex reporting and audits, risks bureaucratic paralysis and cost increases, alternatively of improving collection and recycling quality.

Signatories of the appeal point out that financial resources can be diverted from investment in collection and sorting of waste to fixing holes in the state budget. This not only undermines the assurance of entrepreneurs, but besides runs counter to the EU Waste Framework Directive, which clearly indicates in Article 8a that the funds paid by introducers service circumstantial objectives. They are to cover the costs of separate collection, transport and treatment of waste, taking into account the gross from re-use, from the sale of secondary natural materials from its products and of unreceived bailouts in accordance with the net cost principle.

Hazard to the packaging market

Industry organisations besides inform against a real threat to the packaging marketplace if Poland implements current legislation, many types of packaging – even designed in accordance with the requirements of the European PPWR Regulation – can lose marketplace access by 2035. As a result, both producers and consumers will suffer, who will pay more for the products in hard packages available.

The example of Hungary, where a akin state model is introduced, shows what specified a policy may be threatening: according to Eurostat data, the recycling rate of packaging is only 42.4%, while the EU average is 65.4%. Poland – alternatively of going this way – should benefit from good practices that actually support the objectives of the closed economy – points out Piotr Mazurek, Confederate expert on economical and environmental legislation.

Signatories of the appeal – among them organisations representing the packaging industry, food producers, cosmetics producers, beverages, as well as employers' unions across Europe – call on the Polish government to reconsider these plans. They call for a strategy in line with EU environmental rules and objectives, based on maker shared work and transparent backing mechanisms.

Poland has a chance to make a strategy that truly supports the circular economy. But the taxation model under the ROP will not meet these objectives and will harm both entrepreneurs and consumers. The experience of another countries shows that it is simply a dead end," adds Piotr Mazurek.

This is yet another call from European organisations on this issue. Only a fewer months ago, 58 manufacture associations from different EU countries first warned jointly about the introduction of the national ROP model in Poland. The appeal confirms that concerns are increasing and the consequences of erroneous legislative decisions may be felt not only in the country but besides across Europe..

More in the appeal of manufacture organisations:

Appeal – Polish version

Appeal – English version

Confederation of Leviathan