Destination… Poland

Batteries pre-draft confirms continued competing PRO model

An outline of a Batteries and Batteries Waste Regulation (BBWR) aligning pre-draft confirms Poland will retain the competing producer responsibility organisation (PRO) model for batteries.

Producers must comply via a PRO and remain legally responsible, with the product fee continuing to be a penalty for missed collection and recycling targets.

On 21 July 2025, the Council of Ministers issued an outline of a pre-draft under project no. UC107, setting out Poland’s plans to implement the EU Battery Regulation (2023/1542), with the final draft anticipated for completion and adoption in Q4 2025.

The new law will fully repeal the existing 2009 Act on Batteries and Accumulators.

Key measures planned under UC107 include:

• A competent authority designated to monitor and verify compliance by producers and PROs, alongside a framework for notified conformity assessment bodies
• Battery producers must contract with a PRO to strengthen enforcement and reduce free-riding, with a focus on importers and foreign sellers –however, ultimate legal liability will remain with the producers
• PROs will continue to be required to meet strict criteria, including minimum share capital, clean criminal records for management and supervisory board members, and external audits at least every 3 years
• A deposit return scheme (DRS) will apply to starting, lighting and ignition (SLI) batteries with unclaimed deposits transferred into the relevant provincial marshal’s account
• The existing product fee will remain as a penalty mechanism when producers fail to meet minimum collection and recycling targets for portable and light means of transport (LMT) batteries
• Supplementary implementing regulations will specify detailed processing and storage requirements, updated product fee rates, and detailed DRS conditions, and
• No de-minimis thresholds are foreseen for small producers, and individual compliance does not appear to be an available option at this stage

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