Waste packaging in the Deposit Return System

Packaging is any product, regardless of the type of material (paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, metal, textiles, wood and multilayer (composite)) from which it is made, which is used for holding, protection, handling, delivery and display of goods, from raw materials to finished products, from manufacturer to user or consumer, and packaging is also considered to be non-returnable items intended for the manufacture of packaging that will be used for these purposes as well as packaging auxiliaries, which are used for wrapping or bundling goods, packaging, airtight closing, preparation for dispatch and labelling of goods, consisting of:

the sales or primary packaging in which the product is sold or handed to the end consumer at the point of sale of the packaging;
bulk or secondary packaging containing multiple products in sales or primary packaging so that the product is accessible to the consumer as a set and individually, or which serves only to fill the shelves at the point of sale, and can be separated from the product without affecting its properties; and
transport or tertiary packaging which is protective packaging enabling the transport, transfer and handling of a certain quantity of products packaged only in sales or in sales and aggregated packaging, where this type of packaging does not include containers for road, rail, ship and air transport of goods

The waste packaging management system was established in 2006 and comprises the activities of collection and treatment of waste packaging and supervision of the performance of these activities with the aim of preventing the disposal of waste packaging in landfills due to environmental damage caused by the disposal of waste packaging at landfills, but also due to economic damage because they are energy-valuable materials.

The Deposit Return System is part of the waste packaging management system in the Republic of Croatia, which involves a method for managing single-use packaging of PET, Al/Fe and glass with a volume equal to and greater than 0.20 l intended for beverages (defined in the provision of Article 4, paragraph 1, item 18 of the Ordinance on packaging and waste), where a deposit fee is used as an incentive measure encouraging the holder of waste to separate waste beverage packaging from other waste and hand it over to the seller or the civic amenity site manager, for which the deposit fee is refunded.

Persons subject to the DRS in the Republic of Croatia include:

Sellers who sell beverages in accordance with the definition in the Ordinance on packaging and waste packaging, and whose sales area is larger than 200 m²;
A seller who is engaged in wholesale trade in the meaning of the provisions of the Trade Act, regardless of the size of the sales area, and who offers beverages, is obliged to enable his buyers to hand over waste beverage packaging;
Civic amenity site manager or bring bank manager.

A seller/dealer selling beverages whose sales area is less than 200 square meters may participate in the DRS if he complies with the spatial and technical requirements for the collection and storage of waste beverage packaging in a safe manner.

Dealers/Civic amenity sites
Holder of waste beverage packaging included in the DRS can hand it over to the seller or person managing a civic amenity site and is entitled to a refund of the deposit fee per unit of handed over waste beverage packaging.

Orders for containers, security labels and/or security seals made through the form “Oder of containers and security seals” (Annex I to the Instruction on handling waste packaging in the DRS) are supplied solely in .xls format to the e-mail address [email protected] by the 20^th of the month.

SELLERS / CIVIC AMENITY SITES

Sellers and civic amenity site (recycling yard) managers that have concluded a contract with the Fund on the method of refund of the deposit fee paid to the holder and payment of the costs of taking over waste beverage packaging are obliged to submit the following forms:

Form AO8 (Collector's certificate of collected quantities of WP from beverages in DRS)
Form AO9 (Report on taken quantities of WP from beverages in DRS) as of 1.1.2025.
Form AO9 (Report on taken quantities of WP from beverages in DRS) until 31.12.2024
FORM UPRD (Contract conclusion request)

Collection
Waste collection is an activity that includes waste collection, including the pre-sorting of waste and storage of waste for the purpose of transporting waste for recovery.

There are 24 companies and trades operating in Croatia that have the status of authorised packaging waste collectors.

COLLECTORS

List of waste packaging collectors 14/05/2024

o Decision on fees for the collection and transport for treatment of waste packaging 31/12/2024

Collectors that have concluded a contract with the Fund for the collection of beverage waste packaging in the DRS are obliged to submit the following forms:

CENTRES (Collectors that have concluded a contract with the Fund for performing the activities of the waste packaging management centre-WPMC)

WPMC List 17.02.2025.

o Decision on fees for the collection and transport of waste packaging for treatment 31/12/2024

o Calculation of costs of transport to an authorised treatment operator 2021 (as of 01.09.2021.)

o Decision – supervision of operation of the waste packaging management centre

WPMC Records

Collectors that have concluded a contract with the Fund for the performance of the activities of the Packaging Waste Management Centre are obliged to submit the following forms:

· Treatment

· Waste treatment is the process of recovery or disposal and includes preparation before recovery or disposal, while waste recovery is every process the main result of which is the use of waste for useful purposes, where the waste replaces other materials that would otherwise have to be used for that purpose, or waste that is prepared to fulfil that purpose, in an installation or in a wider economic sense.

There are 5 treatment operators in the Fund’s system. All collected packaging waste is materially recovered.

List of treatment operators 15/7/2023

Treatment operators that have concluded a contract with the Fund for the treatment of beverage waste packaging in the DRS are obliged to submit the following forms:

Goals
The waste packaging recovery goals are set out in the provision of Article 60 of the Waste Management Act and are the following:

1. Separately collect and recover, through material or energy recovery, at least 60% of the total mass if waste packaging in the territory of the Republic of Croatia;

2. Recycle at least 55% and up to a maximum of 80% of the total mass of waste packaging intended for material recovery;

3. Treat through the process of recycling at least the following mass of material in waste packaging:

a) 60% of mass for glass;
b) 60% of mass for paper and cardboard;
c) 50% of mass for metals;
d) 22.5% of mass for plastics, including solely the material that has been recycled back into plastic, and

e) 15% of mass for wood

4. By 31 December 2025, at least 65% of the total mass of waste packaging has to be treated by the recycling process

5. By 31 December 2025, at least the following mass of material in the waste packaging has to be treated by the recycling process:

a) 50% of plastic;
b) 25% of wood;
c) 70% of non-ferrous metals;
d) 50% of aluminium;
e) 70% of glass, and
f) 75% of paper and cardboard

6. By 31 December 2030, at least 70% of the total mass of waste packaging has to be treated by the recycling process.

7. By 31 December 2030, at least the following mass of material in the waste packaging has to be treated by the recycling process:

a) 55% of plastic;
b) 30% of wood;
c) 80% of non-ferrous metals;
d) 60% of aluminium;
e) 75% of glass, and
f) 85% of paper and cardboard

Instructions

Fees and charges

The waste management fee is a measure ensuring waste management services to achieve the set out waste management objectives under the extended producer responsibility scheme.

Producer of products (producer and importer of products who is legal or natural person – tradesman, or natural person, who develops, produces, processes, treats, sells, introduces or imports and places on the market in the territory of the Republic of Croatia products packed into packaging) is obliged to fulfil the waste packaging management objectives in proportion to the quantities of packaging placed on the market by paying the waste management fee to the account of the Fund, in the manner set out in the Regulation on the management of waste packaging (Official Gazette 97/15, 7/20 and140/20).

The Fund assumes the obligation of achieving the objectives for producers that have paid the waste management fee to the account of the Fund, in proportion to the paid fee and for this purpose manages and disposes of packaging waste.

Decision on fees for the collection and transport of waste packaging for treatment 31/12/2024

Regulations
Waste Management Act (OG 84/21)
Regulation on the management of waste packaging (OG 97/15, 7/20, 140/20)
Ordinance on waste management (OG 106/22)
Ordinance on packaging and waste packaging, single-use plastic products and fishing gear containing plastic (OG 137/23)
Ordinance on packaging and waste packaging (OG 88/15, 78/16, 116/17, 14/20, 144/20)
Ordinance on packaging and packaging waste (OG 97/05, 115/05, 81/08, 31/09, 156/09, 38/10, 10/11, 81/11, 126/11, 38/13, 86/13)

Note: ceased to be valid upon the entry into force of the Ordinance on packaging and packaging waste (Official Gazette 88/15) except the provisions of Articles 12, 13, 14, 19a, 20(3), 20a, and 25(3),(4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9) and (10) of the Ordinance, which shall be valid until the entry into force of the Regulation referred to in Article 53(4) of the Act and conclusion of contract for providing the service of collection of waste packaging in the system managed by the Fund, and Article 16(3), (8), (9), (12), (13) and (14) of the Ordinance, which shall be valid until the setting up of the Register referred to in Article 29 of the Ordinance on packaging and waste packaging (OG 88/15).

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