The legislator did not define the moment of introduction of the recycling fee, which means that the fee could have been introduced at any time as of the entry into force of the waste electrical and electronic act, i.e. as of October 21, 2005

Yes. A retail outlet acting as a WEEE collector is obligated to maintain qualitative and quantitative evidence in accordance with the act on waste materials. In particular it is important to document the weight of the collected WEEE, as if this information is necessary to correctly fulfill the reporting obligations to the General Environment Protection Inspectorate. A retail outlet should transfer all waste equipment to processing facilities accompanied by the Waste Material Transfer Charter. The same is required of a wholesale outlet which transfers waste equipment to a processing facility.

The WMF is not designed to cover the processing costs of one piece of equipment, but represents a certain contribution to building the system of collection, processing, reclaim, recycling and neutralization of waste equipment. In other words the customer who pays the recycling fee participates in building the system and pays a “premium” which enables other returned equipment to be processed. At the same time, contributing to building the system today, consumers provide themselves the option to return their now new piece of equipment to the collection point free of charge in 7 to 10 years. The WMF is therefore not a deposit and is not reimbursable.

The WMF may be presented as a separate component of the price only when selling equipment designed for households. In case of other types of equipment which are not designed for households, i.e. so-called professional equipment, the WMF may not be disclosed as a separate component of the price. Additionally the decision to present the WMF as a separate component of the price, and therefore disclose this fee to the market has been left by the legislator to the discretion of the producer/reporter or the entrepreneur making an intra-community purchase.

Upon receipt of information on the amount of the WMF from the supplier, every retail / wholesale outlet is obligated to disclose this fee “on the shelf”, next of the price of the equipment. In practice this is presented as e.g. “Price: PLN 917, including PLN 15 Waste Management Fee”. This is already applied to lighting products.

The introduction date of the recycling fee depends on the individual decision of each producer, importer or entrepreneur making an intra-community purchase. In accordance with the act on waste equipment, the WFM can be specified as a separate component of the price of electrical and electronic equipment as of the date of entry into force of the act i.e. October 21, 2005.

Questions concerning the act and its regulations can be addressed directly to the Ministry of the Environment or the Chief Environment Protection Inspector. Inquirers can also contact ElektroEko - we will do our best to help interpret the regulations.