Plastics and packaging laws in Slovakia

Act No. 79/2015 Coll. on Waste and on the amendment to certain acts (the “Waste Act”) is the main source of legislation covering packaging and plastics in the Slovak Republic. The obligations and duties arising under the Waste Act are supplemented and specified by the Act No. 302/2019 Coll. on Deposit on Single-use Beverage Packaging and on amendments to certain acts (the “Single-use Beverage Packaging Act”), Act No. 529/2010 Coll. on Environmental Design and Use of Products (“Eco-design Act”), Regulation of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic No. 373/2015 Coll. on the Extended Producer Responsibility of Specified Products, Regulation of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic No. 371/2015 on Implementing Certain Provisions of the Waste Act, Regulation of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic No. 365/2015 Coll. establishing the Catalogue of Waste,Regulation of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic No. 366/2015 Coll. on Registration Duty and Reporting Obligation and Regulation of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic No. 347/2019 Coll. on Implementing Certain Provisions of the Single-use Beverage Packaging Act.

The Waste Management Plan of the Slovak Republic cannot be deemed as a source of legislation however, state authorities’ decisions and actions shall abide the Waste Management Plan. The Waste Management Plan of the Slovak Republic for 2021 – 2025 (the “Plan”) is in force. It is expected that a new draft of the Waste Management Plan will be submitted to the legislative process in the coming months.

The Slovak legislation covering the packaging and plastics follows the European trend. The aim is to protect the environment and the nature by preventing the creation of all kinds of waste, not only the plastics from packaging.

The producer of packaging is obliged to provide a plastic bag with the purchased goods only for monetary consideration equal to the procurement price of the plastic bag.

 The prohibition of placement of single-use plastic products and packaging products made from oxo-degradable plastics on the Slovak market is effective as of 3 July 2021. Single-use plastics which placement on the Slovak market is prohibited are listed as the Annex 7a to Wastes Act (e.g. plastic straws, plastic cutlery, cotton buds and straws). This regulation implements Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment.

According to the Single-use Beverages Packaging Act, the plastic or metal made single-use beverages packaging unfit for the deposit return scheme, must not be placed on the Slovak market after 31 December 2022. Regarding the deposit return scheme for single-use packaging beverages packaging please see question No. 4.

The legislation on packaging and plastics imposes a number of obligations on entities producing packaging or packaged products and placing them in the Slovak market. We would like to draw your attention to some of the most important obligations.

The producer of packaging and certain types of plastics is subject to the extended responsibility scheme. Under the extended responsibility scheme, the producer is responsible for fulfilling obligations aimed at preventing the generation of the waste, its re-collection and recovery. These obligations can be fulfilled either by the producer, by performing the specified obligations individually (only if the statutory conditions are met), or through a Producers Responsibility Organization based on a contract with such a Producers Responsibility Organisation. Producers of packaging or specific plastics who are not seated in the Slovak Republic are obliged to fulfil their obligations through a Slovak seated responsible representative. The responsible representative is subject to the same obligations as the Slovak seated producers. The general principle of the producers’ responsibility scheme is that the producers are also considered responsible for the post-consume phase of their product. Therefore, they have to compensate the costs arising from their products turning into waste via Producers Responsibility Organisation mechanism described in the Part Four of the Waste Act.

In case of producers of single-use beverage packaging they have obligations under extended producer responsibility according to the Waste Act and, in addition, obligations under the Single-use Beverage Packaging Act.

The producer is also obliged to comply with the requirements established for material composition or design of the packaging and specific plastic products set out in the Eco-design Act. The producer is therefore obliged to design and manufacture its product in accordance with environmental standards and requirements.

Single-use Beverage Packaging Act introduced the deposit return scheme on single-use beverages packaging plastics bottles and single-use beverages packaging metal cans in hand with a number of obligations for packaging producers and packaging distributors selling beverages. We would like to highlight some of the most important obligations.

The DRS on beverages packaging made of plastic and metal is in force as of 1 January 2022. In general, the Slovak DRS redistributes obligations related to DRS among administrator of DRS, distributors of beverages packaging and producers of beverages packaging. It enables the end-consumer to buy and subsequently return the beverage packaging. Relationships among the administrator and producers and distributors are govern by the contracts regulated by the Single-use Beverage Packaging Act and by the law itself.

The administrator of DRS is a non-profit organisation created only for the purpose of coordinating and financing DRS. For example, the administrator shall (i) operate and finance the DRS, (ii) set-up a minimal amount of deposit, (iii) arrange the transport, re-use and recovery of beverage containers, (iv) arrange an education and information campaign.

The beverages packaging distributor (e.g. grocery store) with sales area of at least 300 m² will be obliged to collect single-use beverage packaging at the place of operation or within 150 meters (distributors selling beverages as complementary goods, are not subject to such obligation). Distributors, among other duties, are obliged to e.g. (i) indicate the amount of the deposit with the sales price of the product, (ii) mark the packaging clearly showing that the packaging is covered by DRS, (iii) keep separate accounting records of the sales price of the products and the amount of the deposits.

The beverages packaging producer is obliged to:

1. mark the packaging in a way clearly showing that the packaging is covered by the deposit system
2. keep separate accounting records of the sales price of the products and the amount of the deposits,
3. reimburse costs related to DRS arising under the contract with the Administrator.

Please note that DRS does not strip the beverages packaging producers from obligations and undertakings under the extended responsibility scheme (described in question 3).

Packaging and/or plastics are not subject to specific tax. However, under the Act no. 582/2004 on Local Taxes and Local Fee for Municipal Waste and Minor Construction Waste as amended, the municipalities impose fee for the waste generated at the territory of such municipality (in Slovak “miestny poplatok za komunálne odpady a drobné stavebné odpady”).

Those producers who are subject to extended responsibility scheme are obliged to pay the contribution to Producers Responsibility Organization. The Waste Act introduced the so-called “eco-modulation” on the basis of which the Producers Responsibility Organization should demand lower contributions from the producers if they use more recyclable and re-usable material for its production. The Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic adopted as of 1 July 2023 (via amendment) rules in relation to the material composition of packaging and non-packaging products on producers’ side. A major new legislative innovation is the introduction of an obligation for producers of packaging or non-packaging products to keep an eco-modulation register, i.e. to keep detailed data on the material composition of packaging and non-packaging products placed on the market. Based on this evidence and reporting obligations of producers the Producers Responsibility Organization should reevaluate contributions from the producers.

Neither Wastes Act, nor Eco-design Act or other Slovak environmental regulation does not specifically regulate the use of the micro-plastics or the use of microbeads in products. However, prohibition of oxo-degradable plastics products (described in Question No. 2) is a consequence of prevention of micro-plastics creation.

The Waste Act sets-up targets for recycling and waste recovery for specific kinds of waste (e.g. electro waste, batteries and accumulators, packaging waste etc.). Current goals for recycling of packaging waste are at least 55 % and maximum 80 % of weight of packaging waste, while recycling at least 45 % of weight of plastic packaging waste. Future targets for management of packaging waste are to increase recycling at least 65 % of weight of packaging waste, while recycling at least 50 % of plastic packaging waste as at 31 December 2025, and at least 70 % of the total amount weight of the packaging waste, while recycling at least 55 % of the plastic packaging waste as at 31 December 2030.

The Slovak law does not regulate this issue, whereas it is regulated primarily by Regulation (EC) No 282/2008 of 27 March 2008 on recycled plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food and by Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 of 14 January 2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.

The Plan acknowledges currently existing hurdles of extended responsibility scheme for packaging and non-packaging and introduces an intention to adopt new act regarding the extended responsibility scheme dealing with the hurdles and challenges brought by the Green Deal. Pursuant to the Plan the new act should recast the base for the calculation of producers’ contribution to the Producers Responsibility Organisations and prepare ground for so-called “eco-modulation” in hand with introducing a minimum fee for each type of material used in the manufacture of packaging and non-packaging plastics products placed on the Slovak market.

This chapter was last updated on March 2023 and does not reflect any subsequent developments in the law.