site.btaEnvironment Ministry Ready with Draft Amendments on Introduction of Deposit Refund System

The Ministry of Environment and Water has prepared a draft amendment to the Waste Management Act in connection with the introduction of a deposit refund system in Bulgaria, outgoing Environment and Water Minister Manol Genov said during Friday's Question Time in Parliament. European Union law requires Member States to ensure the collection of up to 90% of plastic bottles by 2029, he recalled.

Genov said that Bulgaria will have a deposit refund system from 2029, but no deposit refund system in Europe has achieved the 90% goal in its first year of implementation. Usually, various systems collect between 50-55% of the packaging placed on the market in the first year, Genov specified. In his words, there are 3.4 billion packages in Bulgaria annually.

The goal is for the deposit refund system to be comprehensive and reach every citizen, who will have the opportunity to return their packaging and receive EUR 0.10 for it, he commented. According to Genov, the willingness of businesses to cooperate in the management of this system must be determined. 

He said that foreign experience is being studied in order to apply the best model of a deposit refund system.