The Ministry of Environment and Water has published for public discussion a new draft law related to the introduction of a deposit system for beverage packaging.
The document was prepared with the aim of bringing national legislation into line with the requirements of EU law.
According to the Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste, member states are obliged to achieve high levels of separate collection, as well as to introduce deposit systems for plastic bottles and metal cans, writes BNR.
The draft law on amendments and supplements to the Waste Management Act comes after a year of stagnation and disagreement between the previous administration of the Ministry of Environment and Water under the leadership of Minister Manol Genov.
Genov's intention was for the deposit system for packaging to be state-owned. The three representative organizations – soft drink manufacturers, brewers and hypermarkets, which according to established European practices are the ones who assume the legal responsibility for financing and operating the deposit system, came out with a joint position in support of the new proposal of the acting Minister Yulian Popov.
The approach that the new bill relies on is based on the clear responsibility of the industry that markets beverages, but under the control of the state. By uniting around a model that has proven itself in 17 countries in Europe as effectively working and transparent.
The deadline for building a deposit system is critically short, since by 2029 Bulgaria is obliged to collect 90% of the packaging that is placed on the market on an annual basis.