BDO commercials report who needs to file it?

If you run a shop or wholesaler and offer your customers plastic carrier bags covered by the recycling levy, you are in principle obliged to register with BDO and submit a annual report on products, packaging and the management of waste arising from them. Official BDO material makes it clear that the obligation applies to businesses operating retail or wholesale units where plastic shopping bags covered by the recycling levy are offered. This is a very important distinction, because in practice, it is not about every plastic shopping bag in the shop, but about the bags covered by the recycling fee regulations. At the same time, shops offering only very lightweight bags used for hygiene reasons or as primary packaging for bulk food are not subject to entry in the BDO on this account.

Which commercials must be reported in the BDO report

In the BDO report the commercials are shown in the Table 4 - Information on plastic shopping bags. The official system manual shows that the table includes data on the number of acquired and issued bags, divided into three categories: bags with a material thickness of less than 15 micrometres, lightweight bags with a thickness of 15 to 49 micrometres and bags others from 50 micrometres. The data is entered by quarter and the system also shows the annual total below. In practice, this means that the entrepreneur has to keep a running tally of the number of bags bought and issued to customers, because without this it is difficult to compile the annual report correctly.

By when to report and how it differs from the recycling fee

This is one of the most common mistakes. BDO report i recycling fee are not the same thing. The annual report on products, packaging and their waste management is submitted electronically in the BDO system by 15 March for the previous calendar year to the relevant provincial marshal. In turn, the recycling fee for the bags itself is accounted for separately and remitted to the provincial marshal by the 15th of the month following the quarter, and its rate is PLN 0.20 per bag. From the shop's perspective, this therefore means two separate responsibilities: the ongoing settlement of the levy and the annual report to BDO.

What to bear in mind if a shop operates in several provinces

In the case of commercials, the report can be more complex when the trader operates shops or wholesalers in more than one province. The official BDO manual indicates that in Table 4 you should then enter aggregated data for all retail or wholesale establishments in a given province, and the report shall be sent to separately to the relevant provincial marshal. This is important because many entrepreneurs assume that one report will cover the entire sales network in the country. In practice, it is safest to organise the bag data by province and quarter beforehand to avoid errors when completing the report.

Frequently asked questions

You are in doubt as to whether your company is covered by the obligation to submit BDO reports for commercials, how to count bags correctly or how to separate the reporting obligation from the recycling fee? Contact us Ekopro Group will help you organise your data, explain the regulations and answer questions about BDO. Go to „Contact” and make use of our support.