Recycling charge for plastic bags

The recycling charge for plastic bags is one of those obligations that seem simple only at first sight. In practice, many shops collect the fee from the customer, but do not sort it out later in their records, do not keep an eye on quarterly deadlines or mistakenly assume that they will only account for the whole thing in their annual report. Meanwhile, the regulations require two separate actions: firstly, the collected recycling fee must be paid into the account of the relevant Marshal of the Voivodship by the 15th day of the month following the quarter in which it was collected, and secondly, the data on the bags must later be shown in the annual report submitted electronically to BDO. This means that the settlement of the bags has both a cash and a reporting dimension. For shops, the most important thing, therefore, is not only to simply add the amount to the customer, but also to count the bags issued on an ongoing basis and to link this data to accounting deadlines. 

Who must charge and which bags are covered by the regulations?

The obligation applies to entrepreneurs operating retail or wholesale units where plastic shopping bags covered by the recycling fee are offered. In practice, the topic no longer applies only to thin „commercial bags”, as official reminders from the authorities indicate that, as of 1 September 2019, the recycling levy also covers plastic shopping bags with a material thickness of 50 micrometres or more. This is important from the perspective of shops that still equate the obligation exclusively with lightweight bags. If a shop offers such bags to its customers, it should also have an entry in the BDO register, as this obligation has been linked to the offering of plastic bags covered by the recycling levy. This is why the phrase „plastic bags in-store regulations” should in content lead not only to the issue of the levy itself, but also to the broader registration and reporting obligation. 

How is the quarterly recycling charge accounted for?

The accounting model is simple if the shop keeps good records from the beginning. The entrepreneur should count the number of lightweight and other plastic shopping bags purchased and issued, separately for each retail unit, and can do so either on paper or electronically. These data must be kept for five years, counting from the end of the calendar year to which they relate. On this basis, the amount of the collected recycling fee is calculated and paid quarterly by the 15th day of the month following a given quarter to the account of the Provincial Marshal competent for the registered office or place of business. In accounting terms, this means that the shop should close each quarter with a statement of the number of bags issued and the total amount of fees collected, instead of trying to reconstruct this data only at the end of the year. It is the lack of up-to-date records that is the most common reason for the mess in the accounting of the bags. 

How do I combine the quarterly contributions with the annual report in BDO?

Quarterly contributions do not replace the report. Official information from Biznes.gov.pl indicates that the annual report on products, packaging and waste management has to show, with regard to light and other plastic shopping bags, information on the number of bags purchased and issued subject to the recycling fee. This means that the shop must have consistency between the quarterly records, the transfers made and the data entered later in BDO. From a practical point of view, it is best to treat each quarter as a preparation step for the annual report: count the bags issued, close the fee amount, make a transfer and keep the records. This way, the annual report is not created „from memory”, but on the basis of data that has been sorted out on an ongoing basis. This approach saves time, reduces the risk of errors and facilitates accounting control. If a shop has several locations or sales are carried out by rotating staff, it is particularly worth tidying up the procedure earlier, before discrepancies appear in the data.

If you want to make sure your shop's plastic bag recycling charge is accounted for correctly, it's worth sorting out your records, quarterly deadlines and how to show data in BDO before discrepancies appear on your paperwork. For details, see Contact page there, you can describe your situation and select support to match the scale of your business.