Climate Ministry considers 90-day validity for reverse vending machine vouchers

The Ministry of Climate and Environment is considering a mandatory validity period of 90 days for vouchers from reverse vending machines. This was reported by PAP, citing the ministry's reply to a parliamentary question. For now this is a plan: according to PAP, a draft impact assessment was discussed within the ministry and is to be submitted together with a request to include it in the government's list of work. No date of entry into force has been given.

Under current rules the law does not regulate vouchers directly and does not set their validity period. The ministry believes a voucher should be valid for at least a month, but this is the ministry's position, not a rule.

The shop is obliged to exchange the voucher for money at the till and cannot make payment conditional on buying other goods. An example from the text: 20 plastic bottles at 50 groszy give 10 zloty. Printing the voucher is not itself a payout; the money is returned once the voucher is redeemed. The system is also planned to be extended to other packaging, including small glass alcohol bottles.