From January 2026, after a three-month transitional period, a new packaging collection system will be in force in Poland. The deposit for each plastic bottle or can is PLN 0.50.
The packaging can be returned without a receipt and in any store. Customers can use the bottle dispenser, which, after scanning the packages, issues a paper voucher to use when making purchases, or collect cash at the checkout.
For many people, as Gazeta Wyborcza reports, this system has become a source of additional income. However, stores do not keep records of vouchers, so it is not known exactly how much record holders have earned since the system was launched..
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Retail chains only provide data on the highest single transactions.
Record returns in the largest chains
And so on the Internet Lidl Polska's highest one-time voucher was PLN 460which means that the customer returned 920 packages.
IN Ladybug the highest voucher collected in the manual collection system amounted to PLN 403.5 and was issued in Wrocław for the return of 807 packages. In the case of slot machines, the record was set in Ruda Śląska, where the customer returned 755 packages and received PLN 377.50. The previous record was 735 bottles.
In Kaufland one of the customers gave away a total of 1,050 packages on one voucher, which resulted in… for the amount of PLN 525. As explained by Aniela Osowska from the Department.
Read also: The deposit system hurts event organizers. Additional costs and logistic chaos
However, as reported by “Gazeta Wyborcza”, the record for the country was broken not by large chains, but by an inconspicuous Smakosz liquor store in Opole, belonging to the Rabat Detal chain. There, on March 31, the customer returned 1,095 packages and received them voucher worth PLN 547.50.
How do Poles make money on the deposit system?
The ingenuity of Poles means that the deposit system has become a way for some people to earn regular money. Store owners, system operators and beverage producers emphasize that initiative and cooperation with catering establishments are key here.
One of the interlocutors of “Gazeta Wyborcza” said that visited four venues organizing weddings and other family celebrations, asking the owners about the possibility of collecting bottles and cans of drinks. Three of them agreed, Thanks to this, a man earns on average about PLN 300 per week from returning packaging. He noted that he knows people who achieve even higher incomes, but this requires cooperation with a larger number of premises and greater logistic involvement.
Another man admitted he had it an informal agreement with hotels in his town, which provide him with bottles and cans both after larger events and from the guests' daily consumption. Depending on the week, he earns from PLN 150 to PLN 350 this way.
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The deposit system in Poland not only supports recycling, but also opens new earning opportunities for people who can use its potential. Ingenuity and cooperation with local entrepreneurs allow some to achieve truly impressive results.
