Gdańsk raises waste collection fees by 25% — Interia
In Gdańsk, Poland, waste collection fees have increased by 25%. According to Interia, one reason for the increase was the deposit return system for containers: because of it, municipal sorting facilities receive less valuable recyclable material.
Less material for sorting facilities
During one year of operation of Poland’s deposit return system, 5 billion bottles were returned through it, and its effectiveness reached 60%, Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment reported. Bottles collected within the system are transported directly to operators’ logistics centers and then to recycling facilities.
Municipal sorting facilities do not participate in this chain. Before the system was introduced, they separated reusable materials from the waste stream and sold them to recyclers. Reduced volumes of plastic and aluminum lower these facilities’ revenue from the sale of raw materials.
Cities assess losses
According to data from the newspaper Rzeczpospolita cited by Interia, the weight of plastic and aluminum waste in Poznań fell by 7% from January to September, while in Gdańsk it declined by 5.8%. In Kraków, 46% less plastic was collected compared with 2025.
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Warsaw City Hall spokesperson Marzena Gawkowska said that the weight of valuable materials at sorting facilities had halved. Olsztyn City Hall spokesperson Patryk Pulikowski directly linked losses of 650,000 zlotys to the deposit return system. Kraków officials noted that changes in market prices for raw materials also affect the financial result.
Will tariffs increase?
The authorities of Poznań, Warsaw and Kraków do not plan to raise waste collection tariffs in the near future. Further decisions will depend on tender results, raw material values and fuel prices. Poznań said that its waste management system is currently balanced.
In Wrocław, the tariff increased in September from 41.24 to 55 zlotys per person, but city authorities do not link this decision to the deposit return system.
