# Act on waste (BDO, permits, EoW)

Act of 14 December 2012 on waste (ustawa o odpadach)

- Status: Amendments pending
- Legal order: Poland
- Legal area: Waste and end-of-waste status
- Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1328 (consolidated text)
- Business profile: Smelting, Semi-fabrication, Recycling, Scrap trade, Waste shipments

## In brief

Principal national act: permits for collection and treatment, end-of-waste status, storage with video monitoring, security for claims, registration and record-keeping in BDO, and administrative penalties.

## Key obligations

- end-of-waste status where the conditions of Art. 14(1) are met – EU criteria or permit conditions; prohibition on storage together with waste (Art. 14, Art. 15)
- collection and treatment require a permit from the district head (starosta), and from the Marshal of the Voivodeship, inter alia, where > 3,000 Mg of waste is stored per year (Art. 41(1) and (3))
- permit issued following an inspection by the WIOŚ and the State Fire Service (PSP), for a period of up to 10 years; from 1.01.2027 tacit extension after 60 days (Art. 41a(1)–(1a), Art. 44(1) and (4))
- security for claims covering the costs of substitute performance, maintained for the duration of the permit (Art. 48a(1) and (11))
- storage for up to 3 years, calculated jointly for successive holders; video monitoring system, recordings kept for one month (Art. 25(4), (6), (6a)–(6b))
- entry in the BDO register, ongoing waste records, waste transfer note (KPO) before transport, annual report by 15 March (Arts 49–51, 66(1), 69(1), 76(1))

## Competent authority

district head (starosta) / Marshal of the Voivodeship / Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection (RDOŚ) (permits, BDO register); Regional Inspectorate of Environmental Protection (WIOŚ) (inspection, penalties – Art. 196); State Fire Service (PSP) (fire safety inspection)

## Penalties

administrative fines of PLN 1,000–1,000,000, inter alia for storage in breach of Art. 25, lack of monitoring, lack of security for claims, lack of BDO entry, lack of records, and operating without a permit or in breach of it (Art. 194(1), (3)–(5))

## Entry into force

23.01.2013

## Application

consolidated text as at 24.08.2026 (announcement of 1.09.2026, published 14.10.2026); Art. 44(4)–(5) from 1.01.2027

## Key dates

- 31.12.2025: entry into force of the amendments made by the Act of 7.11.2025 (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1812)
- 18.02.2026: entry into force of the amendments made by the Act of 9.01.2026 (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 174)
- 04.07.2026: entry into force of the amendments made by the Act of 29.05.2026 on crisis management (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 815), inter alia Art. 26
- 14.10.2026: publication of the consolidated text (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1328)
- 01.01.2027: tacit extension of permits for collection and treatment (Art. 44(4)–(5), Dz.U. 2026 poz. 875)

## Pending changes

Alignment with Directive (EU) 2025/1892 – transposition deadline 17.06.2027; no draft identified in the RCL (Government Legislation Centre) as at 22.10.2026.

## Related acts

- [Waste Framework Directive (WFD)](https://igmnir.org/dane/prawo/en/eu-wfd/)
- [Amendment to the Waste Framework Directive (2025)](https://igmnir.org/dane/prawo/en/eu-wfd-2025-1892/)
- [End-of-waste criteria for iron, steel and aluminium scrap](https://igmnir.org/dane/prawo/en/eu-eow-333-2011/)
- [End-of-waste criteria for copper scrap](https://igmnir.org/dane/prawo/en/eu-eow-715-2013/)
- [Regulation on the waste catalogue](https://igmnir.org/dane/prawo/en/pl-katalog-odpadow/)
- [Detailed requirements for waste storage](https://igmnir.org/dane/prawo/en/pl-magazynowanie-odpadow/)

## Official sources

- [Text of the act](https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20130000021)
- [Consolidated text](https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20260001328)
- [Sejm API (ELI) – document information on the Act and amending acts](https://api.sejm.gov.pl/eli/acts/DU/2013/21)
- [ISAP – Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of 29.08.2019 on the video monitoring system for waste storage or landfill sites (Dz.U. 2019 poz. 1755)](https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20190001755)
- [ISAP – Regulation of the Minister of Climate and Environment of 24.04.2025 on the operation of the BDO (Dz.U. 2025 poz. 585)](https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20250000585)

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Register as of: 22.10.2026. The official text of the act prevails. IGMNiR. On the website: https://igmnir.org/en/law/#akt-pl-ustawa-odpady