Poland's one-stop producer register
One entry, eight waste streams. BDO is the Polish EPR producer register every business joins before placing products or packaging on the market, and it gives you a 9-digit number for your invoices.
Registration runs through the regional authorities, the voivodeship marshals, on a central system run by the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
What BDO covers
Each stream sits under its own Polish law.
- Packaging, under the 2013 packaging act, now alongside a deposit-return system that went live on 1 October 2025.
- Electronics, under the 2015 WEEE act, in force since 2016.
- Batteries, under the 2009 batteries act and the directly applicable EU Battery Regulation.
- End-of-life vehicles, under the 2005 ELV act.
- Tyres and waste oils, under the 2001 product-fee act.
- Single-use plastics and fishing gear, with obligations running since 1 January 2024.
Who must register
Any entity that first places in-scope products, packaged goods or waste products on the Polish market, importers and distance sellers included.
If you introduce the product to Poland, the duty is yours rather than your customer's or your carrier's.
How registration works
You apply for a BDO entry with the voivodeship marshal for your region, who must make the entry without delay and at most 30 days after a complete application. You then receive your 9-digit BDO registration number (the numer rejestrowy BDO) and show it on invoices and waste documents.
From there you join a recovery organisation or comply on your own, and file your BDO reports. A recovery organisation, an organizacja odzysku, is the collective body that meets your recovery and recycling targets for you.
Registering from abroad
Foreign sellers do not all face the same rule. A foreign distance seller of electronics must appoint a Polish authorised representative, who registers in BDO and takes on the WEEE-act duties.
For packaging, a company without a Polish branch registers itself, on a paper application to the Mazowieckie marshal. Batteries from a company without a Polish branch are registered through a Polish intermediary. Since 12 August 2026 the EU packaging regulation also requires a seller shipping straight to Polish consumers to appoint an EPR authorised representative, which BDO has no category for yet.
What it costs
A producer pays a registration fee and then an annual fee by the end of February: 200 zł for a micro-entrepreneur and 800 zł for other businesses, since 1 January 2025. One registration fee covers every activity in the entry. The larger cost is the stream-by-stream compliance behind it.
That means recovery-organisation fees or, where you fall short of a recovery or recycling target, a product fee (opłata produktowa) on the gap.
Frequently asked questions about BDO
Short answers to what producers ask before they register.
Who has to register in BDO?
Any business that first places products, packaged goods or in-scope waste products on the Polish market, including importers and foreign distance sellers. Eight streams share the one register.
What is the BDO number for?
It is your 9-digit proof of registration (numer rejestrowy BDO), and Polish rules require it on your invoices and waste documents so customers and authorities can see you are registered.
Do I need a Polish representative?
For electronics, a foreign distance seller must appoint a Polish authorised representative who registers and reports for it. For packaging, a company abroad registers itself with the Mazowieckie marshal, and for batteries a Polish intermediary files the entry.
How long does BDO registration take?
The voivodeship marshal must make the entry without delay and at most 30 days after a complete application.