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Packaging obligations in Bulgaria (2026)

Draft

Verified on: 2026-09-01

EU framework: PPWR (EU) 2025/40, applicable since 12 Aug 2026

National: Waste Management Act (Zakon za uprawlenie na otpadazite, ZUO); Packaging Ordinance (Naredba za opakowkite i otpadazite ot opakowki); Product Fee Ordinance (Naredba za opredeljane na reda i razmera za zaplaschtane na produktowa taksa) with payment to the state enterprise PUDOOS

Bulgaria has three compliance routes for parties placing packaged goods on the market: (1) joining a recovery organisation (organisazija po opolzotworjawane) authorised by the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOSW), (2) individual fulfilment with a permit, or (3) payment of the product fee to PUDOOS. Active recovery organisations according to the ministerial orders of May 2026: Ekopak Balgarija, Ekobulpak Balgarija, Bulekopak and Eko Partners Balgarija (no current orders were available for the older organisation Ekokolekt). A particularity: each year the Minister orders (most recently on 5 May 2026 for the year 2024), per organisation, which members are exempt from the product fee and which must pay in arrears – target fulfilment is confirmed retroactively per member. No national packaging producer register exists (the PPWR register under Art. 44 is pending); deposit return legislation is in preparation (drafts of January/April 2026, model contested).

Packaging EPR: recovery organisation or product fee (Bulgaria)

Anyone placing packaged goods on the Bulgarian market must ensure the separate collection and recovery of the packaging waste – as a rule by joining an authorised recovery organisation; anyone who is neither a member nor fulfils individually pays a monthly product fee to PUDOOS. Volumes must be documented and declared on an ongoing basis.

Authorised representative: 
Bulgarian packaging law provides no authorised-representative mechanism of its own for packaging EPR for foreign distance sellers; the obligations fall on the persons placing packaged goods on the Bulgarian market (in practice manufacturers, importers and intra-Community acquirers with a Bulgarian registration). Since 12 Aug 2026, Art. 45 PPWR directly requires an authorised representative established in Bulgaria for distance sellers without an establishment; in the absence of a national producer register (Art. 44 PPWR), enforcement is currently unresolved – monitor implementation and clarify the membership/representation solution with a recovery organisation or service providers.
Cross-border: 
The MOSW FAQ names as obligated parties the 'liza, koito puskat na pazara opakowani stoki' (persons placing packaged goods on the market) – distance selling from abroad is not expressly addressed in it. For classic imports, the Bulgarian importer bears the obligations; foreign direct sellers to Bulgarian end customers come clearly into responsibility only via the PPWR producer definition (since 12 Aug 2026). Whether and how companies without a Bulgarian tax number can join a recovery organisation must be clarified with the respective organisation; Ekopak Balgarija also provides information in English.
Costs: 
Licence fees of the recovery organisations per kg and material by contract (Ekopak Balgarija publishes its price and business policy for members); otherwise the product fee under the Product Fee Ordinance (rates per material in its annexes; amounts not individually verified here). Exported goods are exempt; for reusables in deposit systems the fee is charged only once.
Deadlines: 
Organisation membership before placing goods on the market; product fee (where applicable) monthly by the 15th for the previous month together with the monthly declaration (Annex 13); internal specification (Annex 12) annually by 31 Dec for the following year; annual ministerial orders on product-fee exemption (most recently 5 May 2026, concerning 2024). PPWR obligations have applied since 12 Aug 2026.

Typical steps

  1. Clarify who counts as the party placing goods on the market for your deliveries to Bulgaria (own import or intra-Community acquisition vs. Bulgarian trading partner; distance selling: PPWR producer definition).
  2. Assess joining an authorised recovery organisation and conclude a contract (Ekopak Balgarija, Ekobulpak Balgarija, Bulekopak or Eko Partners Balgarija); report volumes per material and pay the licence fee.
  3. Without organisation membership and without an individual permit: pay the product fee monthly by the 15th to the PUDOOS account and submit the monthly declaration (Annex 13 of the Product Fee Ordinance).
  4. Annually by 31 Dec, prepare the internal specification (Annex 12) of the packaging to be placed on the market in the following year; keep volume records per material.
  5. Each year (orders issued in May), check whether your recovery organisation has evidenced the targets and your company appears in the exemption list – otherwise the product fee threatens retroactively.
  6. Without an establishment in Bulgaria: clarify the authorised-representative question under Art. 45 PPWR and monitor the Bulgarian PPWR implementation (producer register, deposit system draft).

Providers for this obligation

Ekopak Balgarija AD (Екопак България)Ekobulpak Balgarija AD (Екобулпак България)Bulekopak AD (Булекопак)Eko Partners Balgarija AD (Еко Партнърс България)

Sources: MOSW – FAQ Verpackungsabfälle (Pflichtige, Erfüllungswege, Produkttaxe an PUDOOS bis zum 15., Anlagen 12/13) (accessed 2026-09-01) · MOSW – Ministerialverfügungen zu Verwertungsorganisationen (u. a. RD-397 bis RD-404 vom 05.05.2026: Befreiungs-/Nachzahlungslisten für 2024) (accessed 2026-09-01) · MOSW – Verwertungsorganisationen für Verpackungsabfälle (Genehmigungen, Marktanteile, Stand 30.05.2026) (accessed 2026-09-01) · MOSW – Produkttaxen-Verordnung (Naredba, PDF) (accessed 2026-09-01) · Ekopak Balgarija – größte Verwertungsorganisation für Verpackungsabfälle (Mitgliederservices) (accessed 2026-09-01) · Eurocom – MOSW-Entwurf zum Pfandsystem (Mai 2026, industriegeführtes Modell) (accessed 2026-09-01)

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Legal information, not legal advice. The linked official sources prevail; data marked “draft” has not been finally verified.