"Old" Equipment Made New. The Government Takes on Photovoltaic Panels

• Achieving minimum collection and recovery levels for waste from photovoltaic panels - these will be the new obligations of companies introducing such panels to the market.
• Everything will depend on the amended – in relation to the current regulations – cut-off dates for introducing such a product to the market.
• So-called "old" equipment will have a slightly different definition.

An announcement has appeared on the government website regarding the commencement of work on amending three legal acts: the Act on Waste Electronic Equipment, the Act on the Management of Packaging and Packaging Waste, and the Act on the Recycling of End-of-Life Vehicles.

The introduction of the Act is necessary due to changes in European regulations, which in turn were necessary, among others, due to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

According to the current legal status, there is a formal division of responsibilities between the person introducing the equipment and the owner of the used equipment . It depends on whether the waste was created from equipment introduced to the market before 13 August 2005 - such equipment is considered "old" equipment.

In parallel, national regulations impose on entities introducing electrical and electronic equipment the obligation to achieve minimum annual levels of collection of waste equipment and then its recovery and preparation for reuse and recycling . The effect of these obligations is to ensure demand on the part of entities introducing equipment for the collection and treatment of waste equipment.

Ultimately, Polish regulations are to be compliant with EU Directive 2024/884. The principle of formal division of duties itself will be maintained, but the cut-off dates will be changed and specified.

Old equipment will be considered to be used equipment resulting from:

• equipment intended for household use, listed in Annex 6, placed on the market before 13 August 2005;
• photovoltaic panels constituting equipment intended for households, placed on the market before 1 January 2016;
• household equipment other than that listed in Annex 6, placed on the market before 1 January 2018.

The formal consequence of the amendment to the regulations will be to impose on the user of equipment other than that intended for households the obligation to finance the management of waste photovoltaic panels generated by them . This applies to equipment introduced to the market from 13 August 2005 to 31 December 2015 and other equipment introduced to the market from 13 August 2005 to 31 December 2017.

The essence of the regulations - as we read in the assumptions of the act - is to introduce the obligation to achieve minimum annual levels of collection of used equipment . These levels will be calculated in relation to the average annual mass of equipment introduced to the market and then for recovery.

The ultimate effect of the changes is to ensure demand for waste equipment collection and processing services .