Guidance of the Slovak Ministry of the Environment: Who Is Responsible for Packaging After the Change in the Rules and What Data the Ministry Requests from the Producers Concerned

On 26 October 2026, the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic published guidance on applying the definition of a packaging producer under Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR). The Regulation has applied since 12 August 2026 and changes the definition of a packaging producer.

Basic Rule

According to the published guidance, the packaging producer is the entity that is the first to make packaging or packaged products available on the territory of Slovakia. According to the Ministry, this is in principle the same entity as before under Section 52(11) of the Waste Act. This therefore means the entity under whose trade name the packaging or packaged product is placed on the market in the Slovak Republic, a packer or filler of packaging without a specific designation, and the manufacturer of empty packaging intended for direct sale to consumers.

Changes in the Definition Compared with the Previous Situation

Transport packaging, service packaging and primary production packaging

This change concerns packaging that bears neither a trade name nor a trademark. The producer is no longer the packer or filler who purchases it, but the manufacturer of the packaging.

• A Slovak manufacturer is always the producer, regardless of whom it sells the packaging to.

• A foreign manufacturer is the producer only if it supplies the packaging, or the product packed in it, directly to an end user in Slovakia.

• If the packaging bears the name or trademark of the customer, the customer is the producer.

Import from another Member State or from third countries

Until now, a foreign supplier and a Slovak customer could agree by contract which of them would fulfil the producer’s obligations. Under the new rules, the producer is always the Slovak entity that further distributes the packaging or packaged product. The foreign supplier remains the producer only when supplying directly to an end user, i.e. a consumer or a company that does not distribute the product any further.

The Ministry Requests Data

The guidance also includes a request for data. This is not a new statutory obligation. The Ministry states that it needs the data to ensure transparency, non-discrimination and the sustainability of the financing of the system for fulfilling the obligations of packaging producers, and to compare the impacts of the change in the legislation.

The Ministry requests data from every packaging producer under the Packaging Regulation whose scope of recorded quantities of packaging placed on the market in the Slovak Republic has changed as a result of the change in the legislation.

The Ministry requests data on the total quantity of packaging placed on the market  in accordance with the legal situation prior to the application of the PPWR (old rules) , and data on the total quantity of packaging placed on the market by the producer in the Slovak Republic for the relevant calendar quarter in accordance with the legislation applicable after 12 August 2026, i.e. in accordance with the PPWR (new rules).

The producer sends the requested data in the form of an Excel (.xls) spreadsheet to its producer responsibility organisation (PRO), which then forwards the requested data to the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic.

The deadlines for the individual quarters are set out in the guidance. The first deadline, for the submission of data for Q3, is 31 October 2026.

Next Steps

If the change in the definition of a packaging producer affects you, you will need to provide, for Q3, data on the quantities of packaging placed on the market under both the old rules and the new rules. To help you meet this requirement, we will contact you by individual email with a detailed description of the Ministry’s request, a spreadsheet for entering the data, and further instructions.

The full guidance is published in the Waste Management Information System here.

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