New waste management legislation in Bulgaria

Sofia, 28 January 2021

Bulgaria has adopted amendments related to the Waste Management Act. The amendments were published in the State Gazette, issued on 8 January 2021 and in force since 12 January 2021. The relevant amendments are the following:

• The recycling targets for packaging waste has the aim to reach the recycling of 70 % of the total weight of packaging waste by 2030. The obligation affects directly the waste recovery organisations. However, all companies contracting with such organisations will be affected
because they will have to change the contractual terms in order to comply with the legal provisions.

• The recycling targets are applicable to all players in the waste chain.

• New obligations for the retailers are provided: (i) in the case of separate collection of packaging waste, retailers must have large containers for separate waste collection in accordance with the number of visitors; and (ii) it is prohibited to mix separately collected packaging waste with other materials or waste in a way
that hinders their subsequent recycling or recovery.

• The new amendments set forth the obligation to label the waste packaging.