Significant fee changes impacting circular and deposit systems from October 2025

In Hungary, the new circular waste management system was launched in 2023. A key component of this system is the so-called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, under which producers bear the financial responsibility for waste management throughout the life cycle of their products. This essentially means that manufacturers are required to cover the costs of the future waste management, recycling, or disposal of their products and packaging materials. It is important to highlight, however, that from the outset, producers have incorporated the increased costs resulting from the EPR fees into their prices, meaning that in the end, consumers are the ones paying the real cost of waste management at the checkout counters.

As of 1 October 2025, a new Government Decree implemented significant amendments, such as substantial increases in several categories of service fees and Extended Producer Responsibility fees, which means that consumers can expect further price increases for the affected products in the coming months. The following major fee changes came into effect in October: for non-reusable metal waste, producers must now pay HUF 198 per kilogram instead of the previous HUF 186, and for non-reusable glass, the fee has increased from HUF 77 to HUF 84 per kilogram. In the case of textile packaging, the service fee payable per kilogram by producers has increased from HUF 67 to HUF 148, while for glass packaging it has increased from HUF 77 to HUF 107. For composite (multi-material) packaging, the fee has risen from HUF 168 to HUF 191 per kilogram. For vehicle batteries, the fee has increased from HUF 238 to HUF 390, and for advertising paper from HUF 94 to HUF 204.

However, in many cases, the fees have remained unchanged, for instance, the charges for non-reusable plastic, plastic packaging, paper and cardboard packaging, metal packaging, portable batteries, and industrial batteries or accumulators have stayed the same.