Packaging and packaging waste
National legislation
Ordinance on packaging and packaging waste
Official Gazette, No. 88/2015, 78/2016, 116/2017, 14/2020 and 144/2020
EU legislation
Competent authority
Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development
Email: darko.horvat@mingor.hr
Phone: +385 1 3717 167
Web: https://mzoe.gov.hr/
Scope of national rule
Provisions of the ordinance shall apply to all marketed packaging and to all packaging waste used or generated by industry, trade, service activities, households, or any other source, irrespective of the material used.
Main requirements that the business user needs to know about
The main technical requirements for packaging placed on the market in the Republic of Croatia relate to:
- the essential requirements relating to manufacture and composition of packaging and its adequacy for reuse and recovery, including recycling,
- the maximum allowed concentration of heavy metals in packaging materials,
- marking of packaging.
A producer placing on the market returnable (multiple-use) packaging shall mark such packaging with the returnable packaging sign.
Packaging placed on the market in the Republic of Croatia:
A producer placing on the market beverages in one-way packaging made of PET, Al/Fe and glass with volumes equal to and greater than 0.2 liters, that is covered by the returnable fee system (deposit refund scheme), shall mark such packaging with a GTIN number in compliance with the GS1 standard, and with the returnable fee system sign (remark: packaging of a volume equal to 0.2 l as well as packaging of milk and liquid dairy products will be included in the system from 1 January 2021).
Markings and marking requirements are defined in Annex VI to Ordinance on packaging and packaging waste.
When marketing a new beverage in packaging covered by the returnable fee system for the first time in the Republic of Croatia, a producer of a beverage shall submit the GTIN number of the product to the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, as well as details about the producer, product and packaging of the product, not later than eight days before placing the new beverage on the market.
A producer of a beverage is also required to submit one sample of a packaging unit of the new beverage to the Fund, not later than eight days before placing on the market the new beverage in packaging covered by the returnable fee system.
Catalogue of Croatian Standards
Market Surveillance Authority
State Inspectorate
Link to the TRIS database
In the TRIS database you can look up the notification of the technical rule