For producers or importers
of beverages in disposable packaging

Sample Request for Contract Conclusion with Správca

Design Manual for the (Z) Deposit Logo

Technical Specification and Manual for Labeling

Manual for Producers

List of Deactivated EAN Codes

All disposable plastic bottles and cans of beverages with a capacity of 0.1 l up to and including 3 l shall be subject to the deposit return system. Beverages are defined in the Act as “liquid edibles containing more than 80% water and capable of satisfying the physiological requirement for water, but not including milk”. Each returnable bottle or can has a Z symbol in recycling arrows and the text “ZÁLOHOVANÉ”. Disposable plastic bottles and cans of beverages such as sweetened beverages, non-carbonated sweetened beverages, mineral waters, spring waters, baby waters, flavoured waters, fruit juices, nectars, fruit beverages, iced teas, sports drinks, energy drinks, beer, cider, perry, radler and fruit wine are subject to the deposit return system. Milk, milk-containing beverages, syrups and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of more than 15 per cent are not returnable.

A packaging producer is a packaging producer according to a special regulation (Sec. 52(11) of Act No. 79/2015 Coll. on Waste) which places beverages on the market in returnable packaging.

Joining the deposit return system is preceded by sending an application to the Správca zálohového systému, n.o., a sample of which may be found by the producer or importer on the Producer subpage in the Downloadable Documents section. On the basis of the sent application, the process of signing a contract with the Správca zálohového systému, which is a condition for joining the deposit return system in the Slovak Republic, is subsequently implemented.

Upon receipt of the request, the contract documentation will be sent to the producer at the contact email provided in the form. The contract, once completed and signed, must be sent to the Správca by post to the address indicated in duplicate. Every producer or importer who places returnable beverage packaging on the market in the Slovak Republic is obliged to conclude a contract with the Správca.

First you need to apply for a contract with the Správca zálohového systému, then sign the contract. The contract, once completed and signed, must be sent to the Správca by post to the address indicated in duplicate. The producer will receive an activation email containing a link to the registration portal and a prompt for the producer to create an account on that portal. The producer registers and waits for an email prompting for a password. After receiving it, the retailer creates a password and the account is successfully created.

Producers and importers are required to have first entered into a contract with the Správca zálohového systému and to have created an account in the Správca’s registration portal. After creating a producer’s account, it is necessary to register the EAN codes of beverage packaging, which are subject to the deposit return system by law, on the registration portal of the Správca zálohového systému. As part of the registration of EAN codes, 7 pieces of physical packaging samples for each EAN code must be sent to the Správca in accordance with the Správca’s instructions. A decision on the registration of the packaging will be taken within 4 weeks after receipt of the physical samples. The producer may only place the packaging on the market after the successful approval of the registration of the packaging in the deposit return system.

The producer is obliged to notify the Správca without undue delay of its intention to no longer place specific registered returnable packaging on the market in the Slovak Republic. The producer is obliged to do so at the latest on the day when it ceases to place the registered returnable packaging on the market in the Slovak Republic. The producer shall notify the Správca of its intention and the date from which it will no longer market the registered returnable packaging by email to zakaznickecentrum@spravcazaloh.sk, through the change process in its registration portal user account. The Správca shall arrange for the deletion of the registered EAN from the central database after the expiry of the minimum durability date of the returnable packaging that the producer has stopped marketing and an additional period of 6 months.

The deposit return system logo must be placed in accordance with the Správca’s rules, on the label or directly on the packaging of the beverage. More information is provided in the Labelling Manual, which is provided to the producer as an attachment to the contract with the Správca and is also available on the Producer’s subpage under Downloadable Documents.

In order to avoid possible problems with the verification and subsequent registration of your products in the deposit return system, you only need to follow the instructions in the Labelling Manual. In the case of the Z symbol, observe the specified size, sufficient colour contrast (and you can match the logo colour to your brand colour) positioning near the barcode, orientation and protection zones. The most common mistakes are made with barcodes and are visible to the eye and correctable in the process of designing the packaging graphics or product application. More information is provided in the Labelling Manual, which is provided as an attachment to the contract with the Správca and is also available on the Producer’s subpage under Downloadable Documents.

Changes subject to approval by the Správca are detailed in the EAN Change Process instructions sent to the producer/importer with the contract documentation.

If the producer cannot meet the requirements for displaying the logo on the original packaging label or directly on the packaging, in the case of a can, it may use a separate label to mark the packaging with the barcode, the deposit return system logo and the text “ZÁLOHOVANÉ”. The conditions for the use and registration of such labelled packaging in the deposit return system can be found in the Producer’s Labelling Manual, which is available on the Producer’s subpage in the Downloadable Documents section.

In exceptional cases approved by the Správca, a sticker with a so-called “universal barcode” may be used for plastic or metal returnable packaging of the same volume, shape and dimensions, indicating the generic trade name of the beverage and the volume of the returnable packaging (e.g. “draught cask wine 1.5 L” or “draught beer 0.5 L”). In this case, the producer shall register a single barcode for the returnable packaging of a specific volume, shape and dimensions for the purposes of registration in the deposit return system. The universal barcode label can be registered in cases where plastic returnable packaging is used to package the beverage for the end-user to take away (e.g. draught wine, draught beer, draught soft beverage) or e.g. in the case of craft beers marketed in minimal volumes and distributed exclusively within the producer’s own distribution. Returnable packaging bearing a “universal barcode” sticker cannot be distributed outside the producer’s own sales network.

The producer pays 3 types of fees to the system, entry = one-off fee for registration of the producer in the system, administrative fee for registration, deactivation of the EAN in the system and the fee for placing the packaging on the market, the so-called Industry fee.

The producer is obliged to inform the Správca, no later than by the 6th day of each calendar month, about the quantities of returnable packaging placed on the market in the Slovak Republic for the period of the previous calendar month for each registered barcode in both pieces and kilograms, through the Správca’s registration portal, where the producer has created its user account.