EPR in Czech Republic: EKO-KOM & Seznam osob

To sell packaged goods into the Czech Republic you register your packaging in the Seznam osob list and, in practice, join EKO-KOM, the single authorised packaging scheme that has run the country's recovery system for over two decades. There is no threshold to cross first: the duty attaches to the first unit of packaging you place on the Czech market. What makes Czechia distinctive is that near-monopoly. One scheme sets the material tariffs almost everyone pays, which makes your compliance straightforward to map, but leaves you with little room to shop around on price.

Understanding that structure is the shortcut to Extended Producer Responsibility here. Work out which of the two national registers your products belong in, affiliate with the right scheme, and report your volumes accurately to the Ministry of the Environment.

EKO-KOM: the only authorised packaging scheme (for now)

Packaging is where most online sellers meet Czech EPR, and here the market runs through one door. Under the Packaging Act (Act 477/2001), you can technically fulfil your recovery and recycling obligations individually, but the practical route almost everyone takes is to affiliate with EKO-KOM, the country's authorised producer responsibility organisation. You declare the packaging you place on the market by material and weight, and EKO-KOM invoices a contribution scaled to that footprint. There is no flat annual sticker price: a business shipping mostly lightweight cardboard pays very differently from one shipping heavy glass or mixed plastics.

That single-scheme position is worth watching rather than assuming as permanent. A challenger, REMA AOS, has had an application pending with the ministry for some time and even runs a trial reporting portal, but no second scheme has been authorised to date. For now, treat EKO-KOM as the effective single counterparty for packaging while keeping an eye out for a competitor licence. If a second scheme is authorised, you would gain a genuine choice of provider for the first time.

Two registers, two laws: Seznam osob and Seznam vyrobcu

Czechia keeps producer responsibility on two lists under two laws, both overseen by the same regulator. The split decides which list holds your registration, not who you answer to.

• Seznam osob is the packaging register under Act 477/2001. This is the entry point for anyone shipping packaged goods, and it pairs with the EKO-KOM affiliation described above.
• Seznam vyrobcu is the register for "selected products" under the End-of-Life Products Act (Act 542/2020): electrical and electronic equipment, batteries, and tyres. Electronics duties have applied since 4 July 2012, tyres run under a national scheme, and battery obligations follow the EU Batteries Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, in force from 18 August 2025.

Both lists are administered by the Ministry of the Environment (MZP) through the MZP's VISOH2 information system. One quirk is worth flagging for sellers of electronics and tyres: the recycling fee must be itemised separately on invoices for those products, but for batteries the law bars you from listing it separately. An amendment before the Czech Parliament would move battery reporting to the Regulation's five-category model, so the detail of what you report is likely to shift.

End-of-life vehicles are the deliberate gap. The Czech Republic runs only partial producer responsibility for vehicles under the ELV Directive 2000/53/EC, and vehicles are excluded from the end-of-life producer register, running a separate take-back arrangement instead. Single-use plastics carry their own duties under the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive, applicable since 3 July 2021, and plastic fishing gear adds a lighter record-keeping duty that is still being brought fully into scope.

No direct registration for non-residents, unlike Germany

The duty reaches producers, importers, and distance sellers who place goods on the Czech market. Because there is no minimum threshold, an online store shipping directly to Czech consumers is an obligated producer from its first order. Producers file an annual report to the ministry unless a collective scheme, such as EKO-KOM for packaging, reports on their behalf.

The point that trips up cross-border sellers is representation. For single-use plastics, a foreign producer of the listed items must appoint a Czech authorised representative, and that route is used across the registered streams. Unlike EPR in Germany, where a foreign seller can register directly from abroad, a non-resident distance seller in Czechia works through a locally established representative who holds the registration and manages ongoing reporting.

If you sell only furniture, toys, graphic paper, DIY and garden goods, sports and leisure equipment, construction materials, waste oils, or recreational boats, note that the Czech Republic operates no EPR scheme for those categories today. In that case, your only live duty is likely to be for the packaging around them, plus any batteries or electronics built into the product. When in doubt, check which EPR duties apply to you before you ship.

The EKO-KOM contribution, and the registers the Ministry polices

Packaging costs are driven almost entirely by your EKO-KOM contribution, calculated on the exact material mix and weight you place on the market, so the honest answer to "what will it cost" is "it depends on what you ship". Electronics, batteries, and tyres carry their own recovery contributions on top, reflecting the cost of collecting and treating each product at end of life. Foreign sellers should also budget for the professional fees of the authorised representative who fronts their registration.

The Ministry of the Environment maintains the national registers and oversees compliance. Selling into the market without a valid registration puts your listings and market access at risk, since a missing registration number is the first thing a compliance check looks for. Getting the registration and the reporting right is far cheaper than unwinding a suspension after the fact.

Deposit-return: not live in Czechia, but PPWR is pushing for it

The Czech Republic has no operational national deposit-return system at the time of writing. The pressure is coming from the EU rather than a domestic scheme already in place: the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation requires member states to reach a 90% separate-collection rate for single-use plastic beverage bottles and metal cans by 2029, and a deposit-return system is the usual way to hit that target. If you sell beverages in those formats, check the current status before you ship, and treat any future deposit scheme as separate from your EKO-KOM packaging obligations rather than a replacement for them.

The compliance calendar for Czech sellers

Sources:

• VISOH2 information system (MZP registers)
• Single-Use Plastics Directive (EU) 2019/904
• Textiles EPR Directive (EU) 2025/1892
• Czech battery-law amendment before Parliament