Polish Deposit-Refund Operators Plan Thousands of Card-Payment Return Machines

Deposit Machines Are Moving From Store Vouchers to Card Refunds

Poland's deposit-return network is preparing for a significant change in how consumers get their money back. As of the end of June 2026, the country had roughly 64,000 collection points, and nearly 14,000 of them — about 21 percent — used automated machines, according to data from the Ministry of Climate and Environment cited by PAP. Those automats already collect 87 percent of packaging carrying the deposit mark, but most still issue a paper voucher that shoppers must redeem in the store or convert to cash at the checkout.

Operators are now testing and installing machines that return the deposit directly to a payment card. Kaucja.pl said it is deploying such devices on housing-cooperative and residential-community sites, with more than 500 planned for Warsaw and the surrounding area and a national target of 4,000 machines within three to four years. Dariusz Dworzecki of Kaucja.pl said about 15 machines are being installed each week.

PolKa — Polska Kaucja has card-refund machines operating in Zamość and Warsaw's Białołęka district, and plans to add machines that can accept multiple containers at once. Reselekt also told PAP it plans to install several card-refund devices in different parts of the country, especially in tourist and transport locations where the machine is not tied to a single shop.

The Ministry of Climate and Environment has said operators are working on new refund formats, including payment cards, mobile apps and RFID wristbands used at water parks. For now, the card-return rollout is concentrated in large cities, but operators say it will gradually widen.

What Kaucja.pl, PolKa and Reselekt Are Building — and What Limits the Rollout

Kaucja.pl is treating Warsaw as a scale test

Kaucja.pl's plan has a clear sequencing: build up to around 120 active machines in Warsaw first, then expand into Łódź, Poznań, Wrocław, Kraków and Silesia. With roughly 15 units installed weekly, the company is converting its stated target into operational pace. The numbers are company projections, not confirmed government rollout figures, but they indicate how quickly card-return capacity could concentrate in urban areas.

If that pace continues, Warsaw and its surroundings would receive several hundred machines before other cities do, giving Kaucja.pl early experience with location selection, maintenance and usage patterns.

Card refunds remove the tie to a single store

Traditional shop machines usually issue a voucher because the deposit is returned through the store's checkout. A card-refund machine can sit on a housing estate, at a workplace or in a tourist area without being linked to one retailer's purchase flow. Reselekt explicitly framed this as the advantage of machines in tourist and transport locations. That model could materially widen collection coverage beyond supermarket car parks.

This matters for households: a machine in a residential area can return money to a card without requiring the customer to enter a specific shop or spend the deposit there.

Cost is the limiting factor for richer features

Operators told PAP that more advanced devices — such as machines that accept many containers at once or can inflate a crushed bottle so it is accepted — are difficult for shops because of high equipment prices. That suggests the market will move in two stages: simpler card-refund machines can scale first, while multi-pack and bottle-restoring hardware remains limited to operators with deeper capital or shared use cases.

The practical consequence is that consumers may get faster refunds before they get more flexible acceptance of damaged or bulk packaging.

What the Card-Refund Expansion Means for Polish Households and Retailers

For most Polish consumers, store vouchers remain the default today, but the card-refund option is becoming visible in specific locations. The rollout data point to four practical responses:

• In Warsaw and nearby areas, expect card-refund machines on housing estates first. Kaucja.pl is installing about 15 a week and will push beyond Warsaw only after roughly 120 active machines, so residents of housing cooperatives and communities are the first likely users.
• Zamość and Warsaw's Białołęka already have PolKa card-refund units. Shoppers there can return deposit-marked packaging and receive the money on a card instead of taking a store voucher or queuing at a till for cash.
• Retailers and property managers should treat estate, tourist and transport sites as the next expansion ground. Both Kaucja.pl and Reselekt explicitly name these locations, meaning businesses in those areas are most likely to be approached to host machines.
• Do not assume a card-refund machine will accept crushed or multi-bottle returns. Advanced features are still constrained by high machine prices, so standard one-at-a-time machines will remain more common in the near term.