Starting from 3.7.2021, all manufacturers in EU member states are bound by the ban on introducing certain disposable plastic products into the market. As of that date, legal and natural entities, entrepreneurs, cannot introduce to the Slovak market:

• disposable plastic products (Annex 7a to Act 79/2015 Coll. on Waste),
• oxo-degradable plastic packaging,
• non-packaging products made of oxo-degradable plastic.

Disposable plastic products defined in Annex 7a to the Waste Act shall mean:

1. cotton (ear) swabs not governed by specific regulation 1),

2. cutlery (forks, knives, spoons, chopsticks),

3. dishes,

4. straws not governed by specific regulation 1),

5. drink stirrers,

6. balloon sticks, sticks for industrial or other professional purpose which are not available for consumers, and the mechanisms of such sticks,

7. food containers made of expanded polystyrene, i.e. boxes with or without a lid to store food:

• which is eaten directly at the sales point or so-called take-away food,
• usually taken out of such food container before eaten,
• ready-to-eat without any additional step, such as cooking or heating, including food containers to store fast-food, or any other directly eaten food except for beverage packaging, dishes, bowls and small bags with food,

8. beverage bottles, glasses, cans and their lids made of expanded polystyrene,

9. glasses and their lids made of expanded polystyrene.

Disposable plastic products listed in Annex 7a to the Waste Act can be distributed until December 31, 2021 (§ 135g of the Waste Act). The permission concerns only disposable plastic products introduced to the Slovak market prior to 03.07.2021.

The purpose of such changes is to support the circular economy and to reduce the environmental impact of certain plastic products, to stimulate the repeated use of products and to decrease the overall amount of waste.