Hungarian waste act amendment in public consultation: mandatory fines and new liability rules for MOHU

On 5 November 2026, Hungary’s Ministry for Living Environment (ÉKFM) published for public consultation its draft amendment to Act CLXXXV of 2012 on waste (the Waste Act, Ht.). The Hungarian waste act amendment primarily transposes Directive (EU) 2025/1892, which amends the Waste Framework Directive, but the package goes well beyond technical harmonisation: it tightens the liability of the concession company, MOHU MOL Hulladékgazdálkodási Zrt., in several places and creates new defences for waste holders and concession subcontractors. Comments can be submitted until 13 November 2026.

In short: The Hungarian waste act amendment brings the new EU rules on food waste prevention and the 2030 reduction targets into national law. The draft would also rule out warnings as a sanction for MOHU’s infringements, require adequate coverage of separate collection infrastructure, and allow the minister to order the concession company to amend unlawful contract terms.

What is in the consultation package?

Four documents are available in the kormany.hu document library (in Hungarian): a summary, the 17-section legal text, a detailed explanatory memorandum and an impact assessment sheet. The draft serves two clearly separate purposes.

The first is EU harmonisation. The European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive (EU) 2025/1892 on 10 September 2025, amending Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC mainly with regard to food waste and textiles. Member States must transpose it by 17 June 2027 – and the draft’s commencement clause is aligned with that date.

The second is to build in domestic enforcement experience. The explanatory memorandum states explicitly that changes to the sanctions regime became necessary on the basis of authority experience flagged during the review of the waste management concession. That review, which ultimately grew into a review of the entire waste management system, is now visible for the first time in the wording of a draft law.

Hungarian waste act amendment: what does the draft take over from the EU directive?

The transposition rests on four elements: a clarified scope, new definitions, minimum requirements for food waste prevention, and the 2030 targets.

Scope. The Waste Act will no longer apply to carbon dioxide captured and transported for geological storage and stored geologically in accordance with the mining act, in line with the directive.

New definitions. Section 2 of the Act gains six new or amended definitions:

• unsold consumer product – as defined in the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR);
• consumer – a natural person as defined in the Hungarian Consumer Protection Act;
• fulfilment service provider (logistics provider) and end-user – as defined in the market surveillance Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
• online platform – as defined in the Digital Services Act, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065;
• social economy entity – a civil society organisation established for a social or environmental purpose.

These definitions are linked mainly to the directive’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) rules for textiles, under which online platforms, fulfilment service providers and social economy actors are given obligations or roles. Importantly, however, the draft text does not yet contain the textile EPR scheme itself, nor the rule that separately collected textiles are to be classed as waste – a question we explored through a festival vintage market and the textile waste hierarchy. The directive allows a longer deadline for setting up textile EPR schemes, so these provisions are likely to arrive in a later legislative package.

Food waste: minimum requirements and 2030 targets

The most fully developed EU element in the draft concerns food waste. A new Section 11/A sets five minimum requirements along the entire food supply chain – from primary production through processing, retail and food service to households:

• behavioural change interventions and awareness campaigns;
• identifying and addressing inefficiencies in the supply chain, supporting cooperation among all actors and ensuring a fair distribution of the costs and benefits of prevention measures;
• encouraging food donation and other redistribution for human consumption, which takes priority over animal feed and processing into non-food products;
• supporting training, skills development and access to funding, especially for SMEs and social economy entities;
• encouraging innovative and technological solutions.

Actors must be involved in proportion to their role in generating food waste, while avoiding a disproportionate burden on small and medium-sized enterprises. After consulting food banks, and where justified, economic operators identified as playing a significant role should be encouraged to offer donation agreements to food banks and other redistribution organisations.

The targets. A new paragraph (8) in Section 92 requires, by 31 December 2030 and compared with the annual average for 2021–2023:

• a 10 percent reduction in food waste generated in processing and manufacturing, and
• a 30 percent reduction in per-capita food waste generated jointly in retail and other distribution of food, in restaurants and food services, and in households.

An earlier reference period may be used if a procedure to that effect has been conducted before the European Commission.

The concrete obligations, however, will not be in the Act itself but in a later government decree: Section 88 is extended with a mandate to lay down detailed rules for food processing, retail, hospitality, catering and households. According to the explanatory memorandum, this will mainly affect the food industry, retail and the HORECA sector.

What affects MOHU: stricter liability within the concession system

The draft changes the concession company’s position at six points. Only one of these is linked to the EU directive; the rest stem from domestic enforcement experience.

1. Separate collection: mandatory infrastructure and coverage (Section 4)

A new paragraph (6) is added to Section 12 of the Act: the concession company must ensure that the infrastructure required for the separate collection of waste falling within the state waste management public task is available – including adequate coverage of separate collection points by material and by area. The explanatory memorandum notes that the amended framework directive stresses the primary role of separate collection in proper waste management.

Separate collection coverage has been a recurring point of criticism of the concession – for example in the debate over the rollout of brown biowaste bins. The Act does not define what counts as “adequate coverage”; the details are left to the implementing government decree. This provision enters into force on 17 June 2027.

2. When waste is not taken over: a defence for waste holders (Section 5)

Section 31 of the Act gains two new paragraphs. In proceedings for a waste management fine, a waste holder – typically the producer, according to the memorandum – is exempt from liability if it proves that the infringement occurred because it could not hand over the waste for reasons within the sphere of the concession company or a concession subcontractor. In that case, the authority exempts the holder and at the same time orders the concession company to take over the waste.

The background is enforcement practice around waste stored for more than a year. The memorandum cites judgment C-129/16 of the Court of Justice of the EU, under which a causal link must be examined even under strict liability: if collection or storage is otherwise lawful and the holder’s activity is not connected to the unlawful storage beyond one year, the holder cannot be held liable. The memorandum also stresses that the holder can only be exempted from the consequences of the failed handover.

3. Protection for concession subcontractors (Section 8(1))

A similar defence is introduced in Section 53/A for concession subcontractors – the local and regional companies providing public waste services as MOHU’s subcontractors. Disputes over waste routing and takeover between MOHU and local operators have surfaced repeatedly, as in the Szolnok case. Under the draft, a subcontractor is exempt from liability if it proves that the infringement occurred because the concession company failed to take the necessary measures despite the subcontractor’s warning.

Both defences must also be applied in proceedings pending when the amendment enters into force (Section 12). The memorandum justifies the retroactive application of these more favourable sanction rules by reference to prevailing legal interpretation.

4. Ministerial order to amend contract terms (Section 8(2))

Under a new paragraph (8) of Section 53/A, if the minister finds that a contract term relating to the public service and institutional sub-activities breaches waste management legislation, the minister will order the concession company to amend it within 15 days. The concession company is obliged to comply. In practice, this means direct ministerial oversight of MOHU’s general terms and conditions.

5. Service suspension only in cases set by law (Section 7)

Section 41(1a) is reworded: use and provision of the public service may only be suspended or restricted in cases set out in the Act or in a government decree implementing it. The concession company’s general terms and conditions may only specify how, and with what content, a property user may request suspension.

According to the memorandum, a public interest notification to the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and other residents’ complaints showed that the conditions for suspension were not sufficiently transparent, which could lead to legal uncertainty. It remains to be seen whether proof requirements currently set out in MOHU’s terms – such as utility consumption thresholds – will count as the “manner and content” of a request after the amendment, or will need to be raised to the level of legislation.

6. No more warnings: fines become mandatory (Section 9)

A new point e) is added to Section 84(4): where the concession company breaches waste management rules, a warning is excluded as a sanction and the authority must decide on imposing a fine. The memorandum cites the seriousness of such proceedings and notes that sanction proceedings were already possible – the amendment only removes the option of a warning.

Consortia and VAT-neutral asset transfers

The third main element of the draft concerns municipal assets. The Act introduces a new concept, the waste management consortium: a cooperation between municipalities based on a civil law contract for the joint performance of waste management tasks.

According to the memorandum, consortia created when using EU pre-accession funds have so far been unable to divide their assets without VAT, which amounted to unfair discrimination compared with municipal associations. Under the redrafted Section 37/D, the release and contribution of assets when a municipality leaves an association are to be treated as a termination with legal succession under the VAT Act – provided that within six months the municipality hands over the waste management assets for operation to an actor in the concession system: a municipally majority-owned subcontractor, the concessionaire or the concession company. The same applies to the assets of municipalities forming a consortium.

A smaller but practically relevant clarification concerns Section 14(1): according to the memorandum, the aim is faster removal of illegally dumped or abandoned waste, in which municipalities will also be given a role.

When does it enter into force?

The draft provides for entry into force in two stages:

• On the 16th day after promulgation: the domestically motivated changes – the sanction and liability rules affecting MOHU (defences, ministerial order, suspension, exclusion of warnings), the consortium definition and the VAT rules.
• On 17 June 2027: the provisions transposing the directive – the clarified scope, the new EU definitions, the food waste rules and targets, the decree-making mandate, and the concession company’s obligation regarding collection infrastructure.

What does the impact assessment show?

According to the preliminary impact assessment sheet dated 14 September 2026, one working day was spent preparing it, covering the period from 1 September to 31 December 2026. The sheet states that the measure does not materially change competitiveness, does not contribute to higher employment, and that the staffing, organisational, material and financial conditions for implementation are in place. An assessment of administrative burdens was carried out, but the sheet contains no quantified impact; budgetary effects are recorded as HUF 0 in every row, and no affected social group is named. Quantifying the effects on food supply chain actors or on the concession system is therefore left to the preparation of the implementing decrees.

How to submit comments

The deadline for the public consultation is 13 November 2026. Comments can be sent to the ministry at tarsadalmiegyeztetes@ekfm.gov.hu. The documents can be downloaded individually or as a package from kormany.hu.

Points to watch in the consultation

The draft leaves several practical questions open, which stakeholders’ comments could help answer:

• Coverage: the benchmark for “adequate coverage” of collection infrastructure – by waste stream and by area – will be set in the government decree, so its content will determine the real weight of the obligation.
• Enforceability: the draft attaches no separate legal consequence to a concession company failing to amend a contract term after a ministerial order.
• Burden of proof: waste holders and subcontractors must prove that the infringement arose within the concession company’s sphere, so documenting warnings and handover attempts becomes more important.
• Textiles: the draft does not yet address textile EPR or the waste status of used textiles, even though for producers, distributors and online platforms this will be one of the directive’s most far-reaching parts.

dontwasteit.hu will continue to report on developments after the consultation closes and once the bill is submitted to Parliament.

Hungarian waste act amendment – frequently asked questions

What is the purpose of the 2026 Hungarian waste act amendment?

The draft’s main purpose is to transpose Directive (EU) 2025/1892, which tightens EU rules on food waste and textiles. In addition, based on authority experience gathered during the concession review, it amends the sanctions regime of the Waste Act and extends the VAT-neutral asset division available to municipal associations to waste management consortia as well.

How does the amendment affect MOHU?

Under the draft, warnings can no longer be used as a sanction for MOHU’s infringements; the authority must impose a fine. The concession company must provide separate collection infrastructure with adequate coverage, the minister may order it to amend unlawful contract terms within 15 days, and the authority may oblige it to take over waste it failed to collect.

Can a waste holder avoid a fine if its waste is not taken over?

Yes. Under the draft, a waste holder is exempt from liability if it proves that the infringement occurred because it could not hand over the waste for reasons within the sphere of the concession company or a concession subcontractor. The authority then orders the concession company to take over the waste, and the rule also applies in pending proceedings.

What food waste reduction targets does the draft set?

Compared with the 2021–2023 annual average, food waste generated in processing and manufacturing must be cut by 10 percent by 31 December 2030. Per-capita food waste generated jointly in retail, restaurants, food services and households must be reduced by 30 percent. Detailed rules will be laid down later in a government decree.

When would the Hungarian waste act amendment enter into force?

As a general rule, the act enters into force on the 16th day after promulgation, which is when the sanction and liability rules affecting MOHU would start to apply. The provisions transposing the directive, including the food waste targets and the collection infrastructure obligation, enter into force on 17 June 2027, in line with the EU transposition deadline.

How and until when can the draft be commented on?

The public consultation deadline is 13 November 2026. Comments can be sent by email to the Ministry for Living Environment at tarsadalmiegyeztetes@ekfm.gov.hu. The four documents of the draft – the summary, the legal text, the explanatory memorandum and the impact assessment sheet – are available for download in the kormany.hu document library.

🔗 Official sources and references: 👉

• Ministry for Living Environment (ÉKFM): Public consultation on the amendment of Act CLXXXV of 2012 on waste – summary, legal text, explanatory memorandum, impact assessment sheet (kormany.hu, 5 November 2026)
• Directive (EU) 2025/1892 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 September 2025 amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste
• EUR-Lex: EU waste management law – summary

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