Origin
A publication built around one question: what happens after the pilot ends?
Why we exist
Circular economy announcements in Czechia move fast. A pilot refill wall opens in Brno. A ministry document goes out for public comment. A textile company mentions a new sorting line at a trade fair. Most of these stories get one paragraph somewhere and then disappear. This publication was set up to follow them past that first paragraph.
Independent, not sponsored
No recycling company, refill brand or trade association funds this project. Coverage decisions are made editorially.
Built on conversations
Interviews with plant staff, shop owners and small manufacturers sit alongside official documents, not instead of them.
How the project took shape
Notes from the first year
Reading the packaging waste consultation
An early draft of a deposit-return proposal, published for public comment, raised more questions than it answered about implementation timelines. That gap became the starting point for a running legislation file.
First conversations with textile sorters
A visit to a sorting facility outside Prague made clear how much of what gets labelled "recycled" actually gets exported for grading elsewhere. That distinction shapes how textile stories are framed here.
Mapping refill stations district by district
Rather than one list, refill locations in Prague and Brno are tracked as an evolving map, since openings, closures and format changes happen often enough to make a static list misleading.
Talking to small manufacturers about EPR
Extended producer responsibility rules read very differently once you are the person filling out the registration form. Several small workshop owners agreed to walk through their experience on record.
What this site will not do
It will not recommend a specific recycling service or refill brand. It will not describe legislation as final before it is. It will not turn an interview into an advertisement.
Language
Articles are written in English for an international audience following Central European policy, with source documents referenced in their original Czech where relevant.