An overview of municipal solid waste management in Poland. The current situation, problems and challenges

Abstract

An overview of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in Poland has been presented. The processes of waste generation and composition have been described and a comprehensive review of MSWM in Poland has been provided, covering some of the important aspects of waste management, such as the current status of waste collection, transport and disposal in Poland. An additional aim of the present work was to identify the potential barriers and the factors affecting waste management as well as provide recommendations for system improvement in Poland and other similar developing countries. An analysis shows that the state of municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Poland is not yet as developed as in many other EU countries. Landfilling is still the predominant method used for the disposal of MSW. Composting and incineration are also used but refer only to a small percentage of the total. According to the latest data (31st December 2014), around 84% of MSW was collected and transported and that ca. 53% was disposed of in landfill, ca. 7% was incinerated at waste-to-energy plants, ca. 11% was treated at organic waste recovery plants and 23% was delivered to sorting. The average generation rate of MSW was 293 kg/capita/year. Generally, recycling in Poland is on the increase, especially concerning easily collectable and recyclable materials such as paper, plastics, glass and metals. Around 37% of MSW collected selectively is recycled.

Municipal solid waste in Brazil: A review

“…The amount of municipal waste generated is still lower than in other developed European countries such as Denmark and Germany with 789 and 625 kg per capita, respectively (Eurostat, 2016). The low amount of MSW generated can be attributed to the fact that the development of the market economy and the ensuing economic and social changes in Poland occurred relatively recently (Alwaeli, 2015). Landfilling is still the predominant method used for the disposal of MSW in Poland, around 44%, whereas in Denmark and Germany the amount of MSW disposed of by this method is below 1% (Eurostat, 2016).…”

“…Small-scale composting and incineration are also used in Poland. This can be attributed mainly to a lack of waste separation at residential, institutional and commercial sources (Alwaeli, 2015). Therefore, the current MSW management system in Poland is not yet as developed as in many older European countries.…”

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“…Thus, to avoid paying a higher waste disposal costs, some householders falsely declare that they recycle their waste while in reality they do not [1]. Especially since the new scheme is still in its early stages and therefore, is not yet as developed as in many other EU countries, monitoring such abuses of the system represents quite a challenging task [30,31].…”

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“…The use of landfills is the simplest, cheapest, and most common way of managing disposal of MSW. However, it is the least environmentally friendly means of MSW disposal; the use of landfills reduces the efficiency of waste disposal and even causes serious problems, such as groundwater contamination and air pollution with the release of harmful gases from landfill and soil contamination [7]. Incineration can generate electricity, but micro-pollutants emitted from the combustion process are also a concern [8].…”