What to do with the waste?

Waste policy lacks a systemic approach and a holistic approach, but we can observe further revolutions, the costs of which are borne primarily by residents. – In recent years, the average price (of waste removal – ed.) for a resident in Poland has increased by over 200 percent. During this time, average inflation has increased by less than 50 percent, which means that the reason for the price increase was not changes resulting from the increase in costs, but the constantly changing approach to waste management – said Kamil Majerczak, CEO of PreZero in Poland, during the discussion “What to do with waste”.

– When we look at the average total price (of waste disposal – ed.) for a resident in Europe, taking into account countries and cities in Western Europe, it turns out that the average price in a large city in Poland is similar to those paid by residents in Germany, the Netherlands or Sweden – he added. As he emphasized, subsequent revolutions in the approach to waste management in Poland have resulted in residents sponsoring a very expensive system, which is the result of the lack of a single, coherent vision.

The latest revolution, which – according to the entrepreneur – will be sponsored by a resident, is the way in which the deposit system is being introduced in Poland. According to the legislator’s intention, the implementation of the system is to help achieve the recycling level required by Brussels, and thus protect Poland from financial penalties that threaten it for failure to meet it.

– A perfectly implemented deposit system in Poland would increase the recycling level by a maximum of 0.5%. Meanwhile, the way we want to do it will cause the average price for a resident after the introduction of the deposit system to increase by PLN 1.5 per month. Residents will therefore pay PLN 600 million for the deposit system, which is to reduce penalties for unmet recycling levels by only PLN 200 million – calculated the CEO of PreZero in Poland. As he emphasized, business is not against the deposit system, but the way it is introduced: in the case of waste management, a discussion about the facts is needed.

Kamil Majerczak reminded that in order to achieve the required goals, including recycling levels, investments in infrastructure are needed, such as recycling installations or thermal waste treatment installations. This priority is identified by both the National Waste Management Plan and independent, specialist reports that have been created in recent years describing the state of national waste management. Representatives of the Ministry of Climate also see the key challenge for the sector, which is to fill the huge investment gap in this area.

– We need to invest, and it is difficult to invest if every investment is financed by residents – he said. In his opinion, additional financing is needed to fill the investment gap. In this context, the implementation of extended producer responsibility for packaging waste (EPR) becomes important.

– We are all on the same side. We want the waste stream to be properly recovered and managed, so that we are not drowning in garbage – said Janina Orzełowska, member of the board of the Mazovian province. She also agreed on the key role of extended producer responsibility in waste management. As she assessed, the one who litters should be responsible and ROP is needed.

– We have been talking about this as the provincial government for several years – she said. She also admitted that the element that ties the hands of local governments is the constantly changing law.

An equally important topic as a systemic approach to waste is treating it as a resource. CEO PreZero in Poland reminded that Poland generates about 13.5 million tons of municipal waste annually, and each ton has potential.

– We can use it through thermal conversion, producing energy and heat, we can use it through the construction of biomethane plants and produce low- or zero-emission fuel from it, we can talk about chemical and mechanical recycling. With constantly increasing regulatory requirements, including environmental ones, we need to look for optimal, tailor-made solutions for every ton of waste – he explained.

Janina Orzełowska drew attention to the growing stream of waste from residents. As she noted, the amount of waste is growing because the quality of life is improving. We are consuming more and more semi-finished products and wasting a lot of food. That is why education has a key role to play. Increasing awareness will make it easier to manage waste properly and even reduce its amount.

Adam Chwieduk, president of the Municipal Cleaning Company in the capital city of Warsaw, also drew attention to the role of education. As he recalled, approximately 700 thousand tons of waste is managed in the capital city annually. In the context of building pro-ecological attitudes, the basis is, in his opinion, education of children, who not only acquire good habits, but also pass on good examples to their parents. In recent years, education among immigrants from Ukraine, for whom the principles of selective waste collection were a novelty, has also been a challenge for large cities.

Anna Borys, Senior Director, Government Relations Europe at McDonald’s, spoke about education from a business perspective. She emphasized that without consumers, “the circular economy doesn’t happen,” which is why educational campaigns are becoming more important. After one of them, the company noted an increase in the level of waste segregation in restaurants.

McDonald’s had to face not only the problem of waste segregation, but also the issue of processing disposable food packaging – most of which was dirty and difficult to process. As a result, together with a recycler, it invested in technology that allows it to recover paper fibers from packaging. It currently processes 800 tons of used packaging per month.

The discussion showed that the problem of proper waste management is complicated. Nevertheless, it can be solved if appropriate actions are taken at different levels – decision-makers, business and society. It is crucial, however, that these actions are coherent, systemic and holistic, and not fragmented and disconnected from each other, and thus ignoring existing and potential synergies in the system.

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