From Friday the Commissioner for Human Rights' announcement shows that the most frequently reported problem related to garbage collectionwas disproportion of fees in relation to the waste actually generated. Marcin Wiącek pointed out that the current prices result from regulations that allow local governments to set fees based on the potential to generate waste, rather than the actual production.
What determines the amount of garbage collection fees?
“According to citizens, the 'polluter pays' principle should be applied. There cannot be a situation in which some people pay amounts disproportionate to the volume of waste they produce. The method is considered the most fair. determining the amount of the fee based on the number of inhabitants of the property and it is the most commonly used. Other methods based on fees depending on the level of water consumptionarea of a residential premises, or simply from the householdgenerate more cases of unfair burden, but they are still used and it is mainly citizens who complain about them,” the Ombudsman said.
If fees are charged per household, this may affect the people running single-person householdsbecause they will pay the same as multi-person households. In turn, if the fee will be calculated based on the water usedresidents of multi-family buildings tend to suffer because the rate is calculated based on the consumption of the inhabitants of the entire buildingand not the inhabitants of a particular premises – pointed out the Commissioner for Human Rights, adding that the complaints indicate that this problem is still current and occurs throughout Poland.
The spokesman said it was the tenth anniversary of its current operation waste management systemthis is a good time to analyze the regulations and make changes so that no citizen feels treated worse.
Application to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
April 3 this year The Commissioner for Human Rights sent a letter to Ministry of Climate and Environment, asking to start a discussion on “necessary corrections” that are intended to justify the “polluter pays” fee system. The ministry's response shows that the system of charged fees for waste management is the subject of work carried out with the participation of local government representatives. The ministry added that the work was a result of necessity adaptation of regulations to those of the European Union, as well as “improving the situation on the waste management market”. The Ministry of Environmental Protection also indicated that the work is aimed at transforming into a circular economy to prevent waste generation, which will also result in lower disposal costs.
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