Effectiveness of investments in municipal waste management in Poland in the context of goals of the circular economy

Abstract

Municipal waste management has become one of key areas for a circular economy. The European Union has founded its new strategy (Europe, 2003) on such an approach: wastes are raw materials and hence, it is possible to limit acquisition of original resources. To achieve the goal, a relevant sequence of proceedings regarding wastes has been approved: prevention, preparation for re-use, recycling, recovery, neutralization. It means that the municipal waste management must be based, most of all, on selective collection of wastes and on recycling, including fractions which have been weakly used so far, among others bio-degradable wastes. These relatively new goals enforce re-assessment of already planned and performed investments in the field of possibilities to perform them and efficiency of commenced municipal waste management reform. In Poland, the changes in question in a great scale started in 2013, after amendment of a law enabling communes to manage wastes and making them responsible for performance of estimated goals. It resulted in, among others, concentration of direct investments in the area of waste management, financed from treasury and Union’s funds, private and public ones. Investment plans and already performed investments show that no proceedings hierarchy has been observed and hence, it may cause competition of particular investments for access to wastes and potential import of certain fractions. As a result it will decrease efficiency of certain installations and it may cause failure to follow required recycling rates; consequently, the Union may impose sanctions on Poland for failure to fulfill its obligations. The aim of the paper is to indicate that the waste targets, as a tool of circulate economy requires appropriate waste treatment installations. However, the selection of these installations should be made at the state level, because leaving the choice to the investor does not secure technical possibilities to achieve the objectives of municipal waste management, neither in terms of quantity nor cost. The paper follows a case study approach. The paper is based on the analysis of existing and planned waste treatment installations in Poland in relation to the quantity and composition of waste generated by households. The further part of the article is a discussion whether the existing and planned investment directions are in line with the accepted waste target and allow for their achievement at the lowest possible investment outlays.