Municipal Waste-to-Energy plants in Poland – current projects

Abstract

In 2016, six new municipal waste combustion plants will be operating in Poland. These projects, located in: Bialystok, Bydgoszcz, Konin, Krakow, Poznan and Szczecin, will influence waste management in Poland as well as change energy security of the country. So far in Poland only one Waste-to-Energy (WtE) plant, i.e. in the capital city of Warsaw, has been operating. Unfortunately, this is not enough, taking into account Polish economic development in the last years. Polish accession to the European Union (EU) significantly influenced the development of the industry which resulted in increased production of waste while the management system was not prepared to handle it in the proper way so there was a big amount of waste. The main way to deal with waste in Poland was, and still is, landfilling which can be in many ways dangerous for the environment. The EU law have put pressure on Polish Waste Management Systems and results are visible in currently realized Waste-to-Energy projects.This work analysis of the aforementioned 6 projects from economic (project value, funding from the European Union) and technological (used technology, waste throughout, availability etc.) point of view together with their impact on the entire waste management system and energy security. What is more, history of similar facilities in Poland is presented, what shows how many projects were prepared, how many fell through and time frame of finally realised projects (start of construction and the planned completion).Conclusions show why in the current situation development of Polish WtE infrastructure is right, i.e. operation of aforementioned plants that will ensure benefits associated with energy production, reduction of landfilling and informing public opinion regarding modern waste management models. Additionally, the article draws attention on the high responsibility that will be put on WtE plants operators and that experience gained during WtE implementation can be used to improve even further for future Polish Waste Management Systems.