Segregation and recycling of packaging waste in central Poland

Abstract

Due to the increasing consumption of earth resources, new term “scarcity” appeared. Scarcity is the fundamental economic problem of having seemingly unlimited human needs and wants, in a world of limited resources. It states that society has insufficient productive resources to fulfil all human wants and needs [1]. And we must remember that, in accordance with the concept of sustainable development, these resources should be enough also for future generations. Limited access to raw materials and a large amount of waste affect the need for waste recycling [2]. Especially in the case of packaging waste it is very important, because its life cycle is very short, and materials used for packaging production can be recycled. However, to make recycling of these materials possible, its previous segregation should take place. The organization of waste segregation was introduced and described by the Act of 11 July 2011 amending the Act on maintaining cleanliness and order in municipalities and some other acts. This Act introduced compulsory segregation of waste [3]. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the approach of individual consumers to segregation of packaging waste after a few years of the operation of the new Act in Poland. The research was conducted in the form of an electronic survey among different types of households from the central Poland. The paper includes the most important results of the survey.