An overview of municipal solid waste management in Poland. The current situation, problems and challenges

An overview of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in Poland has been presented. The processes of waste generation and composition have been described and a comprehensive review of MSWM in Poland has been provided, covering some of the important aspects of waste management, such as the current status of waste collection, transport and disposal in Poland. An additional aim of the present work was to identify the potential barriers and the factors affecting waste management as well as provide recommendations for system improvement in Poland and other similar developing countries. An analysis shows that the state of municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Poland is not yet as developed as in many other EU countries. Landfilling is still the predominant method used for the disposal of MSW. Composting and incineration are also used but refer only to a small percentage of the total. According to the latest data (31st December 2014), around 84% of MSW was collected and transported and that ca. 53% was disposed of in landfill, ca. 7% was incinerated at waste-to-energy plants, ca. 11% was treated at organic waste recovery plants and 23% was delivered to sorting. The average generation rate of MSW was 293 kg/capita/year. Generally, recycling in Poland is on the increase, especially concerning easily collectable and recyclable materials such as paper, plastics, glass and metals. Around 37% of MSW collected selectively is recycled.