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Extended producer responsibility system
Recyclable waste management costs are the lowest in Poland compared to other countries, and the actual fees are paid by citizens and recyclers. After the regulations change, the amount of fees paid by packaging companies will increase from several dozen million to several billion PLN annually. The funds obtained this way, as well as EU funding will support investments in the recycling and the circular economy.
- In Poland, there is a quasi-system setting for secondary materials recovery and recycling standards. The standards are implemented on the basis of documents confirming recycling (DPR), issued by several dozen recovery organisations. There is no real circular economy, and for many years producers have not proposed any changes which would improve the system - notes Szymon Dziak-Czekan, president of the Polish Recycling Association.
The change is to be brought about by the system of extended producer responsibility (ROP), under which the company introducing a packaged product to the market will participate in the packaging recycling costs, in accordance with the "polluter pays" principle. - The new system is to reward companies which use recyclable materials and care for the natural environment. Organisations of the recycling industry entrepreneurs support such solutions, explains the president;
the industry also calls for the location of the new system in a government agency in order to guarantee transparency. They also opt for establishment of a regulator for extended producer responsibility (ROP) and a reliable verification system with the use of BDO - Waste Database. The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management has already declared its readiness to make the system functional.
The recycling industry position has been recognised by local governments responsible for municipal management. - In Poland, recyclers have created an efficient raw material recovery system which meets the strict EU requirements for waste management. The system of the so-called product-fee based on packaging recovery organisations operates in parallel Today we know that this system does not work - emphasises Piotr Grzelak, deputy mayor of the city of Gdańsk, who also represents the Association of Polish Cities.
- The market of documents confirming recovery and recycling for entrepreneurs placing packaging on the market and the shadow economy has emerged in place of the real waste management market. Importantly, the current situation means that residents' fees for waste collection are increasing. The costs of processing rubbish in Poland are attached to recyclers, and the profits from the production and sale of packaging remain with the producers "- explains Jarosław Roliński from the National Fund
The European Union is moving away from thermal waste treatment in the new perspective for 2021-27. The Polish laws adaptation to European regulations in the field of municipal waste management is intended to reduce the generation of waste and its proper recycling. From 2021, Poland will also have to pay a fee for failure to comply with the recycling levels indicated by the EU.
Source of information: "Polish Recycling" Association / MBr