"Rational waste management is currently one of the major environmental problems which still remain unsolved in Poland. Meanwhile, the relevant European Union standards in this field have become continuously more stringent. Nevertheless, Poland is committed to meet these standards", Professor Maciej Nowicki, Poland`s Minister of the Environment, stated few days ago.

Complete implementation of the Community legal provisions into the Polish legal framework is the basic precondition for compliance with the EU requirements in the field of waste management. It is also important that an efficient waste recovery and recycling system has to be implemented in Poland that provides for utilisation of recyclable and reusable waste in respective manufacturing processes.

The present Government - said Nowicki - implemented already a series of Acts, including those on management of waste electrical household and electronic equipment, used batteries and accumulators, and on recycling of end-of-life vehicles. The current Draft Proposal for the Act on packaging and packaging waste finalises the series of the relevant legal instruments concerning specific types of waste, thus putting in order the entire important segment of waste management issues. The said Draft Act amends existing relevant legal acts towards transposition of the European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste, and Directive 2004/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 amending Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste. Unfortunately, Poland has so far failed to meet its commitment (i.e. the relevant requirement in Article 16 of Directive 94/62/EC) to notify the European Commission on the national legal instruments currently in force in waste management sector. It is envisaged that the present Draft Proposal, once approved by the Polish Council of Ministers, will be immediately forwarded to the European Commission for notification purpose.

The Draft Act harmonises primarily all the matters which provide for improvements in the national system for collection and recycling of packaging waste by means of „sealing” this system through elimination of „trading in receipts” (i.e. trading in forged waste reception acknowledgements). To this end, the national register will be implemented to cover all these operators who place packaging on the market, and the Recovery Organisations, as well as the operators who manage for recycling of packaging waste. Ultimately, the register will form a part of comprehensive national database on wastes that will be kept by the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection, however temporarily, i.e. until 2012 the Provincial Registers will be left with the Voivodship (i.e. Provincial) Marshall Offices. Both the registration fee and the annual charge will be low (maximum 250 PLN per annum) and the proceeds on these fees and charges (with their total estimated at about 5 million PLN annually) will be designated for managing these Provincial Registers at the Marshall Offices and for the relevant environmental education curricula, Nowicki added

A number of new legal provisions concern performance of institutions named the Recovery Organisations. First of all, upgrading these institutions' initial capital from 1 up to 5 million PLN is planned in order to eliminate any inefficient and ineffective companies form the market. Besides, the obligation to perform educational activities will be conferred on the Recovery Organisations who will have to allocate at least 5 percent of their revenues to this end. All such organisations will be made committed to implement and assume the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) to provide for meeting the highest possible waste management standards.

Given the specific nature of the issues in question, the contents of the Draft Proposal for the Act on packaging and packaging waste is extremely complex and therefore the work on its composition and text will be yet continued with the aim to eliminate any of its controversial components.

It is anticipated - Nowicki finished - that the Draft Proposal for the Act on packaging and packaging waste will likely enter into force in early spring 2010.

Quelle: Ministry of the environment, Poland

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