organic waste management in Poland

Eco Landuse Systems

e-mail: biala@optusnet.com.au website www.elspl.com.au

(D8) Biala, J. and Turk, T., 'Development of organic waste management in Katowice, Poland'; In: Stentiford, E. (ed.): Proceedings of ORBIT 97, Organic Recovery & Biological Treatment, International Organic Waste Management Conference in Harrogate, UK, 3 - 5 September 1997.

Summary

Conclusions and development of future strategies for Katowice and neighbouring municipalities

Experience and results obtained during the Pilot Project in Katowice resulted in the following recommendations for the future:

to develop a long-term waste management strategy;
to communicate and co-operate with neighbouring councils and other interested bodies;
to employ an adequate public relations campaign for the introduction of all source separation schemes and maintain public awareness;
to discontinue separate collection scheme in old areas if it can not be revived to function satisfactorily;
to use biowaste compost only for waste land reclamation or as landfill cover as long as the heavy metal content remains high;
to continue the source separation scheme for biowaste in the new areas only if there is a long-term strategy to expand the scheme and if it is decided in which way the additional collection costs can be covered;
to develop Polish compost quality standards for biowaste compost;
to improve the efficiency of waste collection services;
to maintain the MSW composting plant as a major means of diverting organic waste from being landfilled. It´s efficiency will need to be improved and further steps will have to be taken to reduce the emission of malodours;
to ban green waste from the landfill and windrow compost it instead;
to look for new ways of organising and running a new green waste composting plant; and
to promote home composting as a means of green waste management.