Municipal waste management in municipalities in Poland – towards a circular economy model

Abstract

The aim of the study was to answer the question of to what extent it is possible in Poland to reach the target recycling rates and landfill of municipal waste by 2035 and build a circular economy model (CEM) by 2050. The authors will continue research in this area. In the article, the authors: 1) diagnose EU and Polish legislation in the given area, 2) review the literature with regard to the circular economy, 3) analyse municipal waste streams in Poland and present their forecasts for the period of Poland’s approach to the CEM. The data were taken from the public statistics and refer mainly to the period 2013-2021. The study used the method of literature analysis and legal regulations, as well as methods of descriptive analysis and linear extrapolation. The results obtained, albeit aggregated, suggest that it is possible to reach the EU-targeted recycling and landfill level for municipal waste in Poland by 2035 and the CEM by 2050.