Companies asked to take out the trash in new gov't proposal

New legislation to help clean up the environment represents a "new philosophy in terms of setting down rules" for local firms, said one local environmental consultant last week. But critics remain worried that companies operating on the local market will continue to circumvent environmental requirements because they are too expensive. The government last week approved an amendment to the waste management law and the law on environmental protection. The proposed amendment, dubbed the "cleaning up act," would clarify older legislation and bring Polish law in line with European Union requirements. The new amendment introduces particularly detailed changes to the waste management law, which came into force in June 2001.

Anna Mihułka a Warsaw-based environmental consultant, said the new law represents a "new philosophy in terms of setting down rules" for local firms. If the amendment comes into force, waste emission permits would be easier to obtain for her clients since the law defines maximum amounts of waste a company is permitted to produce. The law would also help reduce emissions, she said. But many environmental experts are concerned that firms will decide not to adhere to waste management requirements, preferring to take waste disposal into their own hands. Many smaller companies and entrepreneurs can save money by disposing waste illegally. Grzegorz Kołak, an environmental protection specialist at the SEGI AT consultancy, said that despite the existing legal outlines for waste management, many governmental units in charge of environment protection are not aware of the need for waste disposal. "The only ones who adhere to the existing rules are large companies," he said. "Acting otherwise is not in their best interests. A farm owner will not participate in a waste disposal scheme because he simply cannot afford it. If there was a system of disposal subsidies, perhaps he would cooperate."

Implementation Poland negotiated a transition period until 2007 to adjust to some EU environmental requirements, but experts stress the importance of immediate legal implementation. Marcin Wierzbicki, an environment protection specialist at Bio-Ecology Services, said that during his four years in the industry he had not seen a polluter punished for illegal waste disposal. So far, only packaging waste producers and major users, such as hypermarkets, have come under government scrutiny since the existing law requires them to recycle a certain portion of their waste, relevant to amount produced, by the end of the year. Failure to comply will result in severe financial penalties, but at the moment this is the only area of waste management where waste production and recycling are controlled to such an extent, he said. Mira Stanisławska-Meysztowicz, the president of the independent environmental group, Our Earth Foundation, agrees. "What really needs to change is the level of awareness of the decision makers," she said. "They suffer from an outdated mentality, and only a system of monitoring and penalties can force local authorities as well as domestic private companies to adhere to environment protection laws."

Competing for waste Company representatives, however, are more concerned that the upcoming law will limit competition on the waste management market. Dariusz Matlak, the executive director of the Polish Union for Waste Management (PUGO), said that the new law would stifle competition among recyclers and waste collection companies. If accepted, the new law would give the power to decide which company would handle recycling and waste collection in a particular gmina (municipality) to the gmina authorities. Companies now have to compete among each other for corporate and individual clients. "This move comes before self-government elections and vests an excess of power in the gminas' hands," he said. "I don't think they are prepared for this."