euro 40 billion needed to reduce pollution to EU levels by 2016 say experts

Poland will need to spend as much as euro 40 billion in order to comply to European Union standards in terms of environmental protection. The currently accepted assumptions foresee that in 2016 Poland will not pollute the environment any more than other members of the EU currently do. "During the past 12 years we have improved the condition of water and atmospheric cleanliness. However, waste recycling has not been improved in any way," said Marek Nowicki, head of EkoFundusz. In practice, this means that in Poland 95% of waste is dumped, whereas in Denmark for example the figure is only 15%. To date, Poland has invested euro 1 billion in environment protection, provided by the budget as well as from a variety of EU funds. By 2006 a further euro 4 billion will have been spent. According to government officials, of the euro 40 billion needed, almost half will be supplied by the EU. (Zycie, p. 6) A.K.