Local landfills pose problem, lack EU standards

Landfills in Poland will be investigated by the Supreme Audit Office (NIK). "The landfills are not up to par with EU standards and as many as 30 of them should be shut down," according to Dr. Piotr Manczarski of the Warsaw University of Technology. Local municipalities have been directed to manage landfills through the formation of limited companies. In this case, many local governments are between a rock and a hard place, since they lack money to properly shut down the landfills. Furthermore, many municipalities set up landfills at a time when authorities did not realize that such an investment may have negative long-term effects.