Shades of green
It isn't easy being green. But the country has come a long way in the last decade to resolve some very serious environmental hazards, especially after the collapse of the centrally-planned economy, an event which highlighted the environmental problems of the former system.
Since then, the country has taken some giant steps to improve its air quality, water protection, waste management, soil protection and renewable energy resources. These measures came about mainly due to the restructuring of the industrial and energy sectors, new environmental laws and a push from the European Union to adopt its more stringent regulations as a prerequisite for membership.
Significant improvements, for example, have been made in the areas of air pollution and water protection. In 1989, the country emitted about 4.3 million tons of sulfur dioxide from coal-burning industries and domestic use. Now, thanks to the modernization of power plants and the use of natural gas and biomass as coal substitutes, less than two million tons of sulfur dioxide are emitted annually. Likewise in 1989, one-third of the country's wastewater entered rivers without being purified. Today less than 10% of untreated water flows into the rivers.
Yet, considerable trouble spots remain. Nitrogen oxide emissions, mainly from motor vehicles, are twice as high as they were 14 years ago and are increasing. Large combustion plants still emit tons of harmful gases and will require about E4.7 billion-€9.4 billion (zł. 20 billion-zł. 40 billion) to modernize their facilities to ensure compliance with EU air pollution regulations. The country will also have to build wastewater treatment plans in all towns with more than 2,000 inhabitants. With a compliance grace period scheduled to end in 2015, the cost will be about E20 billion, part of which will come from EU funds for public sector projects.
Almost no progress has been made in the area of waste management, as more than 95% of garbage is dumped in landfills - about the same level as in the early 1990s. Likewise, there has been little progress made in reducing industrial solid waste, mainly due to a lack of attention and a lack of funds to modernize technological production lines to decrease toxic waste byproducts.
The question now is when will the country make new progress in addressing these issues and continue to ensure a policy of environmentally sustainable development - the integration of environmental protection issues within particular economic sectors to preserve natural resources and secure the durability of natural processes.
Some environmentalists blame government leaders for not distinguishing between environmental protection and nature protection and for having little or no understanding of the environment as an industry and a significant part of the overall economy, which receives 7%-8% of the country's investment and employs around 400,000 workers. They also say that at present environmental issues only receive attention when the EU pushes.
It is in this vein that the Business Journal continues its spring campaign on the environment to draw attention to current environmental problems and what's being done to contain them, control them and reduce them. Our coverage this week features an article on how NGOs and businesses are forming partnerships to increase environmental awareness and a guest column by Sławek Brzózek, the director of Our Earth Foundation, which runs the Clean Up Poland campaign.
