Joanna Kulczycka

A review of municipal solid waste composition and quantities in Poland.

A review of results of the research involving the quantitative and composition analyses of household waste conducted in Poland in recent years is presented in this paper. For these analyses various methodologies have been employed, as there is not one obligatory methodology how to characterise municipal solid waste. The results of the research in large Polish cities indicate great variability, which is difficult to be reasonably explained. This situation is affected by a number of factors, such as various methods and places for sample collection, various methods for tests, fractional character of most of the studies (studies carried out only in some periods during a year). Consequently, it is neither possible to measurably compare their results, nor to generalise them. Hence, within this article only individual data for large cities is provided. It is therefore necessary to standardise methodology for such analyses in Europe, taking into account local variability (such as different housing patterns, climate and waste collection schemes) to allow comparison of results. Reported yearly household waste generation in Polish cities varies from 238 to 309 kg per inhabitant. Biodegradable waste is a strongly dominated fraction in household waste from Polish cities, followed by paper/cardboard and plastics. Historical data shows that waste composition has undergone profound changes, the most significant being an increase of the share of plastics and decrease of fine fraction. The presented data indicates that waste composition strongly depends on the type of housing and its heating system. In the new multi-family buildings with central heating the share of paper and plastics is higher than in old houses with individual heating. In the latter ones the share of fine fraction is higher.

Assessment of waste management technology using BATNEEC options, technology quality method and multi-criteria analysis.

Best Available Techniques Not Entailing Excessive Costs (BATNEEC) options, technology quality method and multi-criteria analysis were proposed as means of developing indices for evaluating municipal waste management systems. The proposed indices can be treated as a tool for ranking the system taking into account technical, environmental, economic, social and other objectives, bearing in mind specific features of the area involved. The analysis was made for three different incineration plants (Spittelau in Vienna, Warsaw and Tarnobrzeg) together with alternative waste disposal versions (with or without biogas burning and with MBP Mechanical-Biological Process) and the waste management infrastructure. The results showed that incineration of waste is much more beneficial than disposal. These results conform to the waste hierarchy identified in EU Directive 2008/98, but the indices created are easy to interpret and useful as a tool for communicating with the public, which is often a crucial factor in determining the location of investment.

Environmentally friendly pathways for the evaluation of investment projects using life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA)

Issues related to improvement in the quality of products and to environmental protection in the economic policy of many countries and in the strategies of institutions and international organisations (e.g. European Union) have increased in importance in recent years as a consequence of the increase in environmental awareness of consumers. All these institutions currently recommend a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of planned projects during the decision-making process taking into account both economic and environmental factors. It is, therefore, important to develop methods and tools to assess environmental performance as a support to a proper choice of investment activities. The aim of this paper is to develop algorithms to link the life cycle assessment (LCA) model associated with environmental issues and the life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) model associated with economic factors to permit an integrated assessment of investment projects. The combination of LCA and LCCA results enables the assessment of ongoing or planned investments and should be used as a priority in making strategic decisions. In this paper, three environmentally friendly pathways (algorithms) using LCA–LCCA indicators as a support for decision-making processes were proposed: the first for implementing any environmental investments, the second for modernisation and innovation investments, and the third for new investments.

LCA as an element in environmental management systems—comparison of conditions in selected organisations in Poland, Sweden and Germany

PurposeIn this two-part paper (Background and Initial Assumptions (Part 1) and Results of Survey Research (Part 2)), we present surveys whose main objective is to determine, whether and to what extent the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique is used for the identification and assessment of environmental aspects in environmental management systems (EMS) and whether there are any differences in this respect between the companies and countries analysed.MethodsThe survey research was carried out using the computer assisted self-administered interviewing (CASI) method among selected Polish, German and Swedish organisations which implement EMS in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14001 and/or the EMAS regulation.ResultsThe organisations investigated, regardless of their country, are dominated by qualitative and semi-quantitative techniques of assessment and identification of environmental aspects. LCA was used sporadically, although some differences can be observed between the countries analysed.ConclusionsThe environmental managers accustomed to traditional qualitative and semi-quantitative solutions, have not been given preparation to enable them to understand and adopt the different approaches such as LCA. On the other hand, representatives of the organisations investigated declared that they were ready to accept an even longer timescale for the identification and assessment processes relating to environmental aspects, which represents a potential opportunity for LCA. The more precise understanding and definition of environmental problems that are precisely defined in LCA would represent a novelty for environmental managers. In practice, environmental problems are defined in a general sense and rather ambiguously, as this level of detail is sufficient in the context of qualitative and semi-quantitative techniques commonly used for the identification and assessment of environmental aspects.

LCC application in the Polish mining industry

Purpose – To provide a tool to evaluate the economic and ecological feasibility of new and existing mining projects using a combination of environmental goals expressed in life cycle assessment (LCA) results with economic goals expressed within life cycle costing (LCC).Design/methodology/approach – Sustainability is developing into a target for an increasing number of industries and governments. As a consequence focus has shifted from the production process to the entire life cycle. LCA is a tool that can help producers make better decisions concerning environmental protection, whereas the aim of LCC analysis is to create a cost‐effective model for environmental impact assessment.Findings – Study of the influence of the environmental cost of projects should be based on long‐term analysis of environmental investment. Using the life cycle net present value (LCNPV) method it is possible to compare different investment options, and this method can be treated as a tool that can help producers to make better de...

Principles of municipal waste management in Poland and selected regions of Europe

Principles of municipal waste management in Poland and selected regions of Europe High level of production and consumption in member-countries of the European Union is connected with generating a considerable amount of waste. In individual EU member-countries various methods aiming at decreasing the amount of generated waste are implemented. The current situation in Poland, and the best practical solutions introduced in some European regions have been presented in the paper. These solutions were put in place, mainly to fulfill the EU or countrys regulations. The priority of municipal waste management measures is to prevent and minimize its generation. Decisions on preventing waste generation should be made as early as at the stage of product designing and manufacturing. The basic principle of proper municipal waste management is to create a system of regional solutions, which includes all the elements of waste management and relates them to the local conditions.

Environmental Impacts of Energy‐Efficient Pyrometallurgical Copper Smelting Technologies: The Consequences of Technological Changes from 2010 to 2050

The article analyzes and discusses the environmental and natural resource impacts, benefits, and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential associated with a long‐term transition to more energy‐efficient pyrometallurgical smelting technologies for the production of refined copper. Using generic data from the KGHM Polska Miedź S.A, Glogow I and II smelting facilities in Poland, this study employs life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare the environmental impacts of shaft and flash furnace‐based smelting technologies. Additionally, this analysis accounts for likely technological changes in the more energy‐efficient flash furnace smelting technologies and electricity generation from 2030 to 2050 to forecast the long‐term impacts of copper production. Life cycle impact assessment results for copper production are characterized using the ReCiPe 2008 midpoint method. LCA results show that, for most impact categories, the flash‐based technology can achieve significantly lower environmental impacts than a shaft furnace (i.e., to produce 1 ton of copper in 2010 generates, on average, a 24% lower overall impact). For climate change, transitioning from shaft furnace‐based copper production to more efficient flash furnace technology leads to decreasing GHG emissions of 29% in 2010, 50% in 2030, and 56% in 2050.

LCA as an element in environmental management systems—comparison of conditions in selected organisations in Poland, Sweden and Germany Part 1: Background and initial assumptions

PurposeIn this two-part paper (Background and Initial Assumptions (part 1) and Results of Survey Research (part 2)), we present surveys whose main objective is to determine whether, and to what extent, the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique is used for the identification and assessment of environmental aspects in environmental management systems (EMS) and whether there are any differences in this respect between the companies and countries analysed.MethodsThe survey research was carried out using the computer assisted self-administered interviewing method among selected Polish, German and Swedish organisations which implement EMS in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14001 and/or the EMAS regulation.ResultsThe organisations investigated, regardless of their country, are dominated by qualitative and semi-quantitative techniques of assessment and identification of environmental aspects. LCA was used sporadically, although some differences can be observed between the countries analysed.ConclusionsThe environmental managers accustomed to traditional qualitative and semi-quantitative solutions have not been given preparation to enable them to understand and adopt different approaches such as LCA. On the other hand, representatives of the organisations investigated declared that they were ready to accept an even longer timescale for the identification and assessment processes relating to environmental aspects, which represents a potential opportunity for LCA. The more precise understanding and definition of environmental problems that are precisely defined in LCA would represent a novelty for environmental managers. In practice, environmental problems are defined in a general sense and rather ambiguously, as this level of detail is sufficient in the context of qualitative and semi-quantitative techniques commonly used for the identification and assessment of environmental aspects.

Circular economy indicators in relation to eco-innovation in European regions

The concept of a circular economy (CE) has become popular and important issue in environmental management in recent years; however, there are not particular indicators dedicated to it in regional policy. CE approach is an industrial system that is restorative by design, and it emphasises that it is important that, rather than extracting natural resources, the materials that have already been taken can and should be recovered and reused in different ways, thereby securing natural resources from over-exploitation. In order to meet CE assumptions, modern and innovative technologies that allow for the recovery of valuable materials should be developed. This also applies to eco-innovation that connects technology development with environmental aspects. It is therefore obvious that issues of CE and eco-innovation are linked, and a uniform methodology aimed at compare the levels of moving to CE including eco-innovation solutions should be established. Because the focus in European Union (EU) has been paid on regions, measuring of CE–eco-innovations levels is especially important at the regional level. In this paper, the proposals of CE indicators, based on eco-innovation factors, which can be possible to create based on existing data set (Eurostat, Cohesion policy) are presented. It is recommend to use of five group indicators for measuring regional CE–eco-innovation. Based on Eco-Innovation Scoreboard which describes innovation measurement, three of proposed indicator groups are associated directly with innovations, taking into account the principles of CE: CE–eco-innovation inputs, CE–eco-innovation activities and CE–eco-innovation outputs, and other two groups of indicators are effects of the CE–eco-innovation introduction: resource efficiency outcomes and socio-economic outcomes. This way of measuring CE–eco-innovation allows for create holistic, systematic and integrated approach for the CE concept at the regional level. Proposed indicators can be used in current transition stage for assessment of implementation regional policy and as a base for creation final CE indicators.

Characteristic of wet method of phosphorus recovery from polish sewage sludge ash with

Abstract Sewage Sludge Ash (SSA) is a concentrated source of phosphorus and can be successfully recycled via a number of different routes. This paper presents research results on phosphorus recovery from differently combusted sewage sludge with the use of nitric acid extraction. Different SSA forms from Polish thermal utilization stations were compared. It was revealed that sewage treatment technology as well as combustion technology influence many physical and chemical parameters of ashes that are crucial for further phosphorus recovery from such waste according to the proposed method. Presented research defines extraction efficiency, characterized extracts composition and verifies the possibility of using SSA as cheaper and alternative sources of phosphorus compounds. Gdynia, Kielce and Kraków SSA have the best properties for the proposed technology of phosphorus recovery with high extraction efficiency greater than 86%. Unsuitable results were obtained for Bydgoszcz, Szczecin Slag and Warszawa SSA. Extraction process for Łódź and Szczecin Dust SSA need to be improved for a higher phosphorus extraction efficiency greater than 80%. Phosphorus content in extracts varies from 1.6 to 103.4 g PO43− per 1 dm3, nitrogen content was 167,4 g per 1 dm3 while the K content reached 0.2 to 2.37 g per 1 dm3. The lowest content of Fe, Ni, Cr, Cd is noted in extracts after phosphorus recovery from Gdynia SSA, where the phosphorus content is also at the highest level. The proposed solution can be considered as waste minimization technology by the rational recycling of phosphorus and could be used in industry to produce fertilizers.