When issuing a decision permitting the import of waste from abroad, the chief health inspector does not request the opinion of the mayor, mayor or unit head in the area to which the waste will be delivered. Local government officials want to change this.

  • Local governments have no influence over the import of waste that ends up in their area.
  • The approval to import waste from abroad issued by the chief environmental protection inspector.
  • In 2019, the chief environmental protection inspector issued 79 permits to import 545,000 to Poland. Tons of waste.

The municipality of Maersk has petitioned the Parliamentary Committee on art modification. 5 of the law on the international shipment of waste in terms of requiring the chief environmental protection inspector to request an opinion from the mayor, mayor or city president in charge of the place of waste treatment before issuing a permit to import waste into the country.

The municipality writes that its application results from the current legal situation regarding the import of waste into Poland, including the reclamation of excavation works after mining in Rębiszów in the municipality of Maersk. Today, GIS does not have to ask a municipal manager to give an opinion on this when issuing approval for import of waste. Recently, waste was sent from Germany to Maersk municipality without the knowledge of the local government.

– This situation has caused great dissatisfaction and concern to the municipality of Maersk and neighboring municipalities – we read the petition.

Waste import

In 2019, the chief environmental protection inspector issued 79 permits to import 545,000 to Poland. Tons of waste, including 77 import permits from European Union countries with a total weight of 527,000. And 2 tons for imports from outside the European Union with a total weight of 18 thousand. Tone, ringtone.

According to the calculation of the Central Statistical Office, this means a decrease in the amount of waste imported into Poland by 54 percent compared to the previous year.

Certainly the largest number of permits, because 33 permits relate to importing waste from Germany, seven from Italy, 6 from Lithuania, 5 from Great Britain, and 69% from Germany. The total amount of waste imported into Poland.

The largest importer of waste requiring a permit for cross-border shipment is Germany, where more than 6 million tons of waste have been imported.

By publishing this data, the Central Statistics Office states that the free movement of capital, people, services and goods, including waste, is guaranteed in the European Union. Written authorization for transboundary shipment of waste is required to ship specific types of waste – hazardous and problematic.

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