Will you pay for what you throw into the trash? The Ministry of the Environment comments
The Ministry of Climate refrains from introducing the principle: pay for what you throw away. Local governments warned that this would encourage people to abandon waste in forests.
According to Monday’s “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”, after several months of consultations, the Ministry of Climate and Environment decided to withdraw the so-called amendment from the draft. Cleanliness Act, solutions enabling the binding of garbage fees with the amount of waste generated (principle: “pay as you throw”, i.e. “pay for what you throw away”). Local governments warned that this would encourage people to dump waste in forests or rivers. – We are refraining from introducing a fee model depending on the amount of waste generated – emphasizes Anita Sowińska, deputy minister of climate and environment, quoted by the newspaper.
Garbage fees. The government is withdrawing from the controversial idea
The deputy head of the Ministry of the Environment admits that the change of mind is the result of fears about possible undesirable social effects. The main point is not to encourage illegal waste disposal. This could be the case if the part of the waste fee determined by municipalities depended on its weight. The new type of fee calculation was supposed to be optional, but it was criticized by local government officials and experts. In their opinion, this is a departure from the foundations of the waste revolution of 2013.
Moreover, the daily informs that there will be no additional reliefs and exemptions from fees announced for people in difficult life situations and small craftsmen. Municipal waste selective collection points should work better. – Municipalities will be obliged, taking into account local conditions, to provide additional forms of collection of problematic waste at least once every six months. – emphasizes the Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment.
This includes: o textiles and waste electrical equipment.
However, the draft amendment retains mechanisms that are rational from the point of view of the economics of the system, such as incentives for composting bio-waste for multi-unit properties with green areas, and properties with a summer house or other properties used for recreational and leisure purposes.
