Title: Hazardous wastes and economic risk reduction: case study, Poland

Authors: Edward S. Kempa

Addresses: University of Technology, 65-246 Zielona Gora, Poland

Abstract: A concise summary balance of industrial and hazardous waste is given, reflecting the situation in Poland. Nearly 130 million tonnes of waste were generated annually in the past in more than 1300 larger industrial plants. Approximately 1800 million tonnes of industrial waste is already stockpiled. The amount of hazardous waste generated per year was 0.3 and 1.0 million tonnes of the first and second class of toxicity, respectively. Seventeen existing on-site incinerators cannot treat the whole amount of solid and hazardous waste generated. Therefore, landfilling is still the most widely used method of waste disposal. Decontamination of the abandoned areas left by the Soviet Army, and reclamation of some hundreds of storage sites filled with outdated pesticides are now added to the national plan of waste management. Its implementation, including introduction of the best available and best managed technologies of hazardous waste treatment and disposal, will take at least 20 to 30 years.

Keywords: economics; hazardous waste; Poland; economic risks; solid waste; waste disposal; landfill; waste management; environmental risks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.1997.028305

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 1997 Vol.7 No.2, pp.221 - 248

Published online: 16 Sep 2009 *

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