Relationship Between Environmental Changes and Waste Management Policies on the Formation of the Quality of Life in Poland. A Regional Approach
PAWEŁ DZIEKAŃSKI
PhD, Department of Economics and Finance; Jan Kochanowski University of KielceKielce, Poland
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and ŁUKASZ POPŁAWSKI
PhD, DSc, Department of Public Finance, Krakov University of EconomicsKraków, Poland
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Jul 05, 2025
About this article
Published Online: Jul 05, 2025
Page range: 50 - 70
Received: Feb 07, 2025
Accepted: May 07, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30858/zer/204786
Keywords
© 2025 PAWEŁ DZIEKAŃSKI et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Map 1.
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
Diagnostic variables describing the quality of life, waste management, and ecology and the environment in counties in Poland
| Variable | Jednostki | D/S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| X1 | Share of forest area in total area | % | S |
| X2 | Share of legally protected areas in total area | % | S |
| X3 | Share of green areas in total area | % | S |
| X4 | Wastewater treated per year | dam3/km2 | S |
| X5 | Industrial and municipal wastewater treated | % | S |
| X6 | Population using wastewater treatment plants | % | S |
| X7 | Mixed waste collected during the year | kg per capita | D |
| X8 | Share of recycled waste in waste volume | % | S |
| X9 | Share of industry in water consumption | % | D |
| Y1 | Expenditures on utilities and environmental protection | PLN per capita | S |
| Y2 | Waste generated during the year | thousand tons per 1,000 population | D |
| Y3 | Waste recovered | thousand tons per 1,000 population | S |
| Y4 | Waste disposed of | thousand tons per 1,000 population | S |
| Y5 | Share of recovered waste in the amount of waste | % | S |
| Y6 | Mixed waste collected during the year | kg per capita | D |
| Y7 | Area of wild dumps | pieces per 100 km2 | D |
| Y8 | Municipal waste collected during liquidation of wild dumps | tons per 100 km2 | D |
| Z1 | Share of local tax income in total counties’ own income | % | S |
| Z2 | Share of PIT and CIT tax income in total income | % | S |
| Z3 | Share of property expenditures to total expenditures | % | S |
| Z4 | Expenditures on housing management | PLN per capita | S |
| Z5 | Expenditures on education and upbringing | PLN per capita | S |
| Z6 | Expenditures on health care | PLN per capita | S |
| Z7 | Expenditures on public safety and fire protection | PLN per capita | S |
| Z8 | Expenditures on public administration | PLN per capita | S |
| Z9 | Expenditures on transport and communications | PLN per capita | S |
| Z10 | Expenditures on municipal management and environmental protection | PLN per capita | S |
| Z11 | Housing | pieces per 1,000 population | S |
| Z12 | Distribution network – water supply | km per km2 | S |
| Z13 | Distribution network – sewerage | km per km2 | S |
| Z14 | Distribution network – gas | km per km2 | S |
| Z15 | Migration balance in total | person per 1,000 population | S |
| Z16 | Old-age dependency ratio | % | D |
| Z17 | Birth rate | person per 1,000 population | S |
| Z18 | Outpatient entities (as of December 31) | facility per 10,000 population | S |
| Z19 | Population per community pharmacy | person per pharmacy | S |
| Z20 | Beneficiaries of community social assistance | person per 10,000 population | D |
| Z21 | Foundations, associations, and social organizations | facility per 1,000 population | S |
| Z22 | Entities registered | facility per 1,000 population | S |
| Z23 | Natural persons engaged in business activity | person per 1,000 population | S |
| Z24 | Registered unemployed | person per 1,000 population | D |
| Z25 | Employed | person per 1,000 population | S |
| Z26 | Forest land area | ha per 100 ha | S |
| Z27 | Legally protected areas | ha per 100 ha | S |
| Z28 | Wastewater treated per year | % | S |
| Z29 | Waste generated during the year | thousand tons per km2 | D |
| Z30 | Share of recycled waste in the amount of waste generated | % | S |
| Z31 | Population using wastewater treatment plants | % | S |
| Z32 | Emission of gaseous pollutants | tons per km2 | D |
| Z33 | Public libraries | facility per 10,000 population | S |
| Z34 | Hard-surfaced municipal and county roads | km per km2 | S |
| Z35 | Municipal and county roads with a dirt surface | km per km2 | S |
| Z36 | Share of parks, greens, and residential green areas in total area | % | S |
Selected characteristics of synthetic measures of quality of life, ecology and environment, waste management of counties in Poland in 2010, 2018, 2019, and 2020
| Year | Mean | Median | Minimum | Maximum | Range | Quartile (range) | Standard deviation | Coefficient of variation | Skewness | Gini coefficient | Kurtosis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.36 | 0.36 | 0.29 | 0.50 | 0.21 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 7.16 | 1.13 | 0.044 | 3.43 |
| 2018 | 0.37 | 0.37 | 0.31 | 0.51 | 0.20 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 7.64 | 1.16 | 0.047 | 2.59 |
| 2019 | 0.37 | 0.37 | 0.31 | 0.52 | 0.21 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 7.70 | 1.33 | 0.046 | 3.43 |
| 2020 | 0.37 | 0.37 | 0.32 | 0.51 | 0.19 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 7.43 | 1.32 | 0.045 | 3.32 |
| 2010 | 0.49 | 0.49 | 0.36 | 0.60 | 0.24 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 8.04 | -0.26 | 0.050 | 0.56 |
| 2018 | 0.45 | 0.44 | 0.34 | 0.63 | 0.29 | 0.06 | 0.04 | 9.47 | 0.51 | 0.058 | 1.18 |
| 2019 | 0.45 | 0.44 | 0.33 | 0.64 | 0.31 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 9.12 | 0.60 | 0.056 | 1.92 |
| 2020 | 0.45 | 0.45 | 0.32 | 0.64 | 0.32 | 0.06 | 0.04 | 9.57 | 0.45 | 0.059 | 1.39 |
| 2010 | 0.52 | 0.53 | 0.43 | 0.61 | 0.18 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 5.18 | -0.87 | 0.034 | 0.85 |
| 2018 | 0.48 | 0.48 | 0.38 | 0.56 | 0.18 | 0.03 | 0.03 | 5.24 | 0.50 | 0.034 | 1.46 |
| 2019 | 0.48 | 0.48 | 0.38 | 0.55 | 0.17 | 0.03 | 0.02 | 4.64 | 0.28 | 0.031 | 2.33 |
| 2020 | 0.48 | 0.48 | 0.39 | 0.55 | 0.16 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 5.21 | 0.32 | 0.034 | 1.86 |