The Real Share of the Morphological Components of Municipal Waste Generated in Municipal Systems in Poland
Data publikacji: 30 cze 2022
Zakres stron: 13 - 18
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/oszn-2022-0007
Słowa kluczowe
© 2022 Beata Waszczyłko-Miłkowska et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Dynamic changes in the waste management system that include the municipalities, the implementation of European Union directives promoting a circular economy (94/62/EC, 2008/98/W 2008/98/EC, 1999/31/EC), and the strengthening of re-use and recycling targets indicate a need to change the approach used for determining the morphological composition of municipal waste generated in municipalities. This will enable a proper assessment of the achievement of recycling targets. Municipal waste generated in the municipal system is considered to include waste collected from the owners of real estate (inhabited and uninhabited), as well as municipal waste collected at both municipal-waste collection points and selective municipal-waste collection points (PSZOK).
Studies on the morphological composition of municipal waste should be conducted to determine the material and/or granulometric composition of a particular waste stream. As indicated in the National Waste Management Plan 2022 (KPGO 2022) (M.P. 2016 item 784, as amended) comprehensive studies of the morphological composition of municipal waste have not been carried out since 2008. Only seasonal studies were conducted in 2015 (in the winter period), and they concerned non-segregated (mixed) municipal waste delivered into selected Regional Municipal Waste Treatment Installations (RIPOK, currently Municipal Installations). Thus, the KPGO 2022 presented the morphological composition of municipal waste for 2008, which was determined on the basis of detailed studies that were considered representative of Poland in 2008 and the following years. However, the methodology that has been used so far (for analyses of the morphological composition of municipal waste) does not allow for precise determination of the morphological composition of the municipal waste generated in the municipal system because it does not consider all of the waste streams (Szpadt, Jędrczak 2006; Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute, Poland, 2021 unpublished data). So far, the average percent shares of the individual morphological components have only been determined in:
separately collected waste in accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Climate and Environment of 10 May 2021 on the method of separate collection of selected fractions of waste (Journal of Laws: Dz. U. of 2021, item 906) with regard to paper, plastics, metals, multi-material packaging waste, glass (so-called separately collected waste) and unsorted (mixed) waste.
Both have been determined based on data on waste delivered to installations.
The methodology does not take into account homogeneous waste and types of waste other than mixed (unsorted) and separately collected waste (paper, metals, plastics, glass) collected from property owners and collected at municipal waste collection points. Wastes in the same material category and wastes showing the same properties according to the waste catalogue were each considered homogenous waste; these wastes include wood waste, medical waste, hazardous waste, textile waste, and others.
Thus, the analysis of morphological composition should cover all municipal waste streams generated in the municipal system:
waste collected from the owners of inhabited and uninhabited real estate, waste collected in PSZOK facilities, waste collected at municipal waste collection points.
When identifying the municipal waste streams, besides the definition of municipal waste as given in the Waste Act (Act of 14 December 2012 on waste; Journal of Laws of 2022, item 699), the following wastes are also considered part of this stream: wastes with codes 15 01 and 20, with the exception of 20 02 02, 20 03 04 and 20 03 06. The waste codes included in the analysis should be standardised for all waste streams identified in the municipality.
Another aspect which was omitted in the previous approach to the analyses of morphological composition of municipal waste was the lack of factors for correcting estimates of waste mass (in the case of the particular components of waste), which would take into account impurities and humidity. For example, packaging waste often includes remnants of food and liquids. Moreover, moisture is adsorbed from both the air and other waste. Thus, it is necessary to take these factors into account.
Taking the above-mentioned information into account, this study identified the conditions affecting the changes in the masses of individual morphological components of municipal waste. Correction factors for waste mass were used to determine the real morphological composition of municipal waste generated in the municipal systems in Poland.
The following streams of municipal waste generated in the municipal systems were analysed in terms of their morphological components:
waste collected from the owners of inhabited and uninhabited real estate, waste collected in PSZOK facilities, waste collected at municipal waste collection points.
The waste codes that are used by the receivers, collectors, and waste-processing installations have been standardised for all generated waste streams. This study found that the same groups of received and collected municipal waste were recorded with different waste codes. This results in a country-wide lack of consolidated codification of the same waste streams. This makes it impossible to clearly determine the morphological composition of the entire municipal waste stream generated in the municipal systems and may affect the statistical data on municipal waste used for comparative analysis both in the country and in the European Union (EU). In the method presented in this study, the variation in the used waste codes has been eliminated. Moreover, the present study used the guidelines of the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/1004 of 7 June 2019 laying down rules for the calculation, verification, and reporting of waste data in accordance with Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Implementing Decision C(2012)2384. According to its provisions, separately collected waste from households and similar sources should be recorded using the following codes: paper and cardboard – 15 01 01, 20 01 01; metals – 15 01 04, 20 01 40; plastics – 15 01 02, 20 01 39; glass – 15 01 07, 20 01 02. Waste with codes 15 01 06, 20 03 01, 20 03 02, and 20 03 07 is considered to be ‘other’ municipal waste.
In order to calculate the mass shares of the main morphological components in the municipal waste generated in the municipal systems, the masses of waste collected and recorded in the Waste Database (BDO) in the reports for the marshals of the voivodeships (Polish regions) on the implementation of tasks in the field of municipal waste management were used.
In the analysis, the conditions that affect the shares (by mass) of the individual types and streams of waste were taken into account. The following factors were used to correct the mass of the waste types and streams:
mass correction factor (Z) for unsorted (mixed) waste, mass correction factor (S) for separately collected waste, mass correction factor (O) for homogenous waste received, mass correction factor (P) for waste collected in PSZOK facilities.
To determine the mass correction factor (Z) for unsorted (mixed) waste, the morphological composition of this waste (20 03 01) was determined directly at the source, prior to transport to treatment installations. The contents of pollutants and moisture of the main morphological components as well as the share of the main morphological components were determined. The results were compared with those obtained in treatment installations.
To determine the mass correction factor (S) for separately collected waste, the morphological composition of this waste was determined directly at the source in order to determine the real share of individual morphological components. The results were compared with those obtained in treatment installations.
To determine the mass correction factor (O) for homogenous waste received, the morphological composition of this waste was determined directly at the source, taking into account the code of the collected waste, prior to transport to treatment installations. The homogeneity of the waste was determined, taking into account the impurities and the presence of other types of waste. The results were compared with the data of the mass of homogeneous waste presented in reports for the marshals of voivodeships.
To determine the mass correction factor (P) for waste collected in PSZOK facilities, the morphological composition of this waste was determined, taking into account the code of the collected waste (individual components). The results were compared with the data of the mass of waste collected in PSZOK facilities presented in reports for the marshals of voivodeships.
According to the provisions of § 3, item 5 of the Regulation of the Minister of Climate and Environment of 3 August 2021 on the method of calculating the levels of preparation for re-use and recycling of municipal waste (Journal of Laws: Dz. U. of 2021, item 1530), the municipalities must take into account all municipal waste received and collected from the territory of a given municipality. The ministry defined this waste as the total mass, expressed in tons, of municipal waste that was generated. The use of correction factors allows determination of the real share of the morphological components in the generated municipal waste and prevents overestimation of their masses. Such an approach is necessary in the light of the guidelines for the calculation of the mass of the municipal waste prepared for re-use and recycled. The above masses do not include impurities, which are understood to be materials and substances that are not used in further reprocessing. It should be noted, however, that the methodology described in this paper does not consider the impurities that are a part of products available on the domestic market in the form of, for example, labels, stickers, adhesives, gaskets, staples, etc.
This study identifies and takes into account all conditions affecting and contributing to the mass shares of individual types of waste and waste streams, i.e.:
the physical properties of particular types of waste (humidity, fragmentation), the content of impurities in the individual waste groups, the properties of the waste groups, e.g. homogeneity, pre-sorting before processing in installations, flow of waste streams collected in PSZOK facilities directly to recyclers, flow of the collected waste streams directly to the municipal waste reception points.
On the basis of the determined mass correction factors (Z, S, O, P), the morphological composition of municipal waste streams generated in the municipal systems in Poland was estimated.
Due to the nature and composition of the components of unsorted waste, their physical properties, storage time at the source of generation, and type of transport, a mass correction for the identified morphological components was applied (Table 1).
Mass correction factors (Z) for morphological components of non-segregated (mixed) waste (%), based on this study
| Metals | 90 |
| Electrical and electronic | 90 |
| Glass | 85 |
| Plastic | 80 |
| Textiles | 80 |
| Packaging | 80 |
| Large-sized | 80 |
| Paper | 75 |
| Other | 100 |
Unambiguous determination of the type of waste collected is prevented by a lack of unified records on selectively collected waste in the country that are in accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Climate and Environment of 10 May 2021 on the method of selective collection of selected fractions of waste (Journal of Laws: Dz. U. of 2021, item 906). The present study shows that some municipal waste collectors pre-sort separately collected waste prior to transport to treatment installations. They transfer homogeneous masses of raw waste materials directly to entities dealing with preparation for recycling or recycling itself. Thus, the waste that is transferred to the installation has a different morphological composition than the waste produced at the source. There is no data on the mass of waste pre-sorted from received waste and transferred to municipal waste reception points. The lack of a mass correction factor for separately collected waste may cause a false increase in the masses of some morphological components. The mass correction factors that were applied for selectively collected municipal waste are presented in Table 2.
Mass correction factors (S) for separately collected waste (%), based on this study
| Paper | 15 01 01 |
85 |
| Glass | 15 01 06** |
85 |
| Plastics/metals/multi-material packaging waste | 15 01 02 |
70 |
⅓ mass of collected waste
⅙ mass of collected waste
The mass shares of the main morphological components in non-segregated (mixed) and separately collected waste (paper, metals, plastics, glass) was determined on the basis of data from the reports for the marshals of voivodeships (i.e. Polish regions) on the implementation of tasks in the field of municipal waste management. Taking into account the mass correction factors (Z) and (S), the improved mass shares of morphological components in unsorted (mixed) municipal waste and in separately collected waste in the municipal system are presented. The analysis showed that bio-waste (23.50%) constituted the largest share, followed by plastic waste (13.56%), glass (13.31%), and paper (12.72%) (Figure 1).
Figure 1
Mass shares of the main morphological components in the collected unsorted (mixed) waste and in the separately collected waste (%), based on this study and taking into account the mass correction factors (Z) and (S)
Municipal waste received from property owners includes homogeneous waste (similar materials) or has similar properties. For these wastes, the mass correction factor (O) was adopted (Table 3).
Mass correction factor (O) for waste collected from property owners (%), based on this study, and the mass shares with respect to all homogenous waste received (%)
| Wood | 15 01 03 |
90 | 0.04 |
| Metals | 15 01 04 |
90 80 | 0.14 |
| Large-sized | 15 01 05 | 90 | 0.04 |
| Textiles | 15 01 09 |
90 | 0.04 |
| Electrical and electronic | 20 01 35* |
90 | 0.80 |
| Large-sized | 20 03 07 | 90 | 17.47 |
| Bio-waste | 20 01 08 |
80 |
53.50 |
| Other | 100 | 27.97 |
Waste in the waste catalogue
For municipal waste collected in PSZOK facilities, the mass correction factor P was adopted (Table 4). The mass correction factor was not applied for waste collected at municipal waste reception points. Waste at these points is collected in the form of homogeneous municipal waste without impurities.
Mass correction factor (P) for waste separately collected in PZOK facilities (%), based on this study, and the mass shares of these morphological components in the collected waste (%)
| Glass | 15 01 06** |
95 | 2.95 |
| Large-sized | 20 03 07 | 90 | 25.59 |
| Paper | 15 01 01 |
85 | 21.39 |
| Plastics | 15 01 02 |
80 | 5.33 |
| Metals | 15 01 04 |
100 |
16.37 |
| Other | 100 | 28.37 |
⅓ mass of collected waste,
⅙ mass of collected waste.
Table 5 compares the mass shares of the main morphological components on the basis of this analysis, when taking into account all municipal waste streams and the presented correction factors and when not taking into account all these streams and the correction factors. As can be seen, the real morphological composition of the municipal waste produced in the municipal system differs from the composition specified only for the mixed (non-segregated) waste stream and the separately collected wastes (paper, metals, plastics and glass) delivered to the MBP installation.
Morphological composition of municipal waste produced in the municipal systems (%)
| Bio-waste | 30.0 | 28.68 |
| Paper and cardboard | 13.13 | 10.78 |
| Plastics | 16.2 | 10.59 |
| Glass | 9.5 | 10.29 |
| Fraction <10 mm | 6.3 | 7.20 |
| Large-sized | 5.3 | 7.05 |
| Fraction 10–20 mm | 2.7 | 4.40 |
| Hygienic, Pampers, Skincare | 6.4 | 5.50 |
| Mineral | 2.6 | 4.10 |
| Rubble | – | 2.50 |
| Rubber | – | 2.18 |
| Textiles | 3.3 | 1.70 |
| Metal | 2.2 | 2.34 |
| Large-sized | 1.3 | 0.88 |
| Electrical and electronic (WEEE) | 0.4 | 0.54 |
| Wood | – | 0.48 |
| Ash | – | 0.48 |
| Hazardous | 0.3 | 0.26 |
| Medical | – | 0.02 |
| Oils and fats | – | 0.02 |
| Batteries and accumulators | – | 0.01 |
| Detergents, paints | – | 0.01 |
| Plant protection products | – | 0.0002 |
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 |
Without taking into account all municipal waste streams and correction factors (Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute, Poland, 2021 unpublished data)
Taking into account all municipal waste streams and correction rates
The present study found that the real share of the <20 mm fraction is higher (11.60%) when taking into account all municipal waste streams and correction factors than when not taking these into consideration. Generally, the high content of this fraction is due to, among other causes, the biodegradation of bio-waste during its initial storage at the source, as well as the crushing of various groups of generated waste during transport. The <20 mm fraction contained, among other components, glass, soil, bio-waste, plastics, ceramics, and small stones. It was shown that the real share of bio-waste is 28.68%. The largest differences were found with secondary materials, such as paper, plastics, and glass. The real share of these materials is 31.66%, but the methodology used so far indicates that it is as much as 38.8%. One the basis of the previous assumption that the share of plastic in waste is 16.2%, the amount of these materials would be over 160 kg in each tonne of municipal waste. However, because the share of plastic waste is 10.59%, the true amount is about 106 kg/tonne of municipal waste. Considering that 12 million tonnes of municipal waste are generated annually in Poland, the real share of plastic waste amounts to about 1 million, 270 thousand tonnes instead of 1 million, 944 thousand tonnes. Therefore, the real mass of plastic waste is actually 1.5 times lower than previously thought. Similarly, the share of paper waste in municipal waste is overestimated. This is undoubtedly of great importance when determining the mass of municipal waste prepared for re-use and recycled, and the rates of landfilling in the municipalities.
In order to determine the morphological composition of municipal waste, the morphological analyses should cover all municipal waste streams generated in the municipal system in Poland.
The following streams were analysed in terms of their morphological components: waste collected from the owners of inhabited and uninhabited real estate, waste collected in PSZOK facilities, waste collected at municipal waste collection points. The use of correction factors allows determination of the real share of morphological components in the generated municipal waste, preventing overestimation of their masses. This study shows that bio-waste accounted for the largest mass share of 28.68%, followed by paper, glass, and plastic, constituting 10.78%, 10.59%, and 10.29%, respectively. This real share of secondary materials is actually lower than that obtained with the methodology without correction factors (38.8%). Considering the total amount of municipal waste generated annually in Poland, this overestimation of the share of secondary materials is undoubtedly of great importance when determining the mass of municipal waste prepared for re-use and recycled, and the rates of landfilling in the municipalities.
It was found that the rubble and mineral fractions are 6.60% in total; however, according to the given definition of this waste and the indicated codes for municipal waste, these fractions should not be found in municipal waste. The content of <10 mm and 10–20 mm fractions amounted for a total of 11.60%. The <20 mm fine fraction contained, among other components, glass, earth, bio-waste, plastics, ceramics, and small stones. The following conditions contributed to the high share of the fine fraction: the crumbling of various groups of waste, the time of storage at the place of production, incorrect separate collection of waste by primary producers, and the means by which it was transported to waste treatment plants. This causes the morphological composition of the generated waste to differ from that of the waste supplied for treatment.
The use of correction factors is necessary in light of the guidelines for the calculation of the mass of the municipal waste prepared for re-use and recycled, and the landfilling levels in the municipalities. This study shows that it is necessary to change the methodology for analysing the morphological composition of municipal waste produced in Polish municipal systems.