COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The Early Warning report for Poland Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation, including the Early Warning report for compliance with Article 11(2)a of Directive 2008/98/EC
Date: 2018-09-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Poland, application of EU law, circular economy, environmental law, environmental protection, pollution control, prevention of pollution, waste, waste management

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.9.2018 SWD(2018) 426 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The Early Warning report for Poland Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation, including the Early Warning report for compliance with Article 11(2)a of Directive 2008/98/EC {COM(2018) 656 final} - {SWD(2018) 413 final} - {SWD(2018) 414 final} - {SWD(2018) 415 final} - {SWD(2018) 416 final} - {SWD(2018) 417 final} - {SWD(2018) 418 final} - {SWD(2018) 419 final} - {SWD(2018) 420 final} - {SWD(2018) 421 final} - {SWD(2018) 422 final} - {SWD(2018) 423 final} - {SWD(2018) 424 final} - {SWD(2018) 425 final}  
 
 
1.  Introduction 

This  'Early  Warning  report'  is  part  of  the  Commission's  overall  implementation  report  and 
aims to assist Member States at risk of non-compliance with the 2020 target for recycling of 
municipal  waste  set  out  in  Article  11(2)(a)  of  Directive  2008/98/EC.  It  builds  on  previous 
support  of  the  Commission  to  Member  States  to  comply1  with  EU  law  in  the  area  of 
municipal waste management which resulted in country-specific roadmaps2.  

The  assessment  underpinning  the  early  warning  report  is  based  on  a  collaborative  and 
transparent process involving Member States and, based on an in-depth analysis of the most 
recent  policy  developments  in  each  Member  State  at  risk  of  non-compliance  and  involving 
extensive consultation with the authorities in charge of waste management.  

The suggested priority actions resulting from this assessment aim at ensuring achievement of 
the  2020  municipal  waste  recycling  target  and  thus  focus  on  policy  measures  to  be  taken 
forward in the short term. These priority actions should be seen as complementary to those 
identified in the roadmaps resulting from the preceding compliance promotion activities and 
to the recommendations made in the Environmental Implementation Review3. 

2.  Key findings of the 'Early Warning report for Poland' 

In 2016, Poland’s municipal waste recycling rate (including composting) reported to Eurostat 
was 44% while the landfilling rate was at 36%. Based on an analysis of existing and firmly 
planned policies in the area of waste management, and of Poland's performance according to 
the calculation method selected for compliance with the 2020 target (reported recycling rate 
of 27% in 2015), Poland is considered at risk of non-compliance. 

The analysis4 of the study underpinning the early warning report concludes that the separate 
collection of recyclables is not yet effective, that economic incentives for citizens to separate 
waste are missing and that the Extended Producer Responsibility schemes in Poland do not 
operate efficiently. In addition, some questions regarding the quality of waste data undermine 
the reliability of the high recycling rates reported to Eurostat. 

A  range  of  measures  to  support  Poland's  efforts  to  improve  its  performance  in  waste 
management has been identified. The following list summarises these recommended priority 
actions for Poland. 

1 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/support_implementation_1st_phase.htm 
2 Roadmap for Poland: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/pdf/PL_Roadmap_FINAL.pdf 
3 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/country-reports/index2_en.htm 
4 Eunomia Research & Consulting et al. (2018) "Study to Identify Member States at Risk of Non-Compliance 
with the 2020 Target of the Waste Framework Directive and to Follow-up Phase 1 and 2 of the Compliance 
Promotion Exercise. The Early Warning report: Poland." 

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SUGGESTED PRIORITY ACTIONS 

Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging waste 

1)  Improve the Extended Producer Responsibility system for packaging in line with the 
general  minimum  requirements  in  the  revised  Waste  Framework  Directive  and 
specifically  ensure  better  cost  coverage  by  the  producers,  including  the  cost  of 
dealing with the unrecycled packaging disposed of by households as residual waste.  
2)  Improve the quality of data reported as regards the packaging placed on the market. 

Provide financial incentives for regional enforcement of municipal targets 

3)  As the annual recycling targets for municipalities increase to reach the level of 50% 
in  2020,  the  number  of  municipalities  missing  them  is  likely  to  increase.  The 
Ministry  of  Environment  should  provide  some  guidance  regarding  the  consistency 
of application of these fines, to ensure they act as the required deterrent.  

4)  Also,  if  possible,  it  is  suggested  that  the  Ministry  should  look  at  whether  any 
mechanism could be put in place that would disburse any potential EU fine resulting 
from  infringement  procedures,  to  the  regions  themselves  to  provide  a  financial 
incentive  for  ensuring  the  enforcement  procedures  against  the  municipalities  were 
carried out swiftly and robustly. 

Run further support programmes for municipalities. 

5)  Evidence  from  other  countries  suggests  that  strong  support  programmes  for  the 
municipalities are  very effective in  helping  improve recycling performance. Given 
that  rapid  increases  in  performance  are  needed  over  a  short  period,  it  is  important 
that the national government support the municipalities as much as possible over the 
next few years, specifically in the following areas: 

a)  Choice of collection services;  
b)  Procurement of services; 
c)  Management of service; 
d)  Communications campaigns. 

6)  The support should not only be about how authorities will achieve targets, it should 
also aim to support the active sharing of good ideas and practices that can improve 
efficiency  in  terms  of  cost  reduction  and  improvement  in  performance.  It  is 
suggested that the Ministry of Environment continues to carry out research studies 
into  best  practice  systems,  set  up  a  monitoring  system  (survey  etc.)  to  understand 
the  level  of  implementation  of  the  sorting  obligation  across  the  municipalities  and 
gain  feedback  from  them  on  challenges  and  barriers,  develop  support  tools  for 
municipalities. 

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