# Selective Collection and Management of Biowaste from the Municipal Sector in Poland: A Review
## 3 Factors Limiting the Collection and Energy Use of Biowaste from the Municipal Sector  
### Social Factors  
All waste-related activities should include rational and safe management and sustainable use of other natural resources. The Polish Act on Waste of 14 December 2012 [3], which implements the Waste Directive [46], introduces numerous regulations, including those concerning the five-stage waste hierarchy. Waste prevention, with disposal considered a last resort, is at the top. Waste management is among the areas of environmental protection where many challenges remain [47]. In popular opinion, waste is seen as a problem. However, it should be noted that when used rationally, it becomes a valuable resource [48]. For this to happen, however, it must be collected and prepared for reuse, recycling, or recovery. The disposal of waste results in a nonrecoverable loss of resources, which is inconsistent with the goals of the circular economy. For this reason, domestic and international regulations are designed to address the best possible environmental outcomes from waste management [49]. Legal regulations in Poland require selectively collected biowaste from the society [6]. It involves separating another waste stream after glass, metal, plastic, and paper. Since the collection of biowaste from the municipal sector in Poland has a short history, many things must be changed, or rational solutions or optimizations must be chosen. One frequently discussed topic concerns waste management fees, which vary within the country. Among others, it is due to the types of installations and the distance to them from where the waste is generated. Collecting waste at the source is a critical component of municipal waste management. The appropriate quality of selectively collected waste yields the most important economic, environmental, and social benefits. By segregating all waste, including biowaste, the public dramatically impacts other waste management. All kinds of contamination present in the raw materials reduce their suitability for biological processing in biogas or composting plants. The costs of managing the waste in question also increase. In numerous instances, unwanted components in the waste stream are not captured and remain in the final product, which is compost or digestate. It reduces their value or even prohibits their disposal. For some parts of society, the collection of the next fraction is already a cause of controversy. The first problems for the public have already arisen in connection with the need to buy additional containers to collect the waste group in question, both for the collection of waste inside the house and the larger, brown-colored container outside. There is controversy regarding household waste collection and storage and the expense involved. Over time, this obligation has become increasingly acceptable to many people. In addition to the proper segregation of biowaste, following the requirements of the Regulation of the Minister of Climate and Environment of 10 May 2021 on the method of selective collection of selected waste fractions [6] and their collection into a brown-colored container, attention should be given to the quality of the collected substrates and the contaminants in them. The most common contaminant is plastic packaging, in which waste is removed. Therefore, particular promotional actions are taken, such as the action in the city of Poznan organized by the Poznan Agglomeration Waste Management Inter-municipal Association, \"Biowaste on the loose.\" Despite information campaigns, food waste, including biowaste, is often directed to facilities in packages. The preparation of waste for further processes requires the separation of substrates rich in organic matter from packaging (mainly plastic). Therefore, equipment using a separation process is required. It should be mentioned that separated packaging waste is another stream to be managed. The second most important problem is dumping other waste into brown bins, such as meat waste, food waste, or mixed municipal waste.