We will pay more for heavy waste. The government is preparing a revolution in waste for everyone

• The new regulations assume the possibility of differentiating waste management fees depending on the mass and quality of segregation. Municipalities will also be able to introduce flexible fee systems.
• The project is intended to clarify the premises and principles for imposing an increased fee for non-selective waste collection.
• Municipalities will be able to check residents’ waste declarations using data from sewage and water companies so that fees are calculated more fairly.

The project, which the Ministry of Climate is working on, assumes, among other things, differentiation of waste management fees depending on their mass and quality of segregation and imposing on municipalities the obligation to determine the conditions for recognizing waste as selectively collected.

- the Prime Minister's Office reported.

This is a draft amendment to the act on maintaining cleanliness and order in municipalities prepared by the Ministry of Climate and Environment. The purpose of the proposed changes, according to the information on the website of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, is to increase the effectiveness, transparency and justice of the municipal waste management system.

The new regulations primarily introduce the possibility of differentiating waste management fees depending on waste mass and quality of segregation.

According to the ministry , this will encourage residents to segregate waste more thoroughly and will allow for a fair distribution of costs in line with the actual mass of waste generated.

Municipalities will also be able to introduce flexible waste fee systems. The idea is to expand the catalogue of voluntary fee exemptions to include discounts for, among others, the elderly and disabled.

The project is intended to clarify the principles of responsibility for ensuring the possibility of identifying municipal waste from individual premises of multi-family buildings, including by agreeing on the issue of responsibility between the parties.

This is intended to encourage more frequent use of individual fee settlements in multi-family buildings.

The Ministry also wants to extend the possibility of reducing fees for composting bio-waste to three additional types of properties , i.e.:

• multi-family housing development,
• real estate intended for recreational and leisure purposes,
• family allotment gardens.

The Ministry of Climate also plans to clarify the grounds and principles for imposing an increased fee for non-selective waste collection. The changes are to include, in particular, the abandonment of the obligation for the commune to initiate proceedings in the event of each notification of non-compliance in this respect.

In addition, the project assumes that municipalities will be obliged to specify the conditions that must be met in order to recognize that waste is collected selectively.

According to the project, municipalities will be able to check residents' waste declarations using data from sewage and water companies so that fees are calculated more fairly.

In addition, installations accepting municipal waste from entities conducting non-professional waste collection (e.g. electronic waste or furniture) are to be obliged to provide municipalities with information on the amount of such waste - thanks to this - as the ministry explains - local governments are to have more complete data on waste management.

The planned changes will also cover Municipal Waste Selective Collection Points (PSZOK).

The idea is to expand the catalogue of waste accepted by these points to include waste other than municipal waste and to introduce a minimum number of PSZOKs in relation to the number of residents of a commune and the distance.

The planned date of adoption of the project by the government is the fourth quarter of this year.