ECO-INNOVATIONS IN THE SPHERE OF MUNICIPAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN A POLISH CONTEXT

Abstract

Despite many of the actions taken by the European Union, the mass of municipal waste deposited in Member States’ landfills is too large. One of the solutions to this problem is the use of eco-innovation in the management of municipal waste. Poland is a country which has made a lot of progress, and brought its landfill waste indicator down from 53% in 2014 to 44% in 2015. This paper allows us to answer the following questions: What is the attitude of Polish entities involved in waste management to eco-innovation and what are the environmental and financial implications of the ecological solutions used? Therefore, the main purpose of this article is to answer these questions based on the research conducted.

In order to illustrate the situation, this article begins with an overview of the literature and with a presentation of the condition and level of eco-innovations in Poland, as compared with other countries of the European Union. The presented data are based on secondary results. Later parts include examples of Polish eco-innovations in the sphere of handling municipal waste. Results of the survey and the results of the questionnaire are also presented, which indicate the direction of the necessary actions leading to increasing the number and efficiency of eco-innovation.

Key words: eco-innovation, municipal waste management, ecological innovation in Poland