IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jresou/v12y2023i7p76-d1182577.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Municipal Waste Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Case Study of Poland

Author

Listed:
  • Weronika Urbańska

    (Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland)

  • Anna Janda

    (Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland)

  • Magdalena Osial

    (Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawinskiego 5B Street, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Mateusz Słowikowski

    (Extremo Technologies Sp. z o.o., Na Grobli 2B/P.021 Street, 54-413 Wrocław, Poland)

Abstract

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the waste management sector had to face new challenges, e.g., changes in the size and composition of the waste stream, or the presence of potentially infectious waste. This article is based on a case study in Poland. The data analysis showed that the increase in municipal waste mass during the pandemic did not differ from statistics observed in previous years and ranged from 0.3 to 0.5 million tons per year. Lifestyle changes caused a decrease in the amount of waste generated outside households. Social migrations contributed to rapid changes in the mass of waste generated in selected agglomerations by up to 80 kg/capita. In the waste stream, significant amounts of specific groups of waste related to the pandemic (“corona waste”) as well as packaging and food waste were noted. Despite the pandemic, in 2020, Poland recorded an increase in selective waste collection by 6.7 percentage points (pp.) Data on municipal waste management showed an increase in the mass of waste sent for recycling by 0.7 million tons, while the mass of landfilled waste decreased by 0.3 million tons. The observed positive changes in waste management allow the implementation of sustainable development assumptions to a greater extent.

Suggested Citation

  • Weronika Urbańska & Anna Janda & Magdalena Osial & Mateusz Słowikowski, 2023. "Sustainable Municipal Waste Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Case Study of Poland," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:12:y:2023:i:7:p:76-:d:1182577
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/12/7/76/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/12/7/76/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marzena Smol & Joanna Duda & Agnieszka Czaplicka-Kotas & Dominika Szołdrowska, 2020. "Transformation towards Circular Economy (CE) in Municipal Waste Management System: Model Solutions for Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Christos Vlachokostas, 2020. "Closing the Loop Between Energy Production and Waste Management: A Conceptual Approach Towards Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Halkos, George E. & Aslanidis, Panagiotis Stavros C., 2023. "New circular economy perspectives on measuring sustainable waste management productivity," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 764-779.
    4. Poornima A. Jayasinghe & Hamoun Jalilzadeh & Patrick Hettiaratchi, 2023. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Waste Infrastructure: Lessons Learned and Opportunities for a Sustainable Future," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-14, February.
    5. Giulia Borghesi & Piergiuseppe Morone, 2023. "A review of the effects of COVID-19 on food waste," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(1), pages 261-280, February.
    6. Ewa Kochańska & Rafał M. Łukasik & Maciej Dzikuć, 2021. "New Circular Challenges in the Development of Take-Away Food Packaging in the COVID-19 Period," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, August.
    7. Agata Mesjasz-Lech, 2021. "Municipal Urban Waste Management—Challenges for Polish Cities in an Era of Circular Resource Management," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, May.
    8. Halkos, George & Gkampoura, Eleni-Christina, 2021. "Where do we stand on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals? An overview on progress," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 94-122.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marzena Smol, 2023. "Inventory and Comparison of Performance Indicators in Circular Economy Roadmaps of the European Countries," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 557-584, March.
    2. Deniz Turkcu & Nina Tura & Ville Ojanen, 2022. "A Conceptual Framework of the Sustainability Challenges Experienced during the Life Cycle of Biobased Packaging Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-17, August.
    3. Vlachokostas, Ch. & Michailidou, A.V. & Achillas, Ch., 2021. "Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis towards promoting Waste-to-Energy Management Strategies: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    4. Abderahman Rejeb & Karim Rejeb & Suhaiza Zailani & Yasanur Kayikci & John G. Keogh, 2023. "Examining Knowledge Diffusion in the Circular Economy Domain: a Main Path Analysis," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 125-166, March.
    5. Halkos, George & Managi, Shunsuke, 2023. "New developments in the disciplines of environmental and resource economics," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 513-522.
    6. Jie, Guo & Jiahui, Lv, 2023. "Media attention, green technology innovation and industrial enterprises’ sustainable development: The moderating effect of environmental regulation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 873-889.
    7. Antonio Gattuso & Alessandra De Bruno & Amalia Piscopo & Simone Santacaterina & Maria Josè Frutos & Marco Poiana, 2024. "Bergamot Pomace Flour: From Byproduct to Bioactive Ingredient for Pasta Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-13, September.
    8. G. Perkoulidis & A. Malamakis & G. Banias & N. Moussiopoulos, 2022. "Development of a Methodological Framework for the Evaluation of the Material and Energy Recovery Potential of Municipal Solid Waste Management: Implementation in Five Greek Regions," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 313-326, March.
    9. Agata Mlonka-Mędrala, 2023. "Recent Findings on Fly Ash-Derived Zeolites Synthesis and Utilization According to the Circular Economy Concept," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-21, September.
    10. Halkos, George & Aslanidis, Panagiotis-Stavros, 2024. "Reviewing environmental aspects under the scope of ESG," MPRA Paper 120298, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Halkos, George E. & Aslanidis, Panagiotis – Stavros C., 2023. "Sustainable energy development in an era of geopolitical multi-crisis. Applying productivity indices within institutional framework," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    12. Inese Mavlutova & Dzintra Atstaja & Janis Grasis & Jekaterina Kuzmina & Inga Uvarova & Dagnija Roga, 2023. "Urban Transportation Concept and Sustainable Urban Mobility in Smart Cities: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-16, April.
    13. Sada Hasan & Zeynep Işık & Gökhan Demirdöğen, 2024. "Evaluating the Contribution of Lean Construction to Achieving Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-24, April.
    14. Francesco Sica & Francesco Tajani & Mª Paz Sáez-Pérez & José Marín-Nicolás, 2023. "Taxonomy and Indicators for ESG Investments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-15, November.
    15. Vangelis Marinakis & Alexandros Flamos & Giorgos Stamtsis & Ioannis Georgizas & Yannis Maniatis & Haris Doukas, 2020. "The Efforts towards and Challenges of Greece’s Post-Lignite Era: The Case of Megalopolis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Syed Mithun Ali & Andrea Appolloni & Fausto Cavallaro & Idiano D’Adamo & Assunta Di Vaio & Francesco Ferella & Massimo Gastaldi & Muhammad Ikram & Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar & Michael Alan Martin & Abdul, 2023. "Development Goals towards Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-11, June.
    17. Rocío González-Sánchez & Sara Alonso-Muñoz & María Sonia Medina-Salgado, 2023. "Circularity in waste management: a research proposal to achieve the 2030 Agenda," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 1520-1540, September.
    18. Qin, Meng & Su, Chi-Wei & Umar, Muhammad & Lobonţ, Oana-Ramona & Manta, Alina Georgiana, 2023. "Are climate and geopolitics the challenges to sustainable development? Novel evidence from the global supply chain," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 748-763.
    19. Gaydaa Al-Zohbi & Maura A. E. Pilotti, 2023. "Contradictions about Sustainability: A Case Study of College Students from Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, February.
    20. Năstase Luiza Loredana, 2023. "Circularity and Municipal Waste in Romania An Evaluation between 2011 and 2021," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 17(1), pages 1509-1518, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:12:y:2023:i:7:p:76-:d:1182577. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.