Poland's Evironment, recycling

I wanted to ask if Polish people are as in to recycling as the English, we have been made aware of how much of a disposable society we live in and albeit a bit late we are starting to actually take care of what we throw away - and how we treat our environment My Parents have 4 bins and this is the norm these days.

1. Plastic
2. Glass
3. Paper
4 general rubbish
Oh and they have a compost bin too.

We are told that aerosols are bad and that we should use electricity carefully, cars use unleaded petrol and have catalytic converters so minimised emissions. Agencies have been set up for women with babies who want to use terrie nappies they clean and supply the nappies and the cost is actually lower than purchasing disposable, landfill sites are running out of space and since we use circa. 3 billion disposable nappies a year it's a big problem. The weather is another big issue, this week we have had storms and rain and a few weeks ago we had hailstone, today the sun is shining bright yet the weather forecast tells us it’s looking like we’re in for a big freeze and snow! Products in supermarkets brag that they are recycled and generally sell at a higher price, yet you’ll find them next t.v. dinners in disposable packaging, it’s all very contradictory really but I like a lot of other people take it serious since I consider it important not just for me but for future generations to be able to enjoy a normal life.

Not at all until a few years ago, now a little bit, but not much. However we're in EU now, so there are almost the same environment rules (the same since 2012 I think) for industry and business in general.

Yeah, Poland is just getting used to recycling.
This Polish family I know, who lives in the US (ILLEGALY!) does not follow the rules of recycling. Here everyone recycles, but they try to hide cans, bottles, etc, in the garbage so no one will see. It takes a while for the mind to get used to new things.

It's so good your parents are like that and you care about recycling. Thanks of persons like you can dissapear these posters that England is full of rubbish. I hope is more clean in your city then in B'ham.

i went to the supermarket today and walked off with about 5 plastic bags... only bought 4 things... a tad excessive me thinks...

I do save myself papper and plastic botles and have to carry them to special containers some 50 yards which is fine. My beer botles I'd leave outside garbage can and they are later picked up by some junkies who'd sell them later. I don't return bottles myself because they never welcome you well with the bottles. They'd say it's for "exchange only" ...Customer service sucks in Poland big way. I notice Poles don't save water. They'd wash dishes in running water, no soaking. It is happening especially in housholds where there is no individual meters. Still many simply think saving water or energy is a sympthom of poverty. They can afford it.

Some pics from Warsaw:

fz.eco.pl/?a=odpady-067

well Kowalski
I wouldnt be so hard for polish people. I dont say that polish do care about the environtment because they dont but they care for sure about their pockets, therefore the story about wasted water is not true any longer as well as the energy use is more efficient.
well I do agree about the problem with returning glasses bottles or tons of plastic bags in shopping moles ... maybe the paper is less popular since not every polish family has a car to carry the goods they bought straight home... or maybe bacause it is cheaper to use such a plastic bag as a garbage one thats a recycling as well BUHAHAHAHAHHA

We do the same in Canada. I have 3 different bins. 1st for plastics/metals, 2nd for paper, 3rd for regular garbage. Yes it takes time to get used to the idea of recycling but after a while it's really no hassle at all.

I agree with that .. but I think it will change over time. I've already noticed the difference when I visited Poland very recently.


I always thought that there was a policy put in place couple years ago that every housing unit is supposed to have individual water usage metering to prevent such water waste. Once you pay for what you've used up, people actually started to conserve. I guess the regulation is not fully in place yet.

In my neigbourhood (UK) the choice of recycling is determined by local council - some areas are environment friendly, some not. In my place there is one large bin for 3 1 bedroom flats emptied on daily basis - I wouldn't call it recycling .
About 7-10 years ago polish local housing where I lived introduced recycling in my area, and it works well since then.
Wasting water is typical for UK, but not for Poland. Some time ago after water alerts in UK one company wanted introduce meters for resident. They did not agree with this idea.10 years ago my parents in Poland asked housing office for permission to put personal water meter in their flat.
When I lived in Netherlands, we didn't have any bins at all - apart from small ones in our own kitchen. We were supposed to place one black bag with organic wastes once a week on the street, the rest (glass, paper, plastic, cans) was to be placed in special containers (some of them about 5 minutes on foot from our flat). We used to do that - noone wants to keep litters inside. For me Netherlands is perfect example.
I used to recognize Polish people in UK, when they placed litters in bin...not only because there are so many Poles.

The community I live in in Poland, recycles glass, paper and plastic, as well as ''large'' rubbish (i.e. old tellys, fridges, etc). We're very often visited by private scrap metal collectors (''zlomiarze'' ). There's been also a sewage system being introduced (very slowly, however), so that the people won't have to collect their waste water and sewage in cesspits (many of them without bottom, so dirty water soaks in soil and possibly contaminates groundwater), and I hope that it'll improve water quality in our local rivers.

Water rates are quite high in the UK dependant on how the rateable value was set on your property, I had a 3 bed house and the price was £11 per month - I now have a 2 bed flat and my water rates are £36 per month, I have asked for a water meter and the projected costs per month are £15.00 so not only is it envronmentally efficient, its also cost effective for people who live by themselves

I think that Poland is slowly catching up.

I don't mind all these bins in UK at least rubbish is segregated and recycled.


One good thing in Poland is that in shops we have to pay for single plastic bags so more people have their longer "lasting ones". In Uk they give you free bags everywhere I guess that it is for advert-promotion purposes but environmently friendly?......

People are encoraged to re-use, but its rare that people do.

May I ask a question about recycling in the work place. Do Polish companies actively encorage it? If they do, what kind of schemes are they involved in?

Sadie

I have found plastic bags come in quite handy when following the dogs on their walks....it certainly makes the neighbours happy when the dogs venture into their yards (if you get my drift). I also use them as liners in small waste cans.

I thought I would paste a snapshot of how Germany looks like where the tourist dont see it hehe. So not only Poland has problems with environment, it all depends on us, people living everyday lives and contributing to the mess around ourselves.

smieci.jpg

The locals here all complain about about dog mess and at the same time think I'm a little odd when I clean up what 'Dream' leaves behind.

You don't wrap the bag around your hand and pick it up do you? I see people doing this.

Z,

Yup, that's the way to do it.

sheesh thats the perfect way to make what your pet has created lasting forever in that plastic wrapping

Of course----it's the most efficient way....I've tried pooper scoopers and those are crap (no pun intended). Don't worry, I always wash my hands (occupational hazard) after taking care of the dogs and any other things.....

Looks like Germany and my kitchen after a dinner party, have a lot in common

In Holland, we have two large bins, a Grey one and a Green one. The Grey one is supposed to be for domestic rubbish. The Green one is supposed to be for biological rubbish.

We have a smaller box too, this one is supposed to be for batteries and other sorts of chemical rubbish.

We are supposed to deliver our glass ourselves to the nearest supermarket. If they are recyclable bottles, you'll get a small refund for that when you place them into an automated system, the rest of your glass disposal goes into a large container which can be found anywhere near a supermarket.

When you have to dispose of an old couch, cabinet or anything else real big, you're supposed to call the recycling company, and they'll come by with a truck to pick it up for you for a small price.

I know it's a thread about Poland, but it might be interesting for potential Polish immigrants to our country to know that this is how it works here.

Where my parents live there are four bins outdoors, one for paper, one for plastic (always full), one for glass and a big one for general rubbish. The council did what it could (cans get pcked up by local scrap collectors anyway) and the rest is up to people. You can recycle, or you can throw everything into the general rubbish container.

But, as you say, it takes time for people to get used to things. When I still lived with my paents, I had to fight for them to start sparating cans and plastics (newspapers and magaznes were stord separately anyway). Now they're pretty happy with it, every time they go out they take a small bag f rubbish, e.g. plastics, and don't have to worry about the general rubbish so much.

And a word about England. When I lived there, we had problems with the guys who used to pick up rubbish, they appeared to dislike the papers most. Everytime we left magazines and flattened cornflake boxes they left them in the green "ëco" box, then they got wet with rain, started smelling bad, and in the end we were forced to pack them away along with regular rubbish. Not very efficient, is it?

An automted system for glass is a grat idea. In Poland only some supermarkets accept beer bottles, local shops do it only with a rceipt and still unwillingly (after all if you don't return the bottles it's as if they sold them to you).

Milk and cream bottles are a distant memory from my childhood...