Waste Management 30 (2010) 369–377

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

A review of municipal solid waste composition and quantities in Poland

Emilia den Boer a, Andrzej Je˛drczak b, Zygmunt Kowalski c, Joanna Kulczycka d,*, Ryszard Szpadt a
a
Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Wroclaw University of Technology, Wybrzez_ e S. Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland
b
University of Zielona Góra, ul. Licealna 9, 65-417 Zielona Góra, Poland
c
Cracow University of Technology, ul. Warszawska 24, 31-155 Kraków, Poland
d
Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Wybickiego 7, 31-261 Kraków, Poland

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A review of results of the research involving the quantitative and composition analyses of household
Accepted 13 September 2009 waste conducted in Poland in recent years is presented in this paper. For these analyses various method-
Available online 14 October 2009 ologies have been employed, as there is not one obligatory methodology how to characterise municipal
solid waste. The results of the research in large Polish cities indicate great variability, which is difficult to
be reasonably explained. This situation is affected by a number of factors, such as various methods and
places for sample collection, various methods for tests, fractional character of most of the studies (studies
carried out only in some periods during a year). Consequently, it is neither possible to measurably com-
pare their results, nor to generalise them. Hence, within this article only individual data for large cities is
provided. It is therefore necessary to standardise methodology for such analyses in Europe, taking into
account local variability (such as different housing patterns, climate and waste collection schemes) to
allow comparison of results.
Reported yearly household waste generation in Polish cities varies from 238 to 309 kg per inhabitant.
Biodegradable waste is a strongly dominated fraction in household waste from Polish cities, followed by
paper/cardboard and plastics. Historical data shows that waste composition has undergone profound
changes, the most significant being an increase of the share of plastics and decrease of fine fraction.
The presented data indicates that waste composition strongly depends on the type of housing and its
heating system. In the new multi-family buildings with central heating the share of paper and plastics
is higher than in old houses with individual heating. In the latter ones the share of fine fraction is higher.
Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction that the waste collected in residential areas predominantly origi-

In Polish national environmental policy waste management is
regarded as one of the most important issues of environmental
protection. Act on Waste (2001) defines the municipal waste as
the refuse produced by households and other sources, not contain-
ing hazardous substances, which due to its features or composition
resembles the household waste. Except for households, the other
sources of municipal waste are, e.g. shops, offices, schools, grave
yards, municipal green areas, infrastructure facilities. The munici-
pal waste have special features depending on numerous factors
such as the type of buildings, coverage of service facilities and
other non-residential buildings in the area concerned, technical
and sanitary utilities of the building (especially the heating sys-
tems). This article focuses generally on the household waste, which
are commingled collected in residential areas. It should be noted
* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +48 12 632 22 45.
E-mail address: kulczycka@meeri.pl (J. Kulczycka).
nate from households, but depending on the kind of surrounding
also includes waste from small commerce, services and institu-
tions. Since it is often very difficult to keep them separately, the
term ‘‘household waste” used within this article is extended to in-
clude other waste commingled collected with the household
waste. Composition of the household waste also largely depends
among others on: the residents’ wealth, selective collection of
recyclable material, in-house composting and seasons of the year.
Properties of the waste are directly related to its composition. Each
of the components has certain moisture content, organic matter
and fertilizing material content and calorific value. In Poland in re-
cent years, only a few projects have been completed to determine
the quantity and composition of household waste. As there is no
one obligatory methodology how to characterise municipal solid
waste, the scopes of each analysis are individually determined in
the agreement between the manager of waste facilities (sometimes
local authorities) and the contractor providing studies. It can be
one of the reasons why, the composition of waste, even among Pol-
ish large cities show great variability.

0956-053X/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2009.09.018
370 E. den Boer et al. / Waste Management 30 (2010) 369–377

2. Methods for municipal waste characterisation

2003/04

2.72

18.4
18.5
29.6
46.3
32.2

16.5

11.3
5.6

2.2

3.3
4.4
5.9
267.6

3.0
There are many methods for conducting municipal waste com-
position studies. The review of 20 methods for solid waste compo-
nent analysis based on different methods was presented by Dahlén

2002/03

2.49
8.2

14.6
255.7

28.5
44.3
32.7

11.8
19.0

16.0
and Lagerkvist (2008), but a European standard of solid waste com-

–
–
–
–
ponent analysis does not exist yet.
In Poland up till now, the studies on waste composition have

2001/02

2.39
been carried out mainly in large Polish cities: Warsaw, Wrocław,

19.2
21.1

43.3
31.6

14.5

11.4
8.6

27.0
260

–
–
–
–
Krakow and the cities of Upper Silesia region. Little research has
been conducted on the waste produced in smaller towns of varied

2000/01
size and in rural areas. There is also insufficient information on the

2.30

17.1
18.3
28.2
44.3
33.7

15.1

11.1
9.1
262.1

–
–
–
–
quantitative and compositional variance of the waste generated in
various regions. Various methodologies have been employed,

1999/00
decided by the local or regional authorities responsible for waste

2.25

3.7
3.2
3.7
7.3
257.5

12.7
16.6
27.2
46.1

13.7
10.1

2.0
31.0

14.0
management. One of the used methods was analysis of waste com-
position according to the Polish standard for waste analysis. This

Changes of average values of household waste production, fractional and material composition in Warsaw, between 1990 and 2004 according to Skalmowski (2001, 2005).
standard describes however only the chemical and physical prop-

1998/99

2.24
erties of solid waste, but it does not specify any conditions for

2.5

4.2
2.8
4.3
8.8
295.7

19.2
28.6
42.2
31.2

12.6

12.6
10.0

14.0
waste sampling. It also does not foresee conducting separate anal-
yses for every fractions of waste, i.e. granulometric fractions

1997/98
(10 mm, 10–40 mm, 40–100 mm or >100 mm) or material fraction

2.30

2.3

4.2
3.6
5.9
9.7
15.2
301.2

11.9
19.4
29.3
39.4
32.3

12.3

13.9
(paper, plastics, biowaste, etc.). Therefore in some cities additional
tests were carried out. The other applied methods were based on

1996/97
Solid Waste Analysis (SWA) Tool, or MODECOM or on individually

2.17

2.6

4.2
3.3
5.4
10.4
16.3
302.9

12.6
19.1

38.3
28.5

12.6

14.2
30.0
described methods. The present paper aims to describe the results
of the research involving the quantitative and composition analy-
ses of household waste produced in Poland. Results of these anal-
1995/96

2.05
yses can be important starting point for decisions determining

15.9
13.2
19.6
32.6
34.6
29.4

13.6

11.4
2.7

4.9
3.7
4.6
276.7

12.0
proper ways of resolving problems in the field of waste manage-
ment. As many new waste investments are foreseen, and to make
1994/95

result comparable, recently in Poland a guideline for waste analy-

1.73

17.7
19.9

36.4

13.3
10.7

34.6

11.7
2.7

4.1

4.7
10.5
33.0

3.0
269

ses has been issued by order of the Ministry of Environment (Je˛drc-

zak and Szpadt, 2006). This guideline is based on the methodology
1993/94

of SWA-Tool, which has been elaborated within a European re-

1.64
11.4
25.6
29.6
33.4

20.9
32.2

11.2

11.6

12.7
2.7

4.7
2.4
5.3
248.1

search project. However, the results presented in this paper are

not yet conform with this guideline.
1992/93

1.65
236.6

19.2
11.8

28.9
28.6

13.9

12.6
30.7

37.2

3.2

5.6
2.6
4.6
9.0

3. Estimated quality of produced and collected household waste

The quantities of waste are measured mainly by weighing vehi-

1991/92

1.55
219.4

19.6
11.8
27.5
28.3
32.4
33.1

11.5

11.9
7.9
2.6

6.1
2.8
2.9

cles delivering the waste to landfills or to sorting and composting

facilities. In Poland municipal waste in large cities is most often
collected by several private waste collection companies, who deli-
1990/91

1.17

ver it for disposal in different installations. The registered quanti-

19.8
190.7

14.1
27.8
26.3
31.8

11.8

11.8
7.2

4.5
2.6
4.5
30.0

2.0

ties of waste collected and disposed of are often deliberately

underestimated, as a result of informal trading between the
m3/inhabitant per year
kg/inhabitant per year

% mass in wet basis

% mass in wet basis
% mass in wet basis
% mass in wet basis
% mass in wet basis
% mass in wet basis

% mass in wet basis

% mass in wet basis
% mass in wet basis
% mass in wet basis
% mass in wet basis
% mass in wet basis
% mass in wet basis

20
18
Waste ammount [milion Mg]

16
14
Unit

12
10
Participation of fraction 0–10 mm

8
6
4
40–100 mm fraction
10–40 mm fraction

2
Other non-organic
Other non-organic
>100 mm fraction

>10 mm fraction
Paper/cardboard
Organic fraction

0
Unit quantity
Unit quantity

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Parameter

According to KPGO According to GUS

Plastics
Textile

Metals
Glass
Table 1

Fig. 1. Comparison of collected waste quantities with forecasted production in

Poland.
 E. den Boer et al. / Waste Management 30 (2010) 369–377
involved companies. There is also no credible data in communes,
although the waste disposal contractors are obliged to submit de-
tails on the mass of different types of collected municipal refuse.
Such situation is the consequence of negligence or failure to fulfil
the reporting obligation.
Fig. 1 presents a comparison of household waste collected
according to the Main Statistical Office (GUS) with the quantities
forecasted by National Waste Management Plan (KPGO). Quanti-
ties of waste collected are considerably below the KPGO forecasts,
which can be attributed to the following facts:
 Only some of the citizens (around 90%) are covered in the con-
trolled waste collection programmes.
 The quantities of waste admitted to landfills are underrated in
reports in order to reduce landfill tax (nowadays 100 PLN per
1 Mg of waste).
 Only part of the landfills use vehicle scales; others assume
seemingly lower quantities of waste admitted, for the reasons
mentioned above.
 The reliability of KPGO forecasts is not evaluated.
The municipal waste in Warsaw is frequently monitored for
quantity and quality (Skalmowski, 2001, 2005), in accordance with
the methods as prescribed by Polish Standard of Municipal Solid
Waste. Selected results of such monitoring are given in Table 1.
From the data shown in Table 1 it can be concluded that the quan-
tity of waste per capita showed a steady increase in the early 90s.
Since 1996 this value decreased by approximately 10%. Analyses of
the fractional composition indicate a significant increase of the
share of coarse fraction (>100 mm), which is compensated by the
decrease of the content of fine and medium fractions (<10 mm
and 10–40 mm). The kitchen waste constitutes the most abundant
material followed by paper/cardboard, plastics and glass. The share
of plastics showed a significant increase, which is compensated by
a decrease of the fine fraction.
4. Examining household waste composition
Between 1992 and 2005, in Wrocław, the fractional and mate-
rial composition of waste was tested three times (Maćków et al.,
Summer 1992
Winter 1992/93
Spring 1993
Autumn 1995
Winter 1995/96
Spring 2004
Summer 2004
Autumn 2004
Winter 2004/05
0% 20% 40%
Fig. 2. Composition of municipal waste in Wrocław between 1992 and 2005, % mass in wet basis (Szpadt et al., 1993; Maćków et al., 2005).
371
2005; Marcinkowski and Słomka, 1997). Two similar methods for
the quality tests were applied. The scope of tests performed in
the years 2004–2005 (using modified Solid Waste Analysis meth-
odology (Je˛drczak and Szpadt, 2006) was much broader than that
in the years 1992–1995.
The tests were performed in four seasons of the year, in three
typical development areas (in municipal surroundings):
 Surrounding I: Newly built housing estates with multi-family
buildings, central heating system.
 Surrounding II: City centre, old and new buildings, combined
heating systems (central and individual).
 Surrounding III: Individual buildings, suburban, outskirts, single
and multi-family houses, local gas and coal (coke)-based heating
systems.
Fig. 2 presents the results of the composition survey of Wrocław
household waste (Maćków et al., 2005) between 1992 and 2004.
During that period, considerable changes in the waste composition
were observed, i.e.:
 Reduction of small (<10 mm) and medium fractions (10–
40 mm), which constituted total 50–60% mass of the waste in
the years 1992/93 and 30–40% in the years 2004/05.
 Significant raise in the content of glass (from 4.5% in the years
1992–1995 to 11% in 2004), which resulted in the increase in
supply of glass packages, including the throwaway ones.
 Significant raise in the content of plastics, mainly the throw-
away packages, with clear peaks in autumn 1995 and winter
1995/1996. A subsequent reduction of the share of plastics
may be due to a wider use of tetrapack and glass packing. As
it has not been observed in the Warsaw data, it can be also
due to a data bias.
 Slight fluctuations in the amount of paper.
 Increase of the amount of biodegradable waste in years 2004–
2005, as compared to 1992, at the cost of reduction in the 10–
40 mm fraction.
Considerable variability of waste composition in various sea-
sons, remaining through the entire measurement period, was also
observed, in particular:
paper
plastic
textile
metal
glass
kitchen and garden
others bio
others
0-10 mm fraction
10-40 mm fraction
60% 80% 100%
372 E. den Boer et al. / Waste Management 30 (2010) 369–377

 The greatest share of kitchen and garden wastes was found in
summer and autumn.
 In the winter and spring tests, the greatest share of <10 mm frac-
tion was found.
Fig. 3 presents how the type of housing affects the waste com-
position (for average samples from individual surrounding, from
four measuring series performed in 2004–2005). It can be con-
cluded that:
 Biodegradable waste prevailed in all surroundings, however,
most of it was found in the Surrounding III (houses with
gardens).
Surrounding 3
Surrounding 2
 The greatest share of paper was found in waste from the Sur-
rounding I, and of inert material in Surrounding II, respectively,
which might be attributed to the type of heating.
 The share of multiple-material waste, wood and metals was
similar in all surroundings.
 The share of fine fraction was greatest in the waste from the Sur-
rounding II, and the lowest in Surrounding I, respectively.
The examination of properties of the municipal waste of Wro-
cław included among others the following parameters, which char-
acterise their suitability as fuel:
 Moisture content in% – for all granular fractions and selected
components.
 Organic matter [% dry mass] – for all fractions and selected
organic components.
paper and cardboard  Level of heat value [MJ/kg dry mass] – for selected components.
plastic
Refer to Fig. 4 for the average moisture and organic matter con-
glass
tent values in wastes of all series as of 2004–2005 (for the spring
inert and summer series results including the <10, 10–40 and 40–
other

10-20 fraction
Table 2
> 10 fraction
Composition of Poznań household waste according to Sogreah survey.
textile
Surrounding 1 No. Waste component % mass in wet basis
metal
1 Organic waste 23.7
hazardous 2 Paper 9.7
3 Cardboard 4.4
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% multi-component
4 Composite waste 1.5
4 Fabric 2.9
Fig. 3. Average waste composition for different types of surrounding in Wrocław, %
6 Sanitary products 2.7
mass in wet basis (Szpadt et al., 1993; Maćków et al., 2005).
Plastics 10.8
– PP and PE membrane 5.5
7 – PET bottles 1.5
Moisture content % – PE bottles 0.7
80 – Food packages 0.7
– Others 2.4
8 Combustible mixed waste 3.5
60
Glass 9.2
9 – Coloured glass 2.7
40 – White glass 6.3
10 Metals 2.1
– Aluminium 0.3
20
11 Non-combustible mixed waste 4.5
12 Special waste 1.0
0 13 Fine fraction 20.1
< 10 10-40 40-80 (100) 14 Sorting loss 4.0
Spring Summer Autumn Winter Total 100

Organic matter content %

100
Table 3
80 Composition of household waste in Krakow (2003).

Component kg/inhabitant per year % mass in wet basis

60
Organic, biodegradable 91.5 40.50
Wood 2.6 0.90
40 Paper, cardboard 26.4 10.20
Plastics 29.1 12.10
Glass 25.5 10.10
20
Textile 6.8 2.70
Metals 4.2 1.80
0 Hazardous waste 0.5 0.20
< 10 10-40 40-80 (100) Composite waste 8.3 3.10
Spring Summer Autumn Winter Inert waste 12.0 5.60
Other fractions 10.4 4.10
Fig. 4. Moisture and organic matter (% mass in dry basis) content in individual Fine fraction < 10 mm 21.8 8.50
fractions of household waste in Wrocław (Szpadt et al., 1993; Maćków et al., 2005; Total 239.1 100.00
Marcinkowski and Słomka, 1997).
 E. den Boer et al. / Waste Management 30 (2010) 369–377 373

Table 4
Content of packaging and non-packaging-type waste in household municipal waste in Wrocław and Krakow (Szpadt at al., 2005).

Material Wrocław, 278 kg/inhabitant per year Krakow, 238 kg/inhabitant per year Average
% mass in wet basis kg/inhabitant per year % mass in wet basis kg/inhabitant per year % mass in wet basis kg/inhabitant per year
Packaging-type waste
Paper/cardboard 3.43 9.53 2.70 6.43 3.1 8.0
Plastics 5.88 16.34 5.00 11.90 5.4 14.1
Glass 10.14 28.19 9.50 22.60 9.8 25.4
Ferrous metal 0.76 2.11 1.50 3.57 1.1 2.8
Non-ferrous metal 0.60 1.67 0.20 0.40 0.40 1.0
Composite 1.38 3.84 1.20 2.86 1.3 3.4
Total 22.19 61.68 20.10 47.84 21.1 54.7
Non-packaging-type waste
Paper/cardboard 4.98 13.80 7.60 18.09 6.3 16.0
Plastics 4.99 13.87 7.10 16.9 6.1 15.4
Glass 1.80 5.00 0.60 1.43 1.2 3.2
Ferrous metal 0.49 1.36 0.00 0.00 0.3 0.7
Non-ferrous metal 0.09 0.25 0.10 0.24 0.1 0.3
Composite 1.20 3.34 1.90 4.52 1.6 3.9
Total 13.55 37.62 17.30 41.18 15.6 39.5
Altogether 35.74 99.30 37.40 89.02 36.7 94.2

Table 5 Analysis Data). Two sampling series were carried out: in spring
Individual waste generation indices and bulk density of waste in Zgorzelec (Haziak, (April–May) and in autumn (September). The results do not take
2001).
account of the variability of waste composition in winter, when
Surroundings Individual waste production index Bulk density it considerably differs from the other seasons.
3 kg/m3 The results of studies performed in 2003 in Krakow, using the
kg/inhabitant m /inhabitant
per year per year SWA Tool, and in 2004–2005 in Wrocław, using the modified
I 307 2.28 135 SWA Tool, make it possible to directly compare composition of
II 329 2.03 157 the household waste produced in these cities, taking into account
III 326 1.92 170 specific fractions, not covered in other testing methodologies.
IV 282 1.61 171 Based on such results (Maćków et al., 2005; Solid Waste Analysis
V 307 2.45 125
Data) individual amounts of packaging and non-packaging waste
City 309 1.98 156 were calculated (extracted from >40 mm fraction) for the house-
hold waste per inhabitant (refer to Table 4 (Szpadt et al., 2005).
According to Table 4, the municipal waste contains more paper
100 mm fractions, and for the autumn and winter series <10, 10– and cardboard, plastics and composite waste from the non-packag-
40 and 40–80 mm, respectively). ing sources than from the packaging ones. The packaging-type
The fine fraction (<10 mm) shows the greatest seasonal vari- waste, however, contains much more glass (ca. 8 times) as well
ability of moisture and organic matter content. However, this frac- as ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
tion is also characterised by the lowest moisture and organic Quantities of packaging material contained in the municipal
matter content. The highest moisture content was determined for waste, as forecasted by KPGO, are much higher than those mea-
the 10–40 mm fraction, which is rich in biodegradable matter. sured for the household waste. It means that a substantial part of
The highest organic matter content was found in the 40–80 mm the packaging material derives from other sources than household,
fraction. This fraction typically contains the most of the combusti- such as offices, shops, schools, street maintenance, parks, etc.
ble components (paper and plastics). Refer to Tables 5–7 for the results of qualitative and quantita-
In May 2001, in Poznań, Sogreah France carried out the survey tive survey of waste in Zgorzelec, in 1998–1999 (Haziak, 2001).
of mixed household waste using the MODECOM methodology. 8 The studies were carried out in five urban surroundings, namely:
waste samples, 2 from four municipal surroundings, were tested.
The average results are given in Table 2.  Surrounding I: 10-store blocks of flats, multi-family buildings,
In 2003, in Krakow, the composition and quantities of house- with central heating system.
hold waste was tested under the Solid Waste Analysis (SWA) Tool  Surrounding II: 4-store blocks of flats, multi-family buildings,
project within the 5th EU Framework Program (Table 3 Solid Waste with central heating system.

Table 6
Granular composition of waste in Zgorzelec (Haziak, 2001).

Surrounding Fraction, mm
0–8 8–20 20–40 40–70 70–80 80–100 100–120 >120
% mass in wet basis
I 3.7 8.3 17.6 20.5 7.5 8.1 5.8 28.5
II 3.8 8.1 19.1 18.3 6.8 8.9 5.2 29.7
III 18.3 16.5 17.1 13.2 4.2 6.3 4.1 20.4
IV 24.9 15.3 30.1 10.5 4.6 6.6 2.8 5.2
V 15.8 13.5 13.2 7.9 3.8 4.8 15.9 25.2
City – weighted average 14.7 12.7 20.9 13.5 5.2 7.0 6.2 20.0
374 E. den Boer et al. / Waste Management 30 (2010) 369–377

Table 7
Composition of waste in Zgorzelec (Haziak, 2001).

Surrounding Fraction
0–8 mm Organic, Paper Cardboard Plastics Incl. Textile Wood Glass Metals Other Other
biodegradable membrane organic* non-organic**
% mass in wet basis
I 3.7 42.2 21.6 7.7 10.2 2.5 3.4 0.2 6.8 2.7 0.0 1.5
II 3.8 35.0 24.5 8.7 11.4 3.9 4.1 0.0 9.1 2.6 0.2 0.6
III 18.3 13.4 13.9 9.4 7.5 2.0 2.9 0.0 5.7 3.0 0.0 26.0
IV 24.9 41.6 5.2 3.3 6.7 2.5 0.4 0.0 12.2 0.7 1.8 3.2
V 15.8 22.5 5.4 1.6 6.4 2.2 4.3 0.8 8.7 3.3 0.8 30.5
City 14.7 31.5 13.4 5.9 8.3 2.7 2.8 0.2 9.2 2.2 0.7 11.1
*
Represents organic residues which could not be classified elsewhere.
**
Represents inorganic residues which could not be classified elsewhere.

 Surrounding III: Old, multi-family buildings with coal-fired
furnaces.
 Surrounding IV: Single-family house, gas-based heating.
 Surrounding V: Single-family house, coal-fired furnace.
Composition of the household waste of Grudzia˛dz was tested in
November 2001, on the premises of the Grudzia˛dz waste dump in
Zakurzewo (Je˛drczak and Pilicydis, 2000). Three streams of waste,
collected in housing areas typical for Grudzia˛dz, were tested:
 Surrounding A: New multi-family buildings, central heating
system.
 Surrounding B: Single-family houses, gas heating.
 Surrounding C: City centre, old buildings, coal-based heating.
Refer to Tables 8–10 for the composition of waste and fraction
from three building areas. In the waste from the city centre, the
share of fine fraction was as much as 37.7% of total waste mass,
and only 14.2% in the single-family houses. Such predominance
of fine fraction resulted from the presence of ash and slag, from
the areas with coal-based heating. Organic biodegradable waste
predominated in the <70 mm fraction in single-family housing
areas (56.1% mass).
The richest organic biodegradable 20–70 mm fraction was
found in waste from the new multi-family buildings (76.8% mass)
and single-family houses (77.0% mass). The content of biodegrad-
able waste in 20–70 mm fraction from the waste collected in the
city centre area was only 34.6% mass. The smallest amount of
coarse fraction (>100 mm) was found in the waste from the city

Table 8
Granular and material composition of household waste in the winter period, from the high multi-family building area in Grudzia˛dz (Surrounding A) Je˛drczak and Pilicydis, 2000.

Fraction, mm 20 70 80 100 Mixed waste

<20 mm >20 mm <70 mm >70 mm <80 mm >80 mm <100 mm >100 mm
% fraction share 21.7 78.3 46.7 53.3 54.2 45.8 67.0 33.0 100.0
Fraction material composition,% mass in wet basis
<20 mm fraction 100 0.0 46.4 0.0 40.0 0.0 32.4 0.0 21.7
Paper – 17.1 4.9 20.9 6.1 22.1 8.7 22.9 13.4
Cardboard – 5.0 1.1 6.4 1.2 7.1 1.7 8.4 3.9
Organic, biodegradable – 37.6 41.1 19.2 39.9 17.1 38.3 11.5 29.4
Glass – 6.1 2.2 7.0 2.7 7.2 3.7 6.9 4.8
Textile – 13.6 0.8 19.2 3.0 19.6 4.5 22.9 10.6
Plastics – 5.0 0.8 6.6 1.6 6.6 2.1 7.6 3.9
Waste including plastic films – 14.2 2.7 18.5 4.7 18.7 7.5 18.4 11.1
Ferrous metal – 0.9 0.0 1.3 0.9 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.7
Non-ferrous metal – 0.6 0.0 0.9 0.0 1.1 0.4 0.8 0.5
Other organic – 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Other mineral – 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Table 9
Granular and material composition of household waste in the winter period, from the single-family building area in Grudzia˛dz (Surrounding B) Je˛drczak and Pilicydis, 2000.

Mesh size, mm 20 70 80 100 Mixed waste

Fraction <20 mm >20 mm <70 mm >70 mm <80 mm >80 mm <100 mm >100 mm
% fraction share 14.2 85.8 52.3 47.7 57.6 42.4 75.2 24.8 100.0
Fraction material composition,% mass in wet basis
<20 mm fraction 100 0.0 27.2 0.0 24.7 0.0 18.9 0.0 14.2
Paper – 26.0 10.8 34.8 10.7 38.0 12.0 53.3 22.3
Cardboard – 4.1 1.8 5.3 2.3 5.1 2.7 5.7 3.5
Organic, biodegradable – 45.6 56.1 20.6 52.8 20.6 45.5 20.0 39.2
Glass – 7.6 1.4 12.1 2.6 11.7 7.0 4.8 6.5
Textile – 3.3 0.0 6.0 0.0 6.7 3.8 0.0 2.9
Plastics – 4.8 0.9 7.6 2.3 6.5 3.4 6.4 4.1
Waste including plastic films – 7.6 1.8 11.6 4.1 9.7 5.7 8.9 6.5
Ferrous metal – 0.6 0.0 1.0 0.4 0.6 0.3 1.0 0.5
Non-ferrous metal – 0.6 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.1 0.6 0.0 0.5
Other organic – 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Other mineral – 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
 E. den Boer et al. / Waste Management 30 (2010) 369–377 375

Table 10
Granular and material composition of household waste in the winter period, from the city centre building area in Grudzia˛dz (Surrounding C) Je˛drczak and Pilicydis, 2000.

Mesh size, mm 20 70 80 100 Mixed waste

Fraction <20 mm >20 mm <70 mm >70 mm <80 mm >80 mm <100 mm >100 mm
% fraction share 37.7 62.3 68.1 31.9 70.9 29.1 77.8 22.2 100.0
Fraction material composition, % mass in wet basis
<20 mm fraction 100 0.0 55.3 0.0 53.2 0.0 48.5 0.0 37.7
Paper – 20.8 7.7 24.1 9.0 22.7 10.5 21.4 13.0
Cardboard – 1.5 0.0 3.0 0.6 1.8 1.2 0.0 1.0
Organic, biodegradable – 26.7 15.4 19.1 15.2 20.0 14.6 23.8 16.6
Glass – 7.2 6.6 0.0 6.3 0.0 5.8 0.0 4.5
Textile – 6.4 0.0 12.4 0.0 13.6 0.0 17.9 4.0
Plastics – 12.1 0.9 21.6 1.5 22.2 2.9 23.8 7.5
Waste including plastic films – 11.3 2.3 17.1 3.0 16.9 5.6 11.9 7.0
Ferrous metal – 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Non-ferrous metal – 3.0 1.6 2.6 1.5 2.8 2.1 1.3 1.9
Other organic – 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Other mineral – 11.0 10.1 0.0 9.7 0.0 8.8 0.0 6.8

centre area (22.2% mass), and the largest was found in the new
multi-family buildings (33.0% mass).
In 2000, in Zielona Góra, the granular and material composition
of household waste was studied (Jedrczak et al., 2000). The single
sample was derived from the total mass of waste collected in se-
lected bins, between two subsequent refuse removal by PGKiM
(municipal management company) in Zielona Góra. The samples
were collected once a month during one year. Four surroundings
were tested:

Table 11  Surrounding A: New multi-family buildings, central heating sys-

Individual waste production indices in Zielona Góra, kg/inhabitant per year (Jedrczak tem (central heating, 4 measuring points, waste from 522
et al., 2000).
residents).
Building Range Average Average value Average value  Surrounding B: City centre area (combined heating – 1 point,
structure value summer period winter period waste from 28 residents).
Surrounding A 183–285 239 243 235  Surrounding C: Single-family houses (coal-based heating, 2
Surrounding B 131–248 188 184 193 points, from 11 residents).
Surrounding C 82–385 239 199 280
 Surrounding D: Single-family houses (gas heating, 2 points, 10
Surrounding D 84–252 143 162 125
residents).

Refer to Table 11 for individual values of the waste production

indices.
Table 12
Bulk density of waste in Zielona Góra, kg/m3 (Jedrczak et al., 2000). The average annual values for the multi-family buildings were
239 kg/inhabitant per year (Surrounding A) and 188 kg/Mg per
Building Bulk density Average Average value Average value
year (Surrounding B), respectively. The average values for the sin-
structure range value summer period winter period
gle-family buildings were 239 kg/inhabitant per year (Surrounding
Surrounding A 105–160 134 136 133 C) and 143 kg/inhabitant per year (Surrounding D), respectively.
Surrounding B 105–218 171 150 192
Surrounding C 116–398 270 211 329
Average values from the summer and winter periods were compa-
Surrounding D 130–277 191 188 193 rable to the Surroundings A and B, and they differed significantly
from the single-family buildings.

Table 13
Granular composition of waste in Zielona Góra (Jedrczak et al., 2000).

Building Parameter % mass in wet basis

structure
0–8 mm 8–40 mm 40–120 mm >120 mm
Surrounding A Value range 2.8–9.3 16.7–39.1 26.4–44.6 20.0–49.7
Average 6.6 27.5 34.7 31.2
Summer average 7.3 29.9 35.2 27.7
Winter average 5.9 25.1 34.3 34.8
Surrounding B Value range 3.3–35.5 13.1–46.0 15.3–51.5 1.0–38.0
Average 20.4 31.3 32.3 16.0
Summer average 10.4 24.3 41.3 24.0
Winter average 30.4 38.3 23.3 8.0
Surrounding C Value range 0.9–76.2 11.3–44.5 3.3–53.7 0.0–68.6
Average 40.9 23.4 21.9 13.9
Summer average 18.4 24.2 33.0 24.4
Winter average 63.4 22.5 10.9 3.4
Surrounding D Value range 2.6–42.6 6.5–56.5 1.6–39.6 0.0–49.9
Average 10.3 33.8 35.3 20.7
Summer average 8.2 32.8 37.3 21.9
Winter average 12.4 34.7 33.4 19.6
376 E. den Boer et al. / Waste Management 30 (2010) 369–377

Table 14
Material composition of waste in Zielona Góra, % mass in wet basis (Jedrczak et al., 2000).

Building structure Components

Paper Cardboard Organic, Glass Textile Plastics Waste Rubber Leather Ferrous Non- Other Other
biodegradable including metal ferrous organic mineral
plastic films metal
Average in periods
Surrounding A Winter 29.4 8.4 33.0 6.5 4.3 8.9 3.5 0.0 0.0 1.7 0.3 0.8 7.5
Summer 25.2 6.1 41.8 5.8 3.0 8.2 2.8 0.0 0.0 1.6 0.3 1.9 6.7
Annual 27.2 7.3 37.4 6.1 3.7 8.5 3.1 0.0 0.0 1.7 0.3 1.4 7.1
Surrounding B Winter 14.3 1.3 38.4 7.9 1.0 4.5 1.1 0.0 0.0 1.1 0.3 2.4 28.8
Summer 15.8 7.7 39.4 13.4 2.8 8.9 1.6 0.0 0.0 4.4 0.0 0.5 7.2
Annual 15.0 4.5 38.9 10.7 1.9 6.6 1.3 0.0 0.0 2.7 0.2 1.5 18.0
Surrounding C Winter 2.9 0.6 20.2 12.8 0.3 3.3 1.2 0.0 0.0 2.4 0.0 6.6 51.3
Summer 10.9 2.2 49.4 9.1 3.8 11.3 2.2 0.0 0.0 3.8 0.0 4.7 5.0
Annual 6.9 1.4 34.8 11.0 2.0 7.3 1.7 0.0 0.0 3.1 0.0 5.6 28.1
Surrounding D Winter 13.8 3.6 43.2 16.1 2.3 9.4 2.8 0.0 0.0 4.4 0.3 2.4 4.9
Summer 14.9 3.3 46.2 13.9 3.2 8.1 2.0 0.0 0.0 2.6 0.1 0.6 4.9
Annual 14.4 3.4 44.7 14.9 2.7 8.7 2.4 0.0 0.0 3.5 0.2 1.5 4.9

Refer to Table 12 for the bulk density values. For the multi-fam-
ily buildings, the annual average values were 134 and 171 kg/m3,
and for the single-family buildings 270 kg/m3 (Surrounding C)
and 191 kg/m3 (Surrounding D), respectively. The average values
from the summer and winter periods varied significantly in the
buildings with coal-based heating, and were comparable for the
buildings with gas or central heating.
Refer to Table 13 for the granular composition. Waste from the
multi-family buildings with combined heating types, as compared
to the waste from the new multi-family buildings with central
heating contained more 0–8 mm fine fraction, comparable
amounts of 8–40 and 40–120 mm fractions and considerably less
>120 mm coarse fraction.
In the single-family houses with coal-based heating, the share
of 0–8 mm fine fraction varied in a very broad range, from 1 to
76% mass, with annual average 41% mass. Also the values from
the winter (>60%) and summer period (18.4%) significantly differed
from each other. In the single-family buildings with gas heating,
the fine fraction share was on average 10.3% mass. Shares of all
fractions were comparable in the summer and winter seasons. Re-
fer to Table 14 for the material composition.
Composition of the waste from multi-family houses with cen-
tral heating did not generally change along the year. The waste
contained much paper and cardboard (34.5% mass on average). It
contained on average 6.1% glass, 6.8% plastics and 8.5% textile. Bio-
degradable organic waste was found in amounts comparable to the
average annual quantities (37.8% mass). Other organic and mineral
components were 1.4% and 7.1% mass, respectively.
Waste from the multi-family buildings with combined heating
(Surrounding B) contained less waste paper (paper and cardboard),
19.5% mass on average, as compared to the waste from multi-fam-
ily buildings with central heating, and more other non-organic
waste types (18% mass). This was particularly true for the waste
produced in the heating season. For example, the average share
of other non-organic waste in the winter period was 28.8%,
whereas the average amounts in the summer were 4 times less –
7.2% (see Table 14). The average annual amount of biodegradable
waste is ca. 38.9%, and similar amounts were found in the winter
– 38.4% mass, and summer – 39.4% mass.
Waste from single-family houses with coal-based heating con-
tained less waste paper (cardboard and paper) than that from the
buildings with gas heating, and more other non-organic compo-
nents, especially during the winter season (heating season). For
example, the average share of other non-organic components in
the winter period was, in buildings with coal-based heating,
51.3% mass, whereas, in the summer period, it was 5.0% in such
buildings, and was comparable to the annual average for the build-
ings with gas heating (4.9% mass). In single-family houses, the bio-
degradable waste was found in the following amounts (annual
average): coal-heated buildings – 34.8% mass, gas-heated buildings
– 44.7% mass.
5. Conclusions
The results of the review of municipal solid waste composition
and quantities in Polish cities indicate great variability, which is
difficult to be reasonably explained. This situation is affected by
a number of factors, such as various methods and places for sample
collection, various methods for tests, fractional character of most of
the studies (studies carried out only in some periods during a year).
Consequently, it is neither possible to measurably compare their
results, nor to generalise them. Therefore within this article the
data has been provided individually for each city. Only systematic
survey of household waste stream covering all seasons of the year
using the same methodology will allow determine a more realistic
waste composition. Fortunately, a standardised methodology for
municipal waste analyses in Poland has been recently recom-
mended by the Ministry of the Environment. Thus, soon it should
be possible to evaluate results of the newly initiated waste analy-
ses and to provide more general results for Poland.
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