Using the Amount of Plastic Packaging Placed on the Market to Determine the Annual Amount of Plastic Packaging Waste Generated in Poland to Enable Sustainable Waste Management

Abstract

A new category of own resources based on national contributions, which are calculated on the basis of the amount of non-recycled plastic packaging waste (PPW) (EUR 0.80 per kilogram), was introduced in 2021 by the decision of the EU Council (EU, Euratom, 2020/2053). In accordance with the European strategy for plastics, the Union budget can contribute to reducing pollution from PPW, which is consistent with sustainable waste management. To calculate the own resource of plastics, it is necessary to determine the amount of non-recycled PPW by taking the difference between the amounts of generated and recycled PPW. Data on the amount of recycled PPW can be obtained from recycling facilities. The challenge, however, is to determine the actual amount of PPW generated in a given year. For this reason, the present study was undertaken to determine the amount of PPW generated annually, based on the amount of plastic packaging placed on the market (PPM) (i.e., with the use of the placed-on-the-market approach). To perform the calculations, the Polish entities that place products in plastic packaging on the market were identified. It was assumed that the amount of PPM was the sum of the amounts of packaging stated by producer responsibility organizations (PRO), as well as self-compliers (SC), private imports (I), and free-riders (FR), minus the amount of packaging privately exported (E). To obtain the relevant data from the records linked to the amounts of plastic packaging imported to and exported from Poland, a detailed methodology was developed. A complementary analysis was concurrently conducted to estimate the amount of plastic PPM by free-riders. The results of these analyses indicate that the amount of packaging transparently reported by the PRO accounted for almost 97% of the total amount of PPM. The analysis found 19,728 SC who placed 2.22% of the total plastic packaging on the market. The total amount of privately imported plastic packaging was 17,304,666 kg (1.37%). Plastic packaging placed on the market by FR is 24,788,196 kg (1.97%). However, the amount of plastic packaging privately exported was 30,571,691 kg (2.43%). Thus, in 2021, the amount of plastic packaging placed on the Polish market was 1,259,345,296 kg; this figure constitutes the basis for determining the own resources based on non-recycled PPW. It also indicates the potential of PPW to serve as a resource for the production of new products, which is in accordance with the principles of a circular economy.