environmental protection | In Principle

According to Eurostat figures for 2021, Poland has become the EU leader in cars registered per 1,000 inhabitants, at 687. At the same time, 37% of cars registered in Poland are 10–20 years old, and more than 41% are over 20 years old. Should Poles fear the adoption of a tax on combustion-engine cars?

More than four years after entry into force of the Single-Use Plastics Directive, Poland has adopted a law introducing a deposit-refund scheme. With the new solutions, the country is expected to achieve the high level of separate collection of packaging and packaging waste required by EU law.

Over 12.5 million tonnes of textile waste is generated every year in the European Union. Almost half of that is clothing or shoes. The average EU resident generates about 12 kg of textile waste per year. But there are no legal regulations in place facilitating sustainable management of such waste.

Each year, nearly a million used vehicles are exported from Europe, often in very poor condition. They mainly end up in Africa, where they pollute the environment and pose a risk to humans. At the same time, around 3.5 million vehicles a year disappear without a trace from European roads, presumably ending up illegally exported and dismantled. But they could be a source of spare parts and critical raw materials in Europe.

Construction of a waste incineration plant is a complex undertaking. The investor must meet a number of regulatory requirements and obtain the relevant administrative decisions, including the building permit and the environmental decision preceding it. These can be obtained only if the project complies with the local zoning plan. In this context, it is often questioned whether an incineration plant can be built on land zoned for manufacturing.

The EU legislative process related to adoption of key legal acts under the “Fit for 55” package is coming to an end. One of its elements is gradual integration of the maritime transport sector into the EU greenhouse gas emissions trading system (EU ETS).

According to a report published in 2021 by the European Environment Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency, 13.5% of total transport greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union originate from ships. Transforming maritime transport into a sustainable and environment-friendly sector requires actions on many levels. One of them is to enable ships moored in port to use shore-side electricity.

Environmental inspectors in Poland are stepping up inspections of stores for compliance with the Combatting Food Waste Act. In doing so, they point to shortcomings regarding not only the proper distribution of the fee for wasted food and the implementation of educational campaigns, but especially the understanding of the definition of food waste. In many cases, the inspectors are wrong, as the administrative courts have begun to recognise.

The issue of the compatibility of a planned undertaking with the local zoning plan is complex, and some aspects of it have long raised questions. The problem is of great practical importance, and the approach of land-use authorities and the courts in a particular case often determines whether a development or certain activities can be carried out in a given area. This is particularly evident in the case of waste management projects.

In the face of the climate crisis, the interest in sustainability issues is growing. This increasingly brings the issue of greenwashing to the fore. “Greenwashing” refers to creation of a false impression among the public regarding the supposedly green practices applied by a business or the environmental benefits of its goods and services. Typically greenwashing is used to raise the attractiveness of goods or services in the eyes of prospective buyers, and thus to increase sales and attract customers. But sometimes the spread of misleading ecological messages is simply due to ignorance.

In November 2022, the leaves were falling from the trees to the rhythm of ESG. First, the European Parliament and then the Council of the European Union approved the draft Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Then the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group submitted the first set of draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards to the European Commission.

PFAS is a collective name for some 5,000 chemical compounds widely used in industry and everyday items. They have a harmful effect on the environment and human health. Recently, they have been the subject of intense research by the European Chemicals Agency and the US Environmental Protection Agency. This is reflected in the growing number of regulations restricting their use. However, awareness of the harmfulness of these compounds seems to remain low, as evidenced by the small number of court cases in this area.