Poland has linked a string of recent waste fires, which it says were started deliberately, with China’s decision to ban imports of certain waste products.
According to reports by Reuters news agency, more than 60 fires took place at dumps in Poland this year, with officials claiming many were likely to have been deliberately started to destroy illegal waste brought into Poland from other countries.
They linked the influx of waste into Poland to a decision this year by China to ban imports of many waste products.
Poland will now take “decisive steps” to end illegal waste dumping, the prime minister said yesterday (29 May).
“This is something that very seriously contributes to environmental pollution. And I want to say clearly, enough is enough,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki – “I have to concur with the opinion that the large majority of these fires is not caused by any spontaneous ignition, but by […] illegal and reprehensible acts that we will fight against”
An illegal waste dump near the central city of Zgierz last week sent plumes of toxic smoke into the air and triggered pollution warnings. The blaze took about 250 firemen working more than two days to put it down.
“I have to concur with the opinion that the large majority of these fires is not caused by any spontaneous ignition, but by […] illegal and reprehensible acts that we will fight against,” Morawiecki said.
Interior minister Joachim Brudzinski told the same news conference: “The rise in these strange accidents [fires] is really accelerating and this is obviously related to China’s decision to close its market to waste imports, either municipal waste or waste for recycling from Europe.
“What follows is that there has been a recorded increase in illegal imports to Poland of materials that should not be in our country.”
There were 63 waste dump fires this year in Poland, including 27 large ones, environment ministry data show, compared with 37 such fires last year.
Environment Minister Henryk Kowalczyk said Poland would change the law to fight illegal waste imports and dumping. Up to now, many firms have imported waste they said would be used for recycling, but no recycling has ever taken place, he said.
“We cannot allow Poland to become an illegal waste dump for Europe,” said Environment Minister Henryk Kowalczyk, also present at the conference.
