Contrary to appearances, municipal waste is not only produced by households. Their producers are also companies, schools or offices. However, not all pollutants fall into this category. What is municipal waste? What garbage does it cover?
Municipal waste - what we include to this category?
According to Art. 3 sec. 1 point 7 of the Waste Act (Journal of Laws of 2018, item 21, as amended), municipal waste (or household waste) is waste that are made in households and are related to non-industrial human activity. This group also includes waste that comes from other producers (companies, schools) and whose nature and composition is similar to waste produced by households. Importantly, the composition of municipal waste generated by producers other than households must not contain hazardous waste.
Municipal waste - examples in household and business
While it is not difficult to identify municipal waste generated in households (food of animal origin, hygiene products, damaged clothes, medicines, electronic equipment, furniture), the problem arises when waste in the company is involved. What do they include? In order to make a correct classification, it must be verified specific case, taking into account in particular the similarity of the nature of the waste concerned. Easier to say, harder to do. Fortunately, interpretations of administrative authorities come to the rescue. According to them, to the municipal waste enterprise can pass:
- waste generated in connection with meeting the living needs of employees, e.g. food packaging or beverage cups,
- waste from shredders,
- small amounts of office waste paper,
- waste that is generated as a result of cleaning the building (e.g. dust from a broom).
What, on the other hand, cannot be classified as municipal pollution? Waste from the production of food or beverages, as well as packaging for office materials and equipment or packaging for cleaning agents. According to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment on the catalog of waste (of December 9, 2014), packaging waste is classified in group 15, while municipal waste is group 20. To decide whether given pollutants can be classified as municipal waste, the company can use the ones developed by the Ministry of Climate waste limits. They are set out in the Regulation of the Minister of Climate of December 23, 2020 on the types of waste and the amount of waste, for which there is no obligation to keep waste records.
Municipal waste - division by composition
Domestic waste is a very diverse category of waste. Hence, they can be classified not only on the basis of the type of entities that produce them (households/businesses), but also composition. Then the division of municipal waste includes:
- biodegradable waste (decomposing naturally with the participation of microorganisms),
- green waste (parts of plants),
- raw material waste (paper, plastic, metal, glass),
- multi-material packaging, e.g. milk/juice cartons,
- hazardous waste, e.g. batteries, used batteries, medicines,
- renovation waste,
- bulky waste, e.g. furniture, bicycles, bathtubs,
- waste electrical and electronic equipment.
Effective July 1, 2017 unified segregation rules municipal waste. Entities and residents who have expressed their willingness to sort waste are obliged to divide waste into five fractions - paper, glass, metals and plastics, bio and mixed waste. What is important, however, is that the aforementioned Regulation of the Minister of the Environment does not impose the obligation to segregate municipal waste. It's municipal garbage heterogeneous group of waste. They are produced by both households and companies, schools and offices. They include various types of waste, but entities other than households may have problems with their correct classification. If the regulations in this matter are too complicated for you, contact a company providing environmental consulting services. Specialists will explain all the details to you.
