Beaches and mountains hide unwanted truths. Inconvenient facts revealed.

• During the holiday season, the amount of municipal waste in tourist areas increases by up to 50 percent, and illegal dumps cost cities hundreds of thousands of zlotys.
• Although the average Pole produces less waste than the average European, we recycle only 41% of our waste – less than the EU average.
• Experts point out that the key to solving the waste problem is to switch to a circular economy and treat waste as a resource, not as a burden.

During the holiday season, cities and tourist regions in Poland face a troublesome increase in the amount of municipal waste, according to the Polish Economic Institute.

The average Pole generates an average of 376 kg of municipal waste per year. However, based on local and industry reports, a correlation has been observed between the holiday season and increased waste production.

For example, in Darłowo, a city with a population of 12,000, waste collection is several times more frequent during peak season. In August, 235 tons of sorted waste are generated, while in the off-season, in October, 321 tons. This means the city generates more sorted waste when there are no tourists. Mixed waste, on the other hand, is produced in August and July at 564 tons, compared to an average of 319 tons during the off-season.

Zakopane estimates that waste generated by tourists accounts for over 25 percent of the total annual waste, and during the holidays, the increase in waste amounts to as much as 50 percent.

As the Polish Economic Institute emphasizes, there's also the issue of waste not being disposed of in the proper containers. Data from the report "Holidays with Garbage, or What We Leave Behind at Vacation Spots," prepared by the EKO-UNIA Ecological Association, is clear: we are surrounded by garbage, primarily beverage packaging, largely alcoholic. In Gdańsk alone, in 2023, the removal of illegal landfills cost the city over PLN 522,000 . The Clean Odra campaign collected 120 tons of garbage in 2022, 180 tons in 2024, and over 200 tons in 2025. The share of glass, in particular, is increasing significantly – currently reaching up to half of the collected volume.

However, it seems that recycling, rather than the amount of waste, is the biggest problem . Eurostat data for 2023 shows that 511 kg of municipal waste was generated per capita in the European Union, of which only 48% was recycled. Although the average Pole produces approximately 150 kg less waste than the average European, we manage to recycle only 41% of this waste.

Outside the tourist season, urban municipalities were characterized by the highest rate of municipal waste generation per capita, while the lowest rate was observed in rural municipalities.

According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS), for urban municipalities, the figure ranged from 259 kg per capita per year in Lubusz Voivodeship to 525 kg per capita in Greater Poland Voivodeship. For urban-rural municipalities, the highest figure was 509 kg per capita in Opole Voivodeship, and the lowest was 191 kg per capita in Lublin Voivodeship. In rural municipalities, the municipal waste generation rate ranged from 191 kg per capita per year in Podkarpackie Voivodeship to 499 kg per capita in Lubusz Voivodeship.

The PIE notes that the circular economy is becoming a key direction in the development of waste management in Poland. The idea is to shift from viewing waste as a problem to treating it as a resource.

Proper waste management (selective collection, recycling and reuse of raw materials) is not only a condition for the efficient use of natural resources, but also an element of sustainable economic growth

- we read in the PIE Weekly.

Experts point out another, slightly more difficult aspect of the circular economy - namely, in addition to recycling, it is important to produce reusable items and extend the life of products, which should be taken into account by local business models.

The Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 report indicates the need to move from the linear "take - use - throw away" model to a closed loop of materials and raw materials at the city and regional level.

However, according to the report (The Circular Economy in Cities and Regions of the European Union), the circular economy also offers significant economic and social benefits - by 2030, 2.5 million new jobs could be created in the EU in the recycling, repair and reuse sectors.