Waste fires in Poland 2012-2020

Abstract

In recent years, systematically waste fires have occurred in landfills, storage places or waste treatment installations. The maximum number of waste fires was recorded in 2018 with 243 fires, followed by 2019 with 176 fires. During the uncontrolled incineration of waste, the environment is significantly polluted through the emission of toxic substances to the air, water and soil, and various compounds are leached out of the combustion residues. In addition to the negative environmental aspects, waste fires cause enormous losses of materials, that could be recycled or recovered. The presentation shows the statistics of waste fires in Poland indicating the seasonal changes of incidents as well as their locations. Moreover the an estimation of amount of waste that was burned in 2018 – 2019 was done and thus their material and energy value was irretrievably lost.