People in Poland Are Burning Trash to Stay Warm This Winter
... In Poland, some households are hoarding garbage to replace their coal.
Surveys show 60% of households don’t have enough coal supplies to last through the winter, according to Piotr Siergiej, spokesman for a network of environmental activists called Polski Alarm Smogowy — or Polish Smog Alert. “People are scared and they are collecting anything that can be used for burning,” he said.
That includes lignite, wood, peat, oats — and garbage. Nowy Sacz, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Krakow, is facing an “unprecedented” situation where the city is now collecting less garbage than in the same period of last year, according to Mayor Ludomir Handzel. That’s in a place that was ranked last year as the most polluted among 334 towns and cities tracked by European Environmental Agency.
“We’re seeing a significant drop in garbage collection, especially when it comes to materials than could at least in theory be suitable for burning such as paper, cardboard and packaging,” Handzel told TVN24 news channel. “We’ll fine those who are trying to poison us and our children.”
The industry group representing waste management companies said it’s too early to draw conclusions from the decline in garbage quantities. It could be because of a drop in consumption rather than to use for illegal burning, it said by email.
