CAPABILITIES OF POVIATS IN WASTE MANAGEMENT IN POLAND

Abstract

Waste management has become a major challenge of the modern economy. A rational economy with depleting resources requires treating waste as valuable raw materials that can be reused, recycled or, as a last resort, to recover energy from it. Economic activities are increasingly carried out in modern conditions, which often may have negative impact on the environment. The level of economic development achieved has generated many initiatives and strategies aimed at developing the so-called green economy. The purpose of this study is to assess the spatial differentiation of waste management in counties in 2010–2020, which should trigger development of green economy in Poland. To achieve such a defined goal, the authors used various research methods. The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution method (TOPSIS) was used to build a synthetic measure. As a result of the research, the spatial diversity of poviats in Poland in waste management was confirmed.