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The aim of our study was to estimate the amount of waste disposed through the public system of waste collection, as well as the amount collected during clean-up activities in public spaces in Poland. This study has been the first of its kind in Poland. We defined terminology for the public system of waste collection and public spaces. Our analyses were for the year 2021 and focused on diverse research areas. The administrative and landscape standard was used as a criterion for the selection of the units tested in field trials, by means of a questionnaire survey. 46 units were purposefully selected, and two series of surveys were carried out with respect to two research areas. During the qualitative assessment of our information sources to assess their suitability for the development of the methodology, it was necessary to apply methodological verifiers relating to mass, persons, area, and statistics. The verifiers took into account all variables influencing the quantities of waste considered in the study. The results obtained showed the lack of separate records in the municipal register for the waste assessed under the study. It was found that nearly 85% of the waste collected in the public systems of waste collection and litter in public spaces were registered as mixed (unsorted) municipal waste (Code 20 03 01) [Regulation... 2020]. It was noted that 20% of municipal waste generated outside households was left behind as litter in public spaces and posed environmental risks. For this reason, among others, it was necessary to estimate the amount of this type of waste.

This paper refers to the inventory of pollutant emissions in Poland from different transport categories over the period 1990–2020. The changes in the annual national emissions of selected pollutants, i.e. nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulfur oxides, PM2.5, PM10, total suspended particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and lead were analysed. The shares of the national annual emissions of the examined pollutants from each studied transport category in the national annual emission from total transport were assessed. The sensitivity of the national annual pollutant emission inventory with regard to the transport categories and emitted substances under the study was assessed.

This paper presents the results of analyses that were focused on pollutant emissions from road vehicles classified into the generalised categories with respect to vehicle use. The analyses were performed using the authorised results of Poland's pollutant emission inventory, carried out in 1990–2020 by the National Centre for Emissions Management (KOBiZE) at the Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute (IOŚ-PIB) in order to meet requirements for the national emissions reporting under EU legislation and the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. The following road vehicle categories were analysed: passenger cars, light duty vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, buses (urban buses and coaches) and L category (motorcycles, mopeds, quads, microcars). The emissions of selected pollutants that are harmful to the health of living beings were studied, i.e. nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulfur compounds, particulate matter size fractions, carbon monoxide and lead compounds. The shares of national annual pollutant emissions from each studied vehicle category of the total pollutant emissions from road transport were determined. With the aim to assess trends in improving environmental properties of road vehicles, there were determined changes of the energy emission factors for individual pollutants in all the vehicle categories under the study. The results obtained showed dynamic decreases in the energy emission factors for nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide. In the case of particulate matter emission, the improvement was not as pronounced. The evident reduction in the emissions of sulfur and lead compounds in the 21st century was confirmed to be a consequence of practical elimination of these compounds from road vehicle fuels.

Plastic packaging waste (PPW) can be considered as solid waste with harmful effects on the environment or as a material with recycling potential in terms of sustainable development in a circular economy. Knowing the amount of PPW generated is very important as it is related to the availability of this material for recycling and determines the actual recycling rate (denominator of a fraction). PPW is very heterogeneous and contains a certain number of impurities (e.g., product residues, direct printing, glue, labels, plastic sleeves, cap, etc.). According to EU law, an annual report (for the data in 2021) on the masses of both the PPW actually recycled (PPWR) ("targeted materials") and impurities ("non-targeted materials") must be prepared and submitted to the European Commission. The PPWR is used for the calculation of the recycling rate (the numerator in a fraction). The impurities should be considered for the calculation of own resources (national contributions to the general EU budget based on the uniform call rate of 0.80/kg of non-recycled PPW). To date, the Council of the EU has not proposed a method for calculating these amounts, so they have only been estimated. The present study (the first of its kind in Poland) aimed to estimate the number of impurities in PPW and the actual amount of PPWR at the calculation point using a method accepted by the EU. In the installations, PPW (plastic packaging (15 01 02), multi-material packaging (15 01 05) and mixed packaging waste (15 01 06)) is recycled together with other plastic waste (plastic (16 01 19), plastic (17 02 03), plastic and rubber (19 12 04), and plastics (20 01 39)). It was assumed that the proportions of the mass of individual types of PPW in the total mass of plastic waste processed in the installation were proportional to the mass of impurities in these individual types of PPW. It was found that the average percentage of impurities in PPW was 4.40–6.90%, which seems to be relatively low. However, this means that, when calculating the PPWR, the mass of impurities should be subtracted from the mass of PPW entering the recycling process. As a result, the mass of PPWR at the calculation point in 2021 in Poland was almost 30,000 tonnes lower than the original mass entering the installation. Thus, applying the uniform call rate to the weight of impurities in the PPW increases Poland's own resources by approx. 24 million euros. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the definition of bioindustry, in particular biorefinery. The technology for obtaining synthetic fuel EtG (Ethanol to Gasoline) in a plant using bioethanol from food waste was presented. The physicochemical properties of EtG fuel were presented. EtG fuel stands out due to its limited content of benzene and sulfur and a low content of mechanical impurities and heavy metals. EtG fuel can be considered a replacement fuel for motor gasoline. The results of exhaust emissions tests from vehicles with spark-ignition engines in the WLTC test on a hot and cold engine were presented. It was found that EtG fuel is characterized by lower specific distance emissions of CO, NOx, and CH4 and slightly higher specific distance emissions of NMHC when starting a cold engine compared to gasoline, while the specific distance emission of CO2 for both fuels were very similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries are obliged by international regulations to conduct annual pollutant emissions inventories. Road transport is one of the sectors for which an inventory of pollutant emissions is carried out. Determining pollutant emissions from road transport is possible only by modeling these emissions – that is why unified emission models are used. In this work, the COPERT and HBEFA INFRAS software are used to determine pollutant emissions characteristics for various vehicle traffic models. The article presents the principles of modeling pollutant emissions from road vehicles. The rules for qualifying road vehicles into elementary and cumulative categories have been systematized. Models of road vehicle traffic and ways of taking them into account in modeling pollutant emissions are presented. The following emissions of pollutants harmful to the health and life of living organisms are considered: carbon monoxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides and total suspended particles. The trends of the national annual emissions of the tested pollutants for the years 2000–2020 and the results of simulation tests of pollutant emissions models are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mineral Resources Management / Gospodarka Surowcami Mineralnymi is the property of Mineral & Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Food production is connected with a negative effect on the environment as it is linked with the utilisation of natural resources such as fresh water and with the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). It is, therefore, very important to prevent the wastage of food at all food chain stages. Special attention should be paid to the phenomena which burden the environment in an unjustified way. One such example may be the waste of final products at the stage of retail sale objects. The purpose of the present paper was to estimate the effect of wasted food in the selected network of the retail sale on the environment with the application of water footprint indicator and CO2 emission. On the grounds of the collected data, the participation of food withdrawn from the trade, the reasons for the mentioned phenomenon and the size of the wasted food products and those donated to charities were established. Based upon such data, the level of CO2 emission and the water print of the products which have not been utilised according to their destination were estimated. In spite of the fact that the animal origin products were characterised by a small participation in the weight of the unsold food (ca. 13.34% annually), they constituted the main source of CO2 emission and water footprint estimated from the food waste. It was calculated that the annual turnover and waste of the products only in one trade network was connected with the unjustified emission of ca. 12 thousand tonnes of CO2 and 13 million m3 of water footprint.

The paper presents the analysis of the guidelines of the European Union, adopted in May, 2019, on the common methodology and quality requirements for the uniform system of measuring the food waste levels in the EU Member States. The Waste Framework Directive obliges the Member States to monitor the generation of food waste and to take measures to limit their production; however, a lack of uniform, reliable method for measuring the food waste levels in the EU causes that it is difficult to evaluate the scale of the problem, its sources and the related tendencies in time. The food waste is generated across the whole food supply chain; so, it is especially troublesome to determine the level of the discussed waste. The food waste with different characteristics, different source and different reasons for its generation is produced in each stage of the chain. The current data on the food wastes do not specify their quantities. In connection with this fact, a separate legal act was developed, that is, the Commission Delegated Decision (EU) dated 3 May 2019, focusing on the measuring of food waste, which is harmonized with the existing systems of data collection and provides a framework for further measures of the Member States in respect of the quantitative determination of the food waste that is generated.

The results of an analysis of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission inventory in Poland in the years 1988–2015 are presented, paying special attention to the impact of road transport on the intensification of greenhouse effect. The analysis was made based on the official results compiled by the National Centre for Emissions Management and Balancing (KOBiZE) at the Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute.

The article presents the results of the inventory of greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles in Poland in 2015. The inventory was developed in accordance with the applicable guidelines for the annual greenhouse gas emission inventory (Decision 24/CP.19 of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) by the National Centre for Emissions Management and Balancing (KOBiZE) at the Institute of Environmental Protection – the National Research Institute. The national annual gas emissions from road transport are presented, including: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide along with emissions of the above gases converted into carbon dioxide equivalents. Carbon dioxide makes up the largest share in carbon dioxide emissions. This is particularly evident in the case of road transport – the emission of gases other than carbon dioxide (methane and nitrous oxide) is several orders of magnitude lower than the emission of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide emissions from road transport account currently for approximately 14% of the total carbon dioxide emission in Poland.

The range of applications in which remote detection of chemical compounds is used extends from monitoring of technological processes through diagnostics of industrial installation and environmental control up to military applications. The methods and the devices used for the passive detection of selected gases are presented. The change in the signal reaching the camera caused by the presence of gas was calculated. The successful detection can be achieved if the absorption (or emission) of a gas cloud, located between object (background) and the camera, causes signal change greater or equal to noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of the camera.

Background: The potentially harmful effects of air pollution on the human health have been already presented in epidemiological studies, suggesting a strong association with increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of the study was to evaluate a possible relationship between coronary artery lesion progression related to habitation place (cities vs. villages) and air pollution. Methods: There were 148 (101 men and 47 women) patients with a median age of 70 (63–74) years enrolled into retrospective analysis based on the coronary angiography results and their habitation place. Patients with stable coronary syndrome, who underwent repeated percutaneous coronary interventions were enrolled into the analysis based on demographical and clinical characteristics combined with annual exposure to air pollution (PM2.5, PM10, and NO2). Results: The results of multivariable regression analysis showed a significant relationship between coronary artery lesion progression requiring percutaneous intervention and NO2 chronic exposure in patients living in cities of Poland (OR 2.00, 95% CI: 0.41–9.62, p < 0.001). The predictive value of air pollution exposure at habitation place for coronary artery lesion progression requiring percutaneous intervention was evaluated by receiver-operator curve analysis, which revealed an area under the curve of 0.939, yielding a sensitivity of 87.1% and specificity of 90.7%. Conclusions: Coronary artery lesion progression can be related to chronic exposure to NO2 air pollution in patients living in cities in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mineral Resources Management / Gospodarka Surowcami Mineralnymi is the property of Mineral & Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of our study was to estimate the amount of waste disposed through the public system of waste collection, as well as the amount collected during clean-up activities in public spaces in Poland. This study has been the first of its kind in Poland. We defined terminology for the public system of waste collection and public spaces. Our analyses were for the year 2021 and focused on diverse research areas. The administrative and landscape standard was used as a criterion for the selection of the units tested in field trials, by means of a questionnaire survey. 46 units were purposefully selected, and two series of surveys were carried out with respect to two research areas. During the qualitative assessment of our information sources to assess their suitability for the development of the methodology, it was necessary to apply methodological verifiers relating to mass, persons, area, and statistics. The verifiers took into account all variables influencing the quantities of waste considered in the study. The results obtained showed the lack of separate records in the municipal register for the waste assessed under the study. It was found that nearly 85% of the waste collected in the public systems of waste collection and litter in public spaces were registered as mixed (unsorted) municipal waste (Code 20 03 01) [Regulation... 2020]. It was noted that 20% of municipal waste generated outside households was left behind as litter in public spaces and posed environmental risks. For this reason, among others, it was necessary to estimate the amount of this type of waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper refers to the inventory of pollutant emissions in Poland from different transport categories over the period 1990-2020. The changes in the annual national emissions of selected pollutants, i.e. nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulfur oxides, PM2.5, PM10, total suspended particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and lead were analysed. The shares of the national annual emissions of the examined pollutants from each studied transport category in the national annual emission from total transport were assessed. The sensitivity of the national annual pollutant emission inventory with regard to the transport categories and emitted substances under the study was assessed. The trend of decrease in the national annual emissions of the substances analysed was appraised as positive in the face of a substantial intensification of transport activities. Taking into account the fact that road transportation is responsible for a dominant share of the national emission of pollutants, important progress in the reduction of emissions is attributable to the substantial technical improvement of the internal combustion engines of road vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of analyses that were focused on pollutant emissions from road vehicles classified into the generalised categories with respect to vehicle use. The analyses were performed using the authorised results of Poland's pollutant emission inventory, carried out in 1990-2020 by the National Centre for Emissions Management (KOBiZE) at the Institute of Environmental Protection - National Research Institute (IOŚ-PIB) in order to meet requirements for the national emissions reporting under EU legislation and the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. The following road vehicle categories were analysed: passenger cars, light duty vehicles, heavy-duty trucks, buses (urban buses and coaches) and L category (motorcycles, mopeds, quads, microcars). The emissions of selected pollutants that are harmful to the health of living beings were studied, i.e. nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulfur compounds, particulate matter size fractions, carbon monoxide and lead compounds. The shares of national annual pollutant emissions from each studied vehicle category of the total pollutant emissions from road transport were determined. With the aim to assess trends in improving environmental properties of road vehicles, there were determined changes of the energy emission factors for individual pollutants in all the vehicle categories under the study. The results obtained showed dynamic decreases in the energy emission factors for nitrogen oxides, non-methane volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide. In the case of particulate matter emission, the improvement was not as pronounced. The evident reduction in the emissions of sulfur and lead compounds in the 21st century was confirmed to be a consequence of practical elimination of these compounds from road vehicle fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food production is connected with a negative effect on the environment as it is linked with the utilisation of natural resources such as fresh water and with the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). It is, therefore, very important to prevent the wastage of food at all food chain stages. Special attention should be paid to the phenomena which burden the environment in an unjustified way. One such example may be the waste of final products at the stage of retail sale objects. The purpose of the present paper was to estimate the effect of wasted food in the selected network of the retail sale on the environment with the application of water footprint indicator and CO2 emission. On the grounds of the collected data, the participation of food withdrawn from the trade, the reasons for the mentioned phenomenon and the size of the wasted food products and those donated to charities were established. Based upon such data, the level of CO2 emission and the water print of the products which have not been utilised according to their destination were estimated. In spite of the fact that the animal origin products were characterised by a small participation in the weight of the unsold food (ca. 13.34% annually), they constituted the main source of CO2 emission and water footprint estimated from the food waste. It was calculated that the annual turnover and waste of the products only in one trade network was connected with the unjustified emission of ca. 12 thousand tonnes of CO2 and 13 million m3 of water footprint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the analysis of the guidelines of the European Union, adopted in May, 2019, on the common methodology and quality requirements for the uniform system of measuring the food waste levels in the EU Member States. The Waste Framework Directive obliges the Member States to monitor the generation of food waste and to take measures to limit their production; however, a lack of uniform, reliable method for measuring the food waste levels in the EU causes that it is difficult to evaluate the scale of the problem, its sources and the related tendencies in time. The food waste is generated across the whole food supply chain; so, it is especially troublesome to determine the level of the discussed waste. The food waste with different characteristics, different source and different reasons for its generation is produced in each stage of the chain. The current data on the food wastes do not specify their quantities. In connection with this fact, a separate legal act was developed, that is, the Commission Delegated Decision (EU) dated 3 May 2019, focusing on the measuring of food waste, which is harmonized with the existing systems of data collection and provides a framework for further measures of the Member States in respect of the quantitative determination of the food waste that is generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Quantitative Methods in Economics / Metody Ilościowe w Badaniach Ekonomicznych is the property of Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Applied Informatics & Mathematics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)