The Impact of the Amount of Fees for the Collection and Management of Municipal Waste on the Percentage of Selectively Collected Waste

The changes in the waste management system that have been introduced in Europe and in the world were aimed at counteracting the emergence of illegal dumping sites and increasing the levels of waste recovery and recycling, so that waste management remains in line with the principles of sustainable development and circular economy. The change introduced in 2013 in the municipal waste management system in Poland concerned the assumption of full responsibility by municipalities for the municipal waste collected from owners of residential properties, as well as the establishment and organization of a charging system for residents for the collection and management of the waste. The purpose of the study was to conduct a comparative analysis of fees paid by residents of 93 selected communes of the Lubelskie Province. The study examined the impact of the amount of fees for the waste collection and management on the share of households declaring selective municipal waste collection, the share of selectively collected waste, and the mass accumulation rate of municipal waste. As a result of the analysis conducted using the data from the years 2013–2016, it was revealed that the amount of fees for the collection and management of waste in households that sorted waste contributed significantly to the increase in the percentage of selectively collected waste. Similarly, the smaller the value of the ratio of rates for sorted and mixed waste, the greater the segregation efficiency. This indicates that in the case of the analyzed region, the lower fee charged for sorting waste was an incentive for residents to sort waste.