Summary:

The basic element of a well-organized municipal waste management system is selective waste collection. Separation of waste "at source" (eg in a household) facilitates further handling of waste, in particular transferring it to recycling and recovery. By 2020, a minimum of 50% of the municipal waste, such as paper, metal, plastic and glass, should be recycled or re-used. These wastes are collected selectively in households, offices, offices and service outlets.
The aim of the article is to present the results of the analysis conducted during one year of the structure of selectively collected waste in the yellow bag dedicated for plastic waste, with particular emphasis on the share of impurities, that is all those types of waste that should not be thrown into this yellow bag. The research was carried out at MIKI Recykling Ent. from November 2016 to October 2017. Waste came from 3 rural communes.
Analysis of the results of the conducted tests showed that the share of impurities in the stream of selectively collected plastics is on average 26.8%, while the most common impurities are: cardboard, "other plastics materials" and glass. About 30% of these impurities can be directed to recycling or recovery processes, while the remaining stream should be disposed. Plastics suitable for recycling accounted for 73.2±9.4%. This result was slightly higher than the share of plastics transferred for recycling obtained by the company and higher than the national average reported by the Central Statistical Office.