There are attempts to get rid of waste by burning it in the field or in a cooker – some people mistakenly believe that there is no difference between an incinerator – a waste disposal plant – and a cooker at home. However, in home furnaces the temperature reaches 650 degrees Celsius, which is up to a thousand degrees less than in professional incinerators.
Domestic furnaces do not have adequate filters to capture the hazardous products of packaging combustion and the residues they contain, such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride, nitro compounds, dioxins, aldehydes and many others. By entering the atmosphere, they contribute to smog formation.
By burning rubbish, we harm others and ourselves. The unpleasant smell of burning plastics is only a signal, but most toxic substances are odourless. The user’s own incineration of pesticide packaging is prohibited, as is the use of empty pesticide packaging for other purposes, including its use as a secondary raw material.
There are fines for burning hazardous waste. Throughout the country, municipal guards or other authorised officials have the right to enter private property between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and business premises 24 hours a day. Refusal to let them in constitutes a separate offence. If an inspection finds waste in the boiler room (e.g. plastic packaging, tyres or furniture prepared for burning), a fine of up to PLN 500 is imposed. If you do not accept the fine, the case is referred to court, where you can lose up to a maximum of PLN 5,000 czysteogrzewanie.pl/jak-palic-w-piecu/czym-palic-w-piecu/.
If you do not know what to do with a particular waste, you can look it up on the website ekosystem.wroc.pl . Just type the name of the waste into the search engine and find information on what to do with it.