A truck transporting 25 tons of garbage from Sweden to the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship was stopped near Szczecin by customs and tax authorities and environmental protection inspectors. The shipment will likely be returned to sender, and the carrier faces a PLN 20,000 fine.
A vehicle carrying compacted waste paper, which also contained mixed waste, was stopped on an expressway near Szczecin late last week. The West Pomeranian Customs and Tax Office and the Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection announced the joint operation on Tuesday.
A car traveling from Świnoujście transported, instead of the declared waste paper, a mixture of waste originating from Sweden, containing, among others : cardboard packaging, food packaging, plastics, textiles, metal, glass, Styrofoam, cosmetics, medicine packaging, so-called blister packs, and toys, said Maciej Koniuszewski from the Tax Administration Chamber in Szczecin.
The Szczecin spokesman for the National Revenue Administration (KAS) noted that “the cargo emitted an unpleasant odor.” After a thorough inspection, it was confirmed that the waste paper bales contained waste illegally imported into Poland. The trailer was secured, and the Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection (WIOŚ) is conducting further administrative proceedings. Failure to properly report cross-border waste transport in the SENT system (the Electronic Transport Supervision System, introduced in 2022) carries a penalty of PLN 20,000.
An administrative procedure is underway, and an order will likely be issued to return the cargo to Sweden, Michał Ruczyński, spokesperson for the Szczecin Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection, explained in an interview with PAP. “The waste was destined for the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship,” he added.
Ruczyński told PAP that as part of the supervision of cross-border shipments of waste, WIOŚ inspectors inspected 204 vehicles in the first half of this year. This figure will increase to 474 vehicles in 2024.
The truck from Sweden is the first illegal shipment detected this year. Only one such shipment has been detected in 2024, Ruczyński noted. “Analyzing statistics from recent years and cases of waste being brought into our country, the trend is significantly downward. This is the result of the numerous inspections we conduct on expressways and at the ferry terminal in Świnoujście,” Ruczyński explained.
A spokesperson for the Szczecin Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection emphasized that state services, while inspecting waste shipments, are detecting fewer and fewer “hazardous cargoes” and chemicals. However, as Ruciński noted, there are cases of “exploiting loopholes in the system” through waste mixing.
As the National Revenue Administration reminds us, in accordance with regulations on the international movement of waste, Poland does not permit the import of mixed municipal waste. An exception is made for waste collected separately and designated for recycling.
Importers of illegal waste face not only administrative penalties, but also must pay for disposal or return the waste to the sender under customs supervision. (PAP)
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