A waste treatment permit is required for operators who carry out waste treatment activities both in and outside facilities. It should be applied for when:

• you plan to start processing waste (run the plant, start fertilising the soil with digestate),
• you want to extend an existing installation or start up new facilities, which will result in an increase in the amount of waste processed or a change in the types of waste,
• you extend the validity of a previously issued permit,
• your previous permit has expired and you intend to carry out waste treatment activities again.

There are also exceptions to the above rules - Article 45(1) of the Waste Act contains a catalogue of entities exempted from the need to obtain a waste treatment permit.

Yes. Waste treatment activities outside installations are subject to strict regulations and require a permit. Exceptions to this rule are the types of treatment and waste listed in Article 45(1) of the Waste Act.

Yes. If your planned activity includes both waste treatment and waste collection, you may submit one application for a waste collection and waste treatment permit. In this case, information for both permits (e.g. masses and types of waste, capacities of the installation) must be provided in the application.

Interzero experts will prepare applications consisting of several parts on behalf of your company, including applications for waste collection and processing permits.

The need for a current waste treatment permit is exempted:

• natural persons and organisational entities which are not businesses and which use the waste for their own purposes (e.g. they compost bio-waste in a home composter),
• entities, who have a valid waste generation licence covering also waste treatment,
• entities obliged to obtain an integrated permit,
• property managers collecting municipal waste from the property.

For a full catalogue of exemptions from the waste treatment permit obligation, see Article 45(1) of the Waste Act.

The application for a waste treatment permit shall be accompanied by:

• certificate of clean criminal record for environmental or other offences,
• declaration of no criminal record or of the number of final convictions,
• a statement that the permit (environmental decision) has not been revoked within the last 10 years,
• fire safety report,
• the decision to agree on fire protection conditions issued by the district fire marshal,
• confirmation of payment of the fee stamp duty on the application.

Other attachments may also be required:

• decision on environmental conditions,
• zoning decision,
• proof of title to the property,
• power of attorney (if you are applying by proxy),
• confirmation of payment of stamp duty on the power of attorney (as above).

Application for a waste treatment decision be submitted to the competent authority for the intended place of processing Waste:

• the provincial marshalif activity:
  • may have a significant impact on the environment,
  • applies to municipal installations,
  • requires the storage of waste with a total mass of more than 3,000 tonnes per year,
  • applies to non-hazardous waste used for land reclamation (only in cases where the daily amount of waste to be treated with R14 does not exceed 10 tonnes and the total capacity of the pit or sinkhole is not less than 25,000 tonnes),
• the regional director for environmental protectionif waste is collected in enclosed areas,
• chief executive - in other cases.

Your application for a waste treatment permit will be processed in several stages.

1. Verification of completeness

The office will check that the application contains all the required data and that it is accompanied by a set of annexes and proof of payment of the application fee. If any deficiencies are found, you will be asked to complete them.

2. Inspection by WIOŚ and PSP

At the request of the authority, the WIOŚ will inspect the installations, construction facilities and waste storage sites where waste processing is to be carried out for compliance with the requirements set out in the environmental regulations. The fire brigade, on the other hand, will check whether the conditions for fire protection under the Act and the submitted fire protection operation are met at the waste processing sites. Once the inspection has been completed, you will receive information on whether the facility meets or fails to meet fire and environmental protection requirements in the form of a ruling.

3. Provision of security for claims

In order to obtain a waste treatment permit, you are required to provide security for your claims in the form of a deposit, bank guarantee, insurance guarantee or insurance policy. The form and amount of the guarantee is determined by the authority, taking into account your preferences included in the application. You have 2 weeks from the notification of the order to lodge the security.

4. Consultation with the mayor of the town or city

The Authority will consult the mayor of the village, town or city having jurisdiction over the place where the waste is treated.

5. Authorisation

If the authority finds no obstacles in the course of the procedure, it shall issue the applicant with a processing permit .

NOTE: Each waste holderwhich is obliged to obtain, among other things, a waste treatment permit and carries out waste storage shall also be obliged to operate a visual system for the control of the place of storage or stocking waste! If you are granted a waste treatment permit, you must carry out monitoring in accordance with the rules contained in the Waste Act (Journal of Laws 2023, item 1587) and the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of 29 August 2019 on a video control system for the storage or dumping of waste (Journal of Laws 2019, item 1755).

The decision authorising the treatment of waste shall include:

• the VAT number of the waste holder (applicant),
• duration of authorisation,
• the type and weight of waste expected to be treated and resulting from the treatment during the year,
• location and approved method(s) of waste treatment, indicating the waste treatment process,
• description of the technological process with indication of the annual capacity of the plant or equipment (for waste incineration plants also the hourly capacity),
• the types of waste that will lose waste status as a result of treatment,
• additional waste treatment conditions (if necessary),
• indication:
  • the place and manner of storage and the types of waste stored,
  • the maximum weight of individual types of waste and the maximum total weight of all types of waste that can be stored at the same time and that can be stored over a period of one year,
  • the greatest mass of waste that could be stored at any one time in an installation, a construction or part thereof or another waste storage facility, based on the maximum capacity of the facility,
  • the total capacity (expressed in Mg) of the installation, facility or part thereof or other storage site,
• the minimum and maximum amount of hazardous waste, its lowest and highest calorific value and its maximum contaminant content,
• fire protection requirements,
• information resulting from separate regulations.

The waste treatment permit may additionally include:

• technologically justifiable operating conditions deviating from normal and the technologically justifiable duration of their maintenance,
• abnormal operating conditions for the time needed for the new installation to start up (no more than one year) and reach capacity.

As a general rule, applications for waste treatment permits are processed during the month. In the case of complex cases, the office may extend this period to 2 months.

The applicant has no influence on the time taken by the competent authorities to process the application. However, it may significantly accelerate the procedure if it efficiently acquires all the required attachments and submits a complete application. The need to complete the application is always a reason for prolonging the procedure, delaying the moment when the decision becomes final and legally binding. For this reason all entrepreneurs who want to go through the entire authorisation process smoothly and seamlessly are encouraged to use our services. Interzero's experts are not only very familiar with the entire administrative procedure, but have also carried it out many times for various companies. They therefore have a wealth of experience and valuable practice with which to help you obtain authorisation and commence operations as soon as possible.

An entity applying for a waste treatment permit must pay a stamp duty of PLN 616. If a permit is not obtained, or if a permit is obtained with a different content than that applied for, the fee shall not be refunded.

If the applicant acts through an attorney, he or she must also pay the stamp duty on the power of attorney in the amount of PLN 17. The costs quoted do not include the service of preparing and submitting the application by the environmental consultancy itself. The adviser's fee is set individually, depending on the types and number of permits applied for, as well as the time-consuming nature of the service.

A waste treatment permit shall be issued for a period of maximum 10 years.

A waste treatment permit shall be issued in the form of an administrative decision.

Yes. If you have not been granted a permit or if you are not satisfied with the decision obtained, you can appeal against it within 14 days of receiving it. Interzero consultants will be happy to analyse your case and the decision issued and, on this basis, prepare an appeal on your behalf and then submit it to the competent authority.

The authorities competent to hear an appeal against a waste treatment permit decision are:

• the local government appeals board, if the original decision was issued by the district governor,
• Minister for Climate and Environment if the contested decision was issued by the provincial marshal,
• General Director of Environmental Protection, if the original decision was issued by a regional director of environmental protection.