First inspections and first penalty tickets for incinerating garbage

Every day more and more households start using their heating systems. It's fine if they are using legal fuel that can be used for thermal processing. But it's not OK if they are burning waste.

Since the beginning of September, the municipal police have been making inspections based on powers granted by the Mayor of Szczecin. Under the Environmental Protection Law people living in cities have a wide range of responsibilities related to ensuring compliance with environmental protection regulations. In order to enforce those requirements, mayors may authorise their subordinates or municipal police officers to carry out inspections.

Such inspectors are authorised, e.g., to enter a property (house). While the rights related to such inspections are defined in the Environmental Protection Law (Article 379), such inspections are de facto conducted to confirm whether residents respect the ban on burning waste in the heaters they have installed at home. The ban is imposed under the Waste Act, and its complementary Act on maintaining cleanliness and order in Communes. These regulations explicitly forbid the burning of any waste in traditional heaters used at home.

Inspections are intended to prevent people from burning waste in their heaters. Currently, 48 municipal police officers have special authorisations with their names on them that allow them to enter private property, including homes and apartments, and carry out such inspections.

First inspections have been conducted in the Pomorzany, Pogodno, Śródmieście, Dąbie, Wyspa Pucka, Gumieńce, and Niebuszewo Districts, in detached houses.

"Since 1 September, we have conducted 77 such inspections, and most of them did not find any issues. When the heater is only starting, and the chimney has not been used for a while and might be a little wet, it can produce smoke that is very similar to that from waste," says Senior Inspector Joanna Wojtach, spokesperson for Szczecin's Municipal Police. "However, during these inspections we discovered that not everyone was using legal fuel. Five households were issued penalty tickets for incinerating garbage. Property owners did not obstruct our officers and let them in.”

Please remember that obstructing an inspection is a crime. See Article 225 § 1 of the Penal Code, which refers to obstructing or preventing public officers from conducting environmental protection inspections.

During the last-year's heating season, municipal police officers made more than 2,988 interventions and inspections of this kind. Every one in ten inspections showed that the heater was used for burning garbage, including chipboards, particle boards, furniture, and municipal waste.

For burning waste, you can get a penalty ticket of up to PLN 500, or a fine of up to PLN 5,000, if the case ends up in court.