"The City Council in Wałbrzych has no right to fine or impose a ban on the use of products that are legal in Poland and in the entire EU" declares the Polish Union of Plastic Converters. “This is a drastic example of discrimination against both entrepreneurs and citizens. We believe that the Lower Silesian Voivode will repeal this resolution, which breaches Polish and the European Union regulations" says Robert Szyman, Director of the Polish Plastics Converters Association.

The ban on selling and possessing some plastic products introduced by Wałbrzych authorities is, according to the Polish Union of Plastic Converters, in violation of the  Act on Municipal Self-Government, the Act on Maintaining Cleanliness and Order in Municipalities, the Act on Packaging and Packaging Waste Management, the Act on Waste and the Law on Environment Protection. The imprecise provisions of the resolution, undermine the principle of trust, proportionality, impartiality and equal treatment of entrepreneurs who under the resolution would be deprived of protection in relation to the safety of legal transactions.

“Members of the PUPC operate in the field of environmental protection. We are not only entrepreneurs, but also citizens, who care about the common good. We have consistently supported legislative actions at the national and EU level to strengthen the waste management system and radically increase the level of plastics recycling. The inefficiency of the current system in Poland is highlited by the need for local companies to import regrantulate (recycled material). That is why we are working together to accelerate the process of transition to circular economy in the whole supply chain that includes plastics. Producers and processors of plastics are not opponents but partners of local governments in investments and innovations” said Tadeusz Nowicki, President of the Polish Plastics Converters Association.

In the light of the Polish Constitution, the municipal council cannot enacts local laws that would prohibit the possession and use of substances that are allowed to be traded and used under the national law. The resolution of the City Council in Wałbrzych also violates the provisions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

“Entrepreneurs were completely surprised by the resolution adopted in Wałbrzych. We have extremely restrictive regulations on environmental protection in Poland and the whole European Union as well. All market participants - both entrepreneurs and local government units - must comply with these regulations to the same extent. We believe that local government can’t surprise entrepreneurs with regulations that interpret the legal order in a different way than the national law does. We strongly oppose resolutions that affect  in particular small and medium-sized enterprises and undermine investor certainty. Hence our appeal to the Lower Silesian Authoriries to suspend the Wałbrzych resolution and declare it invalid” said Robert Szyman, General Director of Polish Union of Plastic Converters.

As indicated by the PUPC, increasing the level of plastic waste recycling is a national challenge. Under the previously introduced regulations, the number of so-called lightweight bags in Poland was limited to just 10 per person per year. PUPC supports activities undertaken by local, national and EU authorities aimed at protecting the environment, provided that they are in line with the law and do not discriminate entrepreneurs operating on the market.

The plastics processing industry in Poland consists of more than 7.5 thousand enterprises, mainly SMEs, which employ about 160 thousand people.

For more information, please contact :

Robert Szyman r.szyman@tworzywa.org.pl tel.603 626 656

Maciej Powroźnik maciej.powroznik@mc.com.pl tel.728 622 000