After being contacted on my initiative, the Wrocław-based Ecological Waste Disposal Enterprise sent Gmina Osiecznica an offer to build within its area a plant comprising a distillery and a facility producing spirit intended for technical purposes. The offer concerns the construction of a distillery with an annual capacity of 20–25 billion litres of so-called raw distillery spirit, subsequently concentrated into spirit intended as an additive to motor fuels and for the paint, pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries. The investment cost, to be covered in full by the Enterprise, will amount to approximately 1 trillion old złoty.
The plant could be built within 2–3 years and, once completed, would employ approximately 100–150 people. The creation of these new jobs in Gmina Osiecznica, where 25–28% of working-age residents are unemployed, is a very advantageous offer. In addition to the new jobs at the plant itself, its existence would stimulate agriculture. Production at the plant would require rye from an area of approximately 16,000 hectares. In Gmina Osiecznica, rye is the main crop that can be grown. At present, rye is not cultivated on a larger scale because demand for this grain is low. Consequently, approximately 900 hectares of State Treasury land in the gmina remain unleased, while about 400 hectares of privately owned land lie fallow. Demand for rye from the distillery would lead to the use of fallow land. Moreover, dried distillery waste from rye is an inexpensive feed whose availability could contribute to the development of livestock farming.
New jobs and the stimulation of agriculture would, as a result, increase the prosperity of residents.
The construction of this plant would also benefit the gmina through revenue from property tax, income tax and the tax on means of transport, which the gmina could allocate to its own other investments.
As is clear from the description of the proposed investment so far, it would bring only benefits to the gmina and its residents. What, then, is the problem connected with this investment? The problem is that the production of spirit at the plant proposed for construction in Gmina Osiecznica would use heat from “ecological waste processing”. This means that the Wrocław-based Ecological Waste Disposal Enterprise is offering to build what is known as a waste incinerator in Gmina Osiecznica, with the heat generated by burning waste used to process rye into spirit.
The Ecological Waste Disposal Enterprise is the same Enterprise that is building a similar incinerator in Osetnica, Chojnów Gmina. The matter of that waste incinerator has attracted considerable attention, among other reasons because of protests by residents of Chojnów Gmina and the dismissal of the Chojnów Gmina Council, which had approved the construction of the incinerator. Heat from the waste incinerator in Osetnica is to be used to generate electricity. In connection with the construction of the waste incinerator, the Enterprise offered Gmina Osiecznica the construction of a distillery and a spirit-producing facility. The proposed waste incinerator would burn both municipal waste, meaning waste from our households, and industrial waste (e.g. car tyres and waste from the production of paints and varnishes), as well as hospital waste. This waste would be transported to the incinerator from Poland’s western voivodeships using approximately 12 heavy trucks and 4–6 vehicles with a smaller payload. The incinerator would operate for 11 months a year and during that time would burn approximately 100,000 tonnes of waste.
As can be seen from this brief presentation of the second activity of the proposed plant, the issue is the burning of large quantities of various types of waste.
The question therefore arises of the environmental impact of this type of activity, and above all of whether burning this quantity of waste is harmful to people, animals and plants.
During meetings held in August at the Gmina Office and in November with the Osiecznica Gmina Council, representatives of the Ecological Waste Disposal Enterprise assured attendees that the incinerator would be built using new technology developed by the West German Preussag concern, meeting the requirements of EEC standards scheduled to come into force within the next five years. This technology is characterised by very high efficiency in cleaning exhaust gases generated during waste combustion, with emissions within the lower limits of the applicable standards. The production processes at the incinerator would be controlled by a computer system ensuring trouble-free operation.
In addition to gases, waste combustion produces ash amounting to approximately 10% of the incinerated waste, as well as wastewater used to cool the ash and equipment during production. Naturally, the ash contains small quantities of elements harmful to the environment and human health, including heavy metals. However, this waste would not be scattered throughout the gmina; it would be stored in properly constructed landfills meeting environmental-protection requirements. The wastewater would be treated at a sewage-treatment plant. Both the sewage-treatment plant and the ash landfill would be built together with the waste incinerator, and the incinerator could not be commissioned without them.
At the meeting with the Gmina Council, representatives of the Enterprise cited examples from Western European countries where waste has long been incinerated without harm to the environment. Burning waste reduces the amount of waste destined for landfill, whose available area is constantly shrinking. Landfilling unburned waste is also harmful to the environment because of gases released, the bacteriological hazard and fires, during which toxic substances escape into the environment beyond the control of those operating the landfill.
The weekly Polityka provided information on the amount of waste incinerated in Western Europe. According to the magazine, 77% of waste is incinerated in Switzerland, 49% in Sweden, 26% in Germany, 41% in Austria and Denmark, 37% in France, 35% in the Netherlands and 36% in Belgium (“Polityka”, no. 45 of 1996, article entitled “The Waste State”).
During the discussion among councillors of the Gmina Council in Osiecznica, opponents of building a distillery “powered” by a waste incinerator raised various objections. It was alleged that trucks carrying waste would lose some of their loads and thereby pollute the gmina. It was also argued that some of the waste lost in this way could be poisonous and that its presence on the roads would pose a threat to life. Opponents claimed that although, in theory, the incinerator was to be built using the latest technology, in practice that technology might prove ineffective and harmful substances would be released into the environment.
It was also alleged that the rye needed to produce the spirit could be bought by the Enterprise abroad rather than from farmers in the gmina.
In response to the first objection, representatives of the Enterprise said that waste would be transported in sealed containers and that the Enterprise would receive a permit only for such transport. If, after the incinerator had been built, its impact on the environment proved different from that indicated in the documentation on which its construction permit had been issued, the relevant authorities responsible for environmental protection would be obliged to ensure that no permit to commission it was granted. The same rules would apply during operation. A plant whose activities threatened the environment would be closed. The Ecological Waste Disposal Enterprise is a private company and, consequently, the authorities responsible for environmental protection would have no reservations about closing a company that polluted the environment.
As for the purchase of rye, the Enterprise’s representatives spoke of organising contracts for rye to ensure continuous supplies for production; the quantities involved would be approximately 40,000 tonnes. I believe that whether rye is purchased in the gmina and in Poland or outside the country will be determined by economic factors and state policy. When farmers have very limited opportunities to sell rye at all, and approximately 1,300 hectares of agricultural land lie fallow, rejecting the project solely because the Enterprise might buy rye abroad in the future is irrational. It is a case of counting one’s chickens before they hatch.
The distillery, spirit-producing facility and incinerator would require 4 hectares of land for construction. No protective zone would be required because the entire combustion and production process would have to take place without affecting the environment. In practice, therefore, the plant could be built in any village with 4 hectares of available land accessible to trucks. The land would have to be located on the outskirts of the village so that noise from the operating plant and traffic would not inconvenience residents. During the discussions, a location was proposed near the landfill currently under construction, 5 km from Świętoszów and 2 km from Rudawica, Zielona Góra Voivodeship, because of the site’s peripheral location in relation to inhabited areas, which would help avoid protests by potential opponents of the construction, and because it was easily accessible.
A location in Osieczów, on land not used by the company “Modern-Bud”, or in the area of Parowa and Ołobok could also be considered. Osieczów could be considered because of its relatively central location within the gmina and, consequently, easier access to work. Parowa and Ołobok are being considered because of the high unemployment in that area.
Village meetings, including meetings about the investment described above, were planned for the turn of January and February 1997. The aim would be to obtain a favourable opinion of the investment in the gmina. At present, however, the words “waste”, “landfill” or “waste incinerator” prompt protests from people calling for environmental protection. These protests are most often based on the principle: “Remove the waste as far as possible from my backyard so that it cannot be seen.” The protesters do not, however, propose what should be done with the waste pushed away from them. It nevertheless seems that there is no other solution than burning this waste; European practice points to this.
Personally, because of the creation of new jobs and the prospect of reviving the agriculture that has collapsed in the gmina thanks to this investment, I support the construction of this plant, this waste incinerator. The incinerator will be built using safe technology. I also trust the Swiss, Danes, Swedes and Germans, who have allowed waste incinerators to be built in their countries because they are safe.
I personally invite all residents of Gmina Osiecznica who, through travelling and working in Western Europe, have become familiar with the issue of waste incinerators and know their environmental impact from experience to attend the meetings about this investment. I ask for a substantive and objective discussion of the matter.
Chairman of the Gmina Council Józef Karwacki