Maintenance of Cleanness and Order in Communes Act 13 Sept.1996 defines the municipality’s and property owners' responsibilities concerning the maintenance of cleanness and order. The act's regulations refer to municipal refuse which is described as (...) municipal refuse originating from households and also refuse free of dangerous materials originating from other refuse generators which are similar to those generated in households as far as its character or contents is concerned (paragraph 3, section 1, point 4, statute 27 April 2001 on waste).

      According to the Maintenance of Cleanness and Order Act the Town Council of Cieszyn laid down detailed regulations for the maintenance of cleanness and order in the town in 2002 (Nr LY/5,28/02 resolution 20 June 2002 concerning the establishment of detailed regulations for maintenance of cleanness and order in Cieszyn Municipality).
      According to the above mentioned act and resolution land and property owners (also co-owners, hereditary occupants, organisations and persons managing or utilising land, and also other subjects managing land) are obliged to maintain cleanliness and order by, for instance:
• equipping land with facilities used for waste municipal storage and connecting the real estate to the existing sewage system or, when the construction of a sewage system is technically or economically groundless, fitting the land with a self-contained liquid waste tank or a home utility sewage treatment system;
• collection in the above mentioned devices of the environmental waste originating on real estate's grounds;
• disposal and neutralizing of municipal waste;
• clearing away snow, ice, mud and other impurities from pavements located along the real estate;

      Real estate owners are obliged to sign a contract with the waste removal company that has the required permits for municipal waste removal (both liquid and solid) and to keep bills for these services.
      The main service provider as far as elimination of municipal waste in Cieszyn area is concerned (which means waste removal from the property owner and its delivery to a dump or other sites neutralising or utilising waste) is the Municipal Waste Management Office (ZGK). Moreover, 12 other contractors have permits for commercial activities dealing with the disposal and transportation of solid and liquid waste and also the purchase of recyclable materials in the Cieszyn area (as of 30 November 2002).
      It is estimated that the Municipal Waste Management Office removes about 60% of all municipal waste originating in the Cieszyn area and disposed of according to the Maintenance of Cleanness and Order Act. In the last few years the contractors dealing with waste management in the Cieszyn area have collected about 13,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year.
      Part of the municipal waste – it is difficult to estimate the exact figure – is not disposed of or neutralised by real estate owners according to the regulations and is dumped (e.g. in forests and river courses). In order to limit this kind of behaviour property owners are subject to regular inspections to check if they are complying with the current rules.

      Municipal waste recently generated within the town has mainly been stored in the following dumps:
• in Cieszyn at ul. Motokrosowa (a small, environment-friendly dump used between 1993 and 1996; currently used as an emergency dump;
• in Jastrzębie (used between 1996 and 1998);
• in Knurów (waste dump since 1999);
• municipal waste and sludge dump in Boguszowice (activated in winter 1998/1999; currently used only in emergencies).

      As far as ZGK is concerned municipal waste picked up from the real estate owners are transported to a reloading station in Boguszowice and then transported to the dump in Knurów. The other disposal contractors are responsible for delivering the municipal waste to dumps themselves.
      In April 1997 ZGK carried out a test of composition of municipal waste originating from 150 households (the test was carried out because of the Town Project for Municipal Waste Segregation which was being drawn up at the same time). The results show considerable differentiations in the morphologic composition of the waste dependant on the kind and character of land development and the type of heating systems installed in homes and buildings (table 18). This one-off piece of research considered only a small and rather unrepresentative choice of households which explains why the results partly differ from other similar tests and assumptions.

Town Campaign for Municipal Waste Segregation

      In 1997 the Town Campaign for Municipal Waste Segregation was launched certified by No. XLVI/342/97 Act of Cieszyn Town Council Cieszyn of 15 May 1997. The campaign concerns the sorting of refuse at source i.e. directly in households. Households partaking in the project receive multi-coloured bags for the selective collection of scrap paper, metal, plastic, coloured and clear glass. When full, the bags are picked up from the householders on given days and transported to the so-called secondary sorting station at the reloading station in Boguszowice. After additional sorting and preparation the collected refuse is sold as recyclables or managed in other ways.
      Selective refuse collection done in this way allows for easy and effective identification of the refuse, for the evaluation of the quality and reliability of the sorting process. The Town Project for Municipal Waste Sorting was modelled on similar schemes that have been effectively put into practice in Żywiec and neighbouring municipalities.
      Before launching the project the station of secondary sorting at the reloading station had been prepared which meant equipping it with devices for breaking up glass and plastic, and a press for bailing scrap paper.
      In the 4th quarter of 1997 the Town Campaign for Municipal Waste Sorting was put to practice in 450 households located in 5 pilot areas consisting of detached houses built close together. Between 1998 and 2002 the project systematically enlarged its area and the number of households included increased. Currently the Town Campaign for Municipal Waste Sorting serves all detached house residential areas; moreover, since July 2002 buildings belonging to Housing Cooperative 'Cieszynianka' in Liburnia and Podgórze Estates have been included in the project of selective collection of municipal waste. Between July and December a total amount of 4,672 bags containing sorted refuse were collected.
      Along with expanding the range of the project, freely accessible segregated refuse collection points, fitted with multi-coloured PA-1100 type containers, were eliminated from areas included in the sorting project. The collection points had been set up since the middle of 1992; however, the system of segregated refuse collection was not effective, mostly due to the quality of the collected materials and related cost of removal, secondary selection and refuse management. In 2002 the collection points were equipped with 21 containers in 5 different areas of the town. Due to high costs connected with implementation of sorting project a fee of 1.50 zlotys per bag for sorted refuse collection was introduced.

      The cost reduction of storage and transport of municipal refuse to dumps in Jastrzębie and Knurów was not counted as profit from carrying out the project and neither were the 'savings' of space at the refuse-and-sludge dump in Boguszowice (resulting from a smaller amount of stored refuse) taken into account. It is estimated that in 2002 alone about 1,419 m³ of municipal refuse did not reach disposal dumps which would amount to about 71 containers of volume 20 m³ used for transporting refuse from the reloading station to the refuse dump.
      As far as the selective collection, storing and neutralizing of municipal refuse are concerned the following measures have also been taken in the Cieszyn area:
1. Since 1991 (usually accompanying the campaign 'Clean Up the World') a collecting round of bulky refuse has been carried out at least once a year.
Each time refuse of around 50 tonnes to over 160 tonnes was collected (1995). Young people helped popularise the project by delivering fliers on date and range of the collection directly to flats and buildings. The cost of one collection (fully financed by ZGK) amounted to about PLN 40,000-50,000. Due to the high cost and to the fact that residents quite frequently used the project to get rid of more than just bulky refuse, this type of collection was given up;
2. In 1995 ZGK started a store at ul. Łukowa where residents may leave old furniture, refrigerators, TV sets and other objects cost free. Those who are interested may take articles fit for usage also cost-free. The other objects are taken apart and parts are used for instance as secondary raw materials;
3. In 1998 the composting of organic waste from green areas. Both green area managers and private individuals may deliver organic waste for composting.
4. In 1996 a dump for rubble and soil from ground constructions was put into operation.
      It is worth restating that old disused municipal refuse dumps at ul. Słowicza, the old brick excavation area at ul. Kościuszki and also the storage area for out-of-date pesticides in Cieszyn Guldowy are also very hazardous to the environment.