Impact of Technological Solutions and Operating Procedures on Odour Nuisance of Municipal Solid Waste Treatment Plants in Poland

This paper analyses 144 municipal solid waste treatment plants operated in Poland, in terms of technological solutions used for storage, segregation, preliminary treatment and biological processing of waste as well as other operational procedures aimed at reduction of the odour nuisance of waste to the neighbourhood. The odour nuisance of most examined facilities was assessed by respondents (employees of the facilities) as low, or the facilities were considered to be without any odour impact at all: 95 % of the analysed segregation plants (109/114) and 97 % (28/29) of the examined biological treatment facilities respectively. The remaining 5 % and 3 % of the municipal solid waste treatment plants covered by the questionnaire survey were characterised as medium and high nuisance in terms of emitted odours. The main reasons behind the odour nuisance of the municipal solid waste processing plants in Poland and the most frequently employed and, at the same time, the most effective measures aimed at minimisation of odour emissions are presented.